Teachin'

[benji]

We have some of those who cannot do so they do the lesser profession about, why not have a thread?

How do you design your course? Assignments? Exams? Quizzes? Projects? Papers? Etc.
Do you change depending on the course, or do you force it into your system?
Mandate attendance, punish non-attendance, reward attendance?
Flexibility in assignments, or clear structure?
Low end limits, high limits, range limits, or full freedom as long as everything was addressed?
Class? Online? Joint? Maximal? (In the case of online being forced, ignore, if a physical class, how do you utilize online resources?)
Usage of a text? Or minimize it as best as possible?
Schedule vs. Progression?
Best system of communication with students?
Sacrifice some content to make sure other is fully retained?
Coverage vs. enjoyment?

Everyone else can answer as to what they prefer as well, and add crap, I won't ban you.

Actually, those who only have experience on one side are more than encouraged to say what they like and best worked for them. I don't think any rational teacher would not consider students first.

But I of course live in a nation where students come last and teachers come first.

[Fresh8]

We have teaching evaluations at the end of semester... but I don't think they do anything. The most inept teachers are still at work.

[Lean]

Well now, a thread I can relate onto.

How do you design your course? Assignments? Exams? Quizzes? Projects? Papers? Etc.

The school where I was working before is a franchise of a bigger network so everything that we lecture on the students is a part of the "standardized curriculum" by the bigger network -- which leads me to this:

Do you change depending on the course, or do you force it into your system?

I'm assuming you're referring to the curriculum so uhh...

...I don't use the "standard" curriculum they are requiring us to. Mainly because a semester purely discussing programming terms won't do a student any good. The "standard" curriculum is composed of a course outline that you'll feel incomplete once you have a look on it, lots of acetate slides to be placed on an overhead projector that is consisting of terms, graphs and clip-art.

So by that I chose to swerve by the standards but follow the course outline and do the lessons on my own whenever I feel that the set of acetates will only make the students fall asleep.

Mandate attendance, punish non-attendance, reward attendance?

I score the attendance per meeting and it has an equivalent grade for the term. People who get perfect attendance somehow get additional points (to be added on some other grade factors, e.g. examinations and laboratory activities, etc).

Low end limits, high limits, range limits, or full freedom as long as everything was addressed?

Full freedom. I try to make the most out of a meeting and cover everything that I should.

Class? Online? Joint? Maximal?

Just a class. I only do the "online" part when I'm posting tutorials for them to read on when they get home.

Usage of a text? Or minimize it as best as possible?

On my first months I used the acetates and I got bored of it myself. Students will lose interest in the subject when all they got to hear is their teacher "translating" what's on the slide into Filipino.

Later on I swerved to the "no-slide, all-talk" stuff. I come to class with no reference materials to look at and I only bring my whiteboard marker and attendance sheet and I'll start talking. With that approach, somehow the students will feel that I "know a lot because I don't have any books with me during class" and it actually tested my credibility for doing so. Either way, students have focused their attention on me when I'm talking. If the subject is more on the conceptual side (or logical side) of programming, I did everything to not write a lot on the board so that the students will adjust themselves and force themselves to focus rather than to just wait for me to write the lesson on the board and they'd just copy it down and refer to it later when the exams come.

Schedule vs. Progression?

At first I'm inclined with schedule but due to the fact that many students just come to class to look like Asian pop stars, I kinda pushed them more to understand the lesson at hand before proceeding to the next.

Sacrifice some content to make sure other is fully retained?

On my part yes. Though it's the one thing I regret doing. I'd like them to learn everything that I know (or what the course outline says they should learn) but some are really progressing that slow, I had to refrain from giving advanced exercises or projects.

[dare]

Well I don't think I count as a teacher but during my 3 and half months of teaching I can somewhat relate to this.

In terms of assignments,quizzes,etc. I rely on the activities on the books, since I only teach elementary students. But the usage of text for me is minimal, I know for a fact that students at the young age found it boring if the teacher only relies on the book. So my plan is to bring some fun activities (games,jokes,etc)

As for the college students, I can relate to them more because some of my student are older than me or at the same age. They actually treat me as a friend who they can ask for some advice and not just a teacher.

[Lean]

As for the college students, I can relate to them more because some of my student are older than me or at the same age. They actually treat me as a friend who they can ask for some advice and not just a teacher.

This is the most likely setup these days as most students won't see their teachers intimidating or even worse than that.

[dare]

Well they still have respect for me, even though I only teach college students for one month they are requesting the dean to get me as their teacher. But too bad I don't really like being a teacher.

[shadowgrin]

I'll answer just for kicks based on my own experience as a student and since I considered it once when people kept asking me if I would do it. Answer is a resounding no.

Assumption is that I already have one semester under my belt and coming back to teach the same subject.

