John Bryan

John Bryan

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A few years ago, Comedy Central had a show called "Short Attention Span Theatre" which should have been a clue to me about what was coming ... That 15-18 minute attention span this module speaks of has shrunk, I'm afraid, to something closer to 8-10 minutes. My students have the added distraction of having large windows in the classrooms I customarily teach in, thus I have to compete with traffic, other students, passers-by ... So I have to be extra-entertaining to keep them focused. I use group projects a lot to combat that short attention span problem ... Anyone have… >>>

Discussion Comment

In a 10-week cycle at our school, we will have, usually, 19 two-hour class meetings. Each cycle there are two holidays; one will fall on a Monday (or Wednesday, as in Thanksgiving eve)and the other will fall on a Thursday (or Tuesday, to allow for a long weekend. Thus the 19 meetings. I say all that to say this: It seems to me a small investment of your class time to spend one full class period covering syllabus, textbook and class requirements, and getting to know each other. Some of my colleagues try to limit the getting-to-know-you portion of the… >>>

Discussion Comment
When I was a student, I figured teachers just had a syllabus and that was that -- one size fits all. Not so! With each new cycle of students, I find things I can do to my syllabus to make it more useful to both me and my students. It's also a chance for me to look at what worked, what didn't and what I can do better. Unfortunately, we don't always have time to do that; but when it's there, use it. Don;t wait until you change textbooks to rework that syllabus. Just my thoughts ... John

Early on in my teaching career (clear back a year and a half ago! LOL), I think I tried too hard to be "one of them" and not be the teacher, per se. Funny, too, that I am not your typical just-graduated-from-college 20-something, but rather I am a mid-50' veteran of the newspaper wars. So I think my efforts to be "cool" can be attributed to the age factor. Now, I am finding it much easier to be their fiend in a teach-appropriate way without crossing that line of being their "pal" but it took me a few cycles of… >>>

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