Hi Mark: Prepared teachers are the professionals our students expect. As professionasl, we owe our students the time, effort, and planning it takes to prepare a thorough lesson. Gathering resources, choosing media, preparing a lecture, organizing equipment, constructing quizzes and tests, planning activities that will engage students (discussions, projects, etc) - these are just a few examples of what it takes to prepare. When we look at it like this, you're right, a studet will be able to see if the teacher has prepared or not. Unpreparepared classes are...well, ugly. Regards, Barry