How do you design your course? Assignments? Exams? Quizzes? Projects? Papers? Etc.
Short quizzes (1-3 mins. worth) every time we meet based on the new topic or recall of the finished topic. So reading is their primary assignment. Maybe give one or two problems as assignment which aren't required to be submitted but gives additional credits to students who do submit.
2-3 exams per term probably. Exam at least 3 questions of easy, medium, and hard. With the weight of the hard question equivalent to the minimum of passing said exam.
Projects will probably be given at the start of the semester to be submitted on the final term. If not required by the syllabus, maybe as additional credit.
Papers, burn them I say.

Do you change depending on the course, or do you force it into your system?
Change hoping to stay on course and the students will learn at least the basics or important ones.

Mandate attendance, punish non-attendance, reward attendance?
W/e. Don't care if student only shows up during exams, as long as they pass it. Though, since I will give short quizzes every meeting, yeah, up to them. Heck they can even attend just for the quiz and then leave once they've taken it. Probably give the quizzes just before the beginning of class or near the end of the time alloted for the class, mixing it up to confuse and have the always late students or quiz only attendees on their toes.

Flexibility in assignments, or clear structure?
I would say structured. Though it's mostly reading of the topic, the quizzes and given assignments for credits are dependent on the current topic of the syllabus on that term.

Low end limits, high limits, range limits, or full freedom as long as everything was addressed?
Full freedom. Worst case, continuous removal exams for the students to at least show that they learned the basics!

Class? Online? Joint? Maximal? (In the case of online being forced, ignore, if a physical class, how do you utilize online resources?)
Joint? Drugs are bad mmmkay.
My free time away from work is my free time so stay away from me you damn kids, so class it is.

Usage of a text? Or minimize it as best as possible?
I'll probably make short handouts that emphasize the basics/important parts with 3 sample problems (easy, medium, and hard again) for each topic of the course. Available by (group) e-mail. The handouts serve as a "for dummies" text for the course so they can do advanced reading to know more for themselves because of the big possibility that I will suck at teaching them.

Schedule vs. Progression?
Schedule to be not behind but hoping for progression that the students understand faster. You can tell I'm not a teacher with that utopian idea.

Best system of communication with students?
Off-class consultation hours. E-mail. SMS, probably be limited to class alerts (no class today, deadlines, etc.) only.

Sacrifice some content to make sure other is fully retained?
Yes. Besides, handouts are available for the students to learn for themselves if time doesn't agree with coverage! Exams and quizzes are only limited to the discussed topics in class though.

Coverage vs. enjoyment?
For me, coverage.
For the students, Fear. (I won't go dictatorial on them and their grades, just to keep them on their wits)

[cyanide]

I’m not a teacher, but most of my life has been invested in Canadian schools (yes, they exist!)

How do you design your course? Assignments? Exams? Quizzes? Projects? Papers? Etc.
Depends on the course whether papers and projects are included, but I’d include assignments, quizzes and exams with a fairly distributed percentage based on how much is being tested in the whole course. An assignment would be worth very little, but it would force the student to attempt to understand the material. Assignments would take place two or three times per quiz. Quizzes would not be surprise quizzes, but they would test the students knowledge based on previous assignments. Quizzes would happen two or three times. There would only be two exams, and they are worth about twice as much as quizzes. There is a midterm and a final exam.

Do you change depending on the course, or do you force it into your system?
I could adjust the system if necessary.

Mandate attendance, punish non-attendance, reward attendance?
There’s no reward for attendance. The punishment is students fall behind if they miss a class and unless they have a legitimate reason for missing an assignment/quiz/exam, they are not allowed a second chance.

Flexibility in assignments, or clear structure?
Clear structure would benefit the students as they can see a clear outline of what to expect in the course. There might be adjustments, but the core structure should remain.

Low end limits, high limits, range limits, or full freedom as long as everything was addressed?
Range limits give a nice balance of structure and flexibility.

Class? Online? Joint? Maximal? (In the case of online being forced, ignore, if a physical class, how do you utilize online resources?)
Traditional class is fine, but I can see benefits for an online class (for time and convenience’s sake).

Usage of a text? Or minimize it as best as possible?
Concise and to the point, with lots of clear examples. I find that examples are the best method of teaching.

Schedule vs. Progression?
Schedule.

Best system of communication with students?
E-mail. If in-person is required, then during class or out of class is fine.

Sacrifice some content to make sure other is fully retained?
Save that for out of class and e-mails. The whole class shouldn’t fall behind because a few are. If the whole class doesn’t get it, then said adjustments will take place to change prioritizations.

Coverage vs. enjoyment?
Full coverage but learning should be enjoyable. Depends on the teaching style (sense of humour, good examples, passion) and the ability to get the students engaged. Must strike fear into students initially though, to earn their respect. Apply Machiavellian principles.

[shadowgrin]

Canadian schools

AKA industrial outhouses?

[Its_asdf]

I believe the proper term is industrial igloo.