planning
A wise instructor told me once, "you never really feel prepared for a class until you have taught it at least four times." I do feel that it is a true statement. I also tell the students that the syllabus for the class is an outline and we will get from point "A" to point "B" during this course.
Kathleen,
I think your professor was right on with this statement. It is great when you have taught a course enough to feel that you can relax and really enjoy teaching the content and interacting with your students.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I believe that its easier the more times you teacher a course, however every class is different and brings new challenges to get them to understand the material.
Nanyamka,
Right you are about each class being different. This is one of the fun parts of being an educator. No two classes are the same yet the content for the most part is. This way you can concentrate on student interaction and enjoy helping your students move toward their career goals.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Planing seems to be one of the hardest things for me. Being a part time instructor, i feel like i never have the time i need to plan. This may get easier with experience.
Byron,
It will because you will start to see where you need to spend most of your planning time and where the content lends itself to delivery with less preparation. Like most things the more experience the easier it gets. Sometimes this is hard to believe as you are struggling through the process of gaining that experience.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
The more you teach the course, the more comfortable you are with it, but I still review all my material before each class to ensure I am on my toes when in front of the class.
Being new to teaching, I can relate to this statement. That being said, I will be teaching the same 75 minute class 3 times each day for 8 weeks, so I am hopeful that I will establish this comfort level by the end of the 8 weeks.
Jennifer,
You will be surprised at how quickly you will start to settle in and get comfortable with your students and your teaching. Last session I taught six sections of the same course and I had to make sure to make notes about each class so I could make sure not to repeat something or not cover it. This for me is one of the hardest things about teaching multiple sections of a course.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I definitely agree, the first class for me is frightening. I am confident in my teaching strategies but when its a new class, I don't know the flow. I always hand out a course outline that is easier to read then the corporate one. I have found students love this because no one can read the other ones. I also put my vital information on that outline so its readily available at all times
Ali,
Good way to personalize your course opening. Something that I have found that really helps to get a course off to a good start is an ice breaker. Playing one or two of these while helping the students to get to know each other gets everyone settled in and then you can start the course introduction process.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
