next »

[queen_b]

This is of particular interest, as a colleague of mine is constantly flying into the office 20 minutes before class to draft a quiz or assignment for that day. He spends the 10 minute breaks in between classes making up other assignments. I wish I could say this his work is stellar, but it's sloppy. And people notice. Students are constantly complaining to me (and anyone who will listen) that they really hate this last-minute approach. They don't feel as if he cares about the subject--and they respond by putting about as much effort into their work as well. The sad part is that this professor is a genius and has more knowledge about our discipline in his little finger than I have in my whole body--but you can guess who gets better reviews. It's too bad, really.

[microbe_doc]

I would have to say that I can't answer your poll.  So much depends on the course, the number of times I have taught it, whether it is straight lecture or discussion etc.  I start my prep as soon as a course is assigned.  I break the subject down into segments and determine how long I should spend on each topic.  If I am doing lectures with PowerPoint assistance I put together the first week or two of lectures as early as possible.  If it is a discussion based course I start collecting the background readings that the students will be responsible for discussing.  I have come flying in 10 minutes before class to print off a quiz or assignment but usually like to have it already before that.

[newbie]

There are so many different things to prep, too, that my answers vary drastically. I prep the first few lectures a few weeks in advance. As we get further into the semester, I sometimes have to prep a lecture the night before class, even finishing up the final touches the day of the class. Other times I can keep ahead of the game and have everything done a week before class. Tests are generally finished a week to two days before the exam. Occasionally an in-class discussion plan will be polished the day of the class, perhaps even up to half an hour before.

That's the procedure when I have not taught a class before. When I have, on the other hand, many of the basic materials are already prepped, and so since less planning is needed, I can do more of it in advance.

[case_insensitive]

For the junior level course I'm currently teaching that I have taught on and off (mostly on) for 15 years, I prep most days in the hour before class - 80% of the topics i can do in my sleep and materials are already prepared.  However, for the topics in the course that have changed drastically since the previous semester (some always have because of tech content), I'll be working on those at least a week in advance.

For a new course, i'll start whenever I find out I'm teaching it.  For example, this fall i'll teach a course I've never taken or taught. I starting prepping almost immediately after I learned what I'd be teaching (a few weeks ago) by diving into readings and texts, research topics and looking at syllabi.  Now, I'm sorting through what I want to emphasize and beginning to make the detailed plan.  This is a grad course so it'll require a lot of on-going prep the first time through.

[abuflletcher]

There are different levels of prep.  For example, "deep prep" might get done from a couple of months to a couple of weeks ahead of time.  Then there's the mid-level prep, stuff that's going to take an hour or so, that always seems to need doing each week no matter how many times I've taught the same class.  A lot of this is class management sort of stuff or tweaking things for this group of students.  Then there's the on-the-fly sort of prep that can include last minute corrections and adjustments or even a pop quiz (and printouts of same), a mental revision of what you're going to do and in which order, and other sorts of "mental prep."

That having been said I seem always to be adding new stuff at the last minute and the first time I use this stuff it's typically in a rough state.  Then it gets refined for subsequent semesters -- and might even eventually become an "ol' standby" -- which I'm often reluctant to drop even after it's reached it expiration date.

I'll also admit that I've had classes that required almost no prep and that I've invented stuff right there in class.  Some of these spontaneously generated activities actually work so well that I end up working them up into a full-blown formal plan.  

So there's all kind of prep and it's all good.  But of course students are just as aware as we are when we haven't come to class prepared.

[kecko]

THere's nothing between "THE day before and "AT LEAST" a week. I usually prep 2-3 days before.

[lihtox]

I am a terrible procrastinator, in that I don't write out my class notes until the day before the class, typically.  As I'm also a young teacher (just finishing my fifth class now), I have yet to teach any course twice, which means that I typically have to spend all day preparing for the class; thus I wouldn't recommend my approach at all.  :)  Mind you, I teach introductory physics and mathematics courses where the course outline is generally fixed by the textbook ; I can modify said outline but it's always there to fall back on in worst-case scenarios.  If I had to choose readings and the like my approach would be a lot worse.

I feel like I should do more extensive advance planning for classes, particularly in the month before the class begins.  However, I find it difficult to get into it, because I know so little about what to expect: I don't know what the students will be like, how quickly they'll understand the material, how