Pace your class
It is often hard to pace your class to cover the material when it is large,it has different age groups and different backgrounds.Each class is unique and seems to a personality.Covering all the material and leaving nobody behind can be quite a task.
Hi Rickey,
You are right about it being a big task to balance all of the course requirements with student needs. You have to cover the materials but you want to make sure the students are getting "it". You may want to use learning groups as a means of balancing the different learning needs of students with the required course content. The use of instructional supports such as graphic organizers and structured outlines are another way to provide support to students. Sometimes it is a matter of trying different ways to deliver the content until you find one or several that really work with the current group of students.
Gary
Hey Ricky
I am an Automotive Technology Instructor and I totally agree with you it is very easy to loose a student in a lecture or even the entire course, but you gotta keep focused on your students and see where each one stands. Maybe if you used random quizzes you can evaluate which students are staying behind and you can use other students who are capturing and understanding the material to help with those students, and if that doesn't work maybe tutoring groups could be a solution. Many of the times you can't slow down the pace of your course or you will loose the people that are keeping up.
What also helps me is when I have a teachers aid with me. Then we can both address the larger classes and one can concentrate on the slower ones and catch them up the the rest of the class. This also works with the advanced students, one instrustor can move on with that group so that they don't get bored and loose their interest.
Hi Kevin,
Good use of an additional resource. You are fortunate if you have another "body" in the class with you. Great way to balance the needs of students since each of you can reach more students.
Gary
Sometimes it is a matter of trying different ways to deliver the content until you find one or several that really work with the current group of students.
Hi Rami,
Right you are about finding delivery methods that will work for different student groups. Each time I start a new group of students I have to find the common components of the students and then build my instruction around them. This way I can target their needs.
Gary
It is very difficult to pace a class. I started one of my classes and everyday I would write down in a Word Doc everything I did in that class for the day. I did this for two of the same classes. I noticed a little variation between the two classes, but found myself always on track... usually a half a day ahead or behind, depending upon the students in the class.
Hi David,
You make a good point about class pacing. The dynamics of the different students in a class can dictate the flow and pace. That is why planning and having alternative activities are so important. I teach two sections of the same course back to back and I have found the exact same thing as you. It is amazing to me how each section can be so different from the other.
Gary
I have noticed a couple of things in my class when it comes to students that learn at different paces. One thing is that when you have to explain it a different way to someone who doesn't quite understand it, alot of times it brings up other questions from the people who are up to speed, which in turn takes you a different direction and that alone will help the slower students catch on. The second thing is that we have a daily tutoring taught by someone who teaches that subject matter, but no necessarilly the students own teacher. This seems to be a great help, but I don't think it's as much the extra time spent on the subject as it is a different perspective on the subject. Sometimes I will send a student to a different instructor just for this reason. It seems to work out well.
It seems that in my beginner classes there are usually a few students who are much more advanced than the others and can follow along with my instruction and even fore see where I'm going and finish sooner than myself. At this time I've noticed that other students start asking the advanced students for help, and I'm all for them lending a hand when needed, but sometimes it gets out of control and the advanced students fall behind themselves. I make sure all students are caught up at the end of the lesson but I don't want the advanced students to become frustrated. Should I put a stop to this?
Hi Justin,
You can still use the more advanced students but you should set parameters on the kind of help they can contribute to others. This way you will be protecting their time and advancement while allowing them the opportunities to share their expertise with others. This way the entire class can benefit from sharing.
Gary
I agree I teach the same course at two different time frames. I modify lesson plans to meet the needs for both class sessions however, I find that various students who are mostly my adult learners in the evening course learn the material at a slower pace due to the fact the most have been out of school for some time. Therefore, I cover the same material slightly differently in order to meet the needs of the student.
