The many faces of preparation
I think it's important to note that it is not always easy for teachers to be at their best. I once taught an intensive 3-hour class four days a week and it was SO HARD to stay alert and motivated and to keep the students alert and motivated. It's important to be our best which means getting sleep, eating right, preparing our lessons fully and remembering that being a teacher is both not easy and extremely important.
Hi Corinne,
Excellent advice for every instructor. All facets of an instructor's life have to have balance in order for that person to be at the top of their game. You laid out some very important needs that must be met in order to be that motivated professional.
Gary
Tell me about preparation! We are working bet 40 and 50 contact hours a week! Two 4 hour labs a day back to back! All the rest of our job on top of that. It gets to be exhausting to say the least. The second class gets a lot less prep than the first most days. We are never allowed to leave our classes and it is difficult to even got the restroom. I get 5.5 hr sleep a night if I am lucky.
Hi Gregg,
You are in a truly exhausting position. My suggestion would be to make sure you take care of yourself and your health. 5.5 hours of sleep a night will only work you into exhaustion and not let you enjoy the opportunities you have as a professional educator.
I would suggest that you look at your schedule and see if you are using your time the most effective and efficient way. Sometimes time gets away from us and we don't even know it. Stop and think about the REFOCUS program to see if you can see any light at the end of the tunnel.
Gary
Wow Corinne,
Well with a class like that, preparation and planning is essential. Also, I find that when I have difficult classes or students, I am forced to really reach into my "creativity bag".
It is pretty amazing to see the benefits of having a struggle to keep us on our toes and not to slip into self-doubt.
