New(ish) teacher help

[Wondering1824]

Hello all!

I am currently teaching a once a week, 2.5 hour Literature course. I have only taught once before and it was a 2 day a week course. I feel overwhelmed because I am not quite sure how to fill so much time at once and especially do so in a way that doesn't get stale. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!

[ciao_yall]

Think of 20  minute increments.

• Opening activity
• Lecture # 1
• Group discussion on topic from # 1
• Breakout discussion on groups
• Lecture # 2
• Group discussion on topic from # 2
• Breakout discussion on groups
• Supported/scaffolded work on term paper
• Breakout discussion on individual progress/discussion

Throw a break in there and the time will fly by.

To avoid the blank looks and dead silences, require some sort of low-stakes preparation/reflection on the day's topic, done ahead of time, turned in at the beginning of class. This makes sure they have at least skimmed the reading and thought about it.

[Parasaurolophus]

Think of it as two of your previous classes in one, and separate each one with a 5-10 minute break.

Most of my classes are three hours long (well, 170 minutes). I usually break them up into three fifty-minute sections, with two ten-minute breaks. I usually spend one period on presentations or a more complicated group activity (e.g. a game, or a group assignment that requires a bit of in-class research), and I spend the remaining two periods talking about two chapters/articles, just as if they were two ordinary class days.

[present_mirth]

This is challenging, especially in a lit class. Structured debate can be useful. Immersive activities are your friend (like, say, having students put together a scene using cue scripts if you're reading Shakespeare, or doing some surrealist creative writing games when you introduce modernism, or even just sending students outside to contemplate nature for twenty minutes when you're reading the Romantics). Film clips are good, especially if you're teaching drama (and especially if you can find contrasting performances of the same scene or moment -- this is generally easy to do with Shakespeare, but more hit-or-miss with modern plays). Students sometimes perk up if they're asked to make connections to period art or some other visual item. Regardless, it can be a bit of a slog; most people are not all that prepared to focus on a class for two and a half hours at a time. I find that it works a little better to start with some in-class writing followed by discussion, then lecture about the next day's reading once students are starting to fade, rather than expecting them to switch to something that requires them to be alert and present after they've been in lecture mode.

[AvidReader]

I agree with all previous comments on breaking up the class into smaller chunks and offering a break in the middle (I break just once, because my students often come back slowly after breaks, and doing it twice is a real pain). We start with a writing activity, and we start back after break with another one--this gives them notes for the two discrete discussions or activities I have planned.

I like to have an activity that involves movement at some point: sometimes just switching groups, but also sometimes acting out a scene, walking to another location (the library, outdoor tables for a writing activity), or preparing something to read or do in front of the class. I don't lecture much in lit classes, but, when I do, I never talk for more than ten minutes without requiring something from them (usually discussion; sometimes writing). For long comp classes, I still split into two sections, start each with writing, and incorporate movement. Sometimes there our movement is a walk to a writing lab to work on citations.

I'd also recommend having your agenda available to the students so they know what is coming. As with a meeting, it's nice to know that the person in control has a plan.

Also note that a three hour class has some amazing benefits. You can set aside a day for a complex group project and base the groups around the students who come (and on time!). Discussions of hard topics have time to mature. Some of my best class discussions have happened in three-hour classes when I broke the agenda and let a good activity or discussion keep going.

AR.

[prof_beardo]

When I first started I'd get saddled with 3-hour classes (at night!) and it was a nightmare. A few tricks I've learned about once-a-week longer classes like that are;

• Breaks are key. A ten- to fifteen-minute break for a snack or a smoke is absolutely important. But...
  If I have the freedom to do so, I'll ask them if they want to sacrifice their breaks so we can actually wrap up early.
  Breaking class up in blocks is a great idea.
  I enjoy the pattern of something like; casual catch-up with them to get everyone talking/review from last week/context of new lesson/question check-in/mechanics of new lesson/check-in and review/workshopping examples (which gets them talking and participating)/question check-in/some other activity

It's a long time and until you get into the swing of it, it'll be rough no matter what. But you can do it! Just experiment to find what works with this group.