Get Your Students Hired
Good idea.
It sounds similar to mine. I give students a demo (I teach fashion design) and right after demo I give them enough time to practice what I just covered on the demo while is still fresh in their mind.
MJ
I teach fashion design and my classes are 4 1/2 hours long with a 1/2 hour break at midpoint.
Before starting class, I write the topics/demonstrations to be covered on that session on the board where is visible to everyone including me. Depending on the number of demos I have planned for the session I break them down into the first 3 hours of class giving students ample time after each demo for practice and I write a timeline on the board. For example:
Demos:
6:00 - 6:15pm Lapped zipper
6:15 - 7:00pm Practice
7:00 - 7:15pm French Seam
7:15 - 8:00pm Practice
8:00 - 8:30pm Break
8:30 - 9:00pm Handsewn buttons & buttonholes
9:00 - 9:45pm Practice
9:45 - 10:20pm Class review & homework discussion
10:20 - Clean up
I find that this strategy in two ways; it helps me to stay on point with demos and keept better track of time. And it also informs students of what they should expect to cover that night.
Although this information is already included on the syllabus which they all have a copy of, it just reminds them and helps them mentatlly prepare for the demos.
I also ask them to take notes while demos are in process, write down any questions that may come up and ask them at the end of the demo if it hasn't been covered in the demo. This is a good way for me to avoid interruptions and stay on track.
Breaking the day into chunks of learning time with different types of activities helps to keep them moving. Having them participate in demos, showing powerpoints, class discussions, and even class time to work on their projects (if needed as a time filler) helps to fill up our days. Keeping various class projects on deck also help to fill time if needed.
Erin,
This is a great method for time management. As I mentioned earlier in the post, it is important that instructors conduct their lectures in shorter increments to ensure that students are paying attention and are able to retain information.
Tremayne Simpson
I agree with this and utilize the same structure for most of my classes, whether they are 2 hours long, or 4 hours long. By breaking my lecture up into 15-20 minute segments, I find that it helps in multiple ways. First, it keeps my students from getting bored because we are changing it up a couple times an hour. Second, this gives us good time to fill in breaks as needed, and finally, I have 15-20 minute segments available in case class ends early.
Jeanne,
Great observation. Time management skills are an essential part of planning lessons and making sure that all of the students will acquire the learning objectives, by the end of the course.
Tremayne Simpson
Time management is an important part of planning a lesson. Not only does it allow you the ability to organize the material, but it also helps to fill in space with additional activities.
In order to run a classroom efficiently, time management skills are critical.
Ryan,
I agree that instructors should definitely pay attention to the reactions of "faster-paced" students and provide periodic challenges (to the class), in an effort to keep them engaged. I tend to use collaborative activities, that enable the "faster-paced" and "moderate-paced" to work together and challenge each other.
Tremayne Simpson
When giving lectures in class, I like to move fairly slowly to ensure that everyone in the class gets as much from the lectures as possible. This does, however, sometimes cause some of the faster students to get bored and stop paying attention. When I find this is the case I like to incorporate some real-life stories or situations I've encountered to get everyone to focus again. In the class I'm currently teaching, I have the luxury of fairly short lessons, so I generally don't have to worry about falling behind.
Crystal,
This is a great observation. I also practice a similar approach and have several variations to the daily lesson plan, depending on the class situation. There have been many instances where I have made adjustments (to the lesson plan) during the class break.
Tremayne Simpson
Class size varies with each course, as does class personality and cognitive level. Therefore, I always plan extra, relevant activities in case the pacing is faster than average. Examples are video clips, practical, in-class application exercises, quizzes/worksheets, as well as extra resources for students to access. With larger classes, the pace is much slower and I make sure to plan to stay later and also to offer extra help sessions or course-related workshops after class.
Jimmy,
This is a great observation. In many cases, the class sections can require different lesson plans, depending on the differences of the students enrolled in the course. I typically assign the "extra planned material" to students, to review outside of the course, as a further reflection of the discussed topic.
Tremayne Simpson
Time management definitely came with practice. The more I knew the material the better I am at blocking out chunks of time for each activity. However, each class of students are different so one class may take longer on an activity while another finishes early. So I typically do have extra material to teach just in case.
Wilfred,
This is a great example of an application-based activity ("Learning Taxonomy"), also you are able to assess student comprehension, by reviewing their progress in completing the activity.
Tremayne Simpson
Sean,
I agree that "off track" discussions can alter planned lessons, however they can be useful in situations where the students are not participating during the lecture. These digressions can be used as "icebreakers", that can lead to further participation from the students.
Tremayne Simpson
I like to manage my time with my lesson plans by blocking time for each individual lesson or activity. This works very well and helps preduce off track discussions which can be the death of an effective lesson plan
I teach a electrical course and I have light boards and power supplies in the class room.There primary purpose,is for lab work,however if I find that we are ahead of schedule,I will inturupt lecture,with a hands on exercise.I will have students wire circuits to reinforce what I have been covering i lecture.
carolyn,
This is a great method, primarily because the "20 minute" time limit falls within the parameters of the average adult attention span. Information is easier to retain, when it can be provided in intervals.
Tremayne Simpson
Bruce ,
This is an effective way to assess student comprehension of information. I have a similar method, however I ask that the students write down potential questions (that they believe will be asked on the chapter exam) during the lecture and (time permitting) we spend the last portion of class answering the questions in a "discussion format". This has proven to be beneficial to all students because it serves as an "impromptu" study session for the exam.
Tremayne Simpson
I time (literally) my lesson plan... making sure I spend 20 minutes and no more on one topic, and then move to 20 minutes on the next. This seems to work out well. It also keeps the discussion from getting too repetitive with students and getting off topic, which is a problem at times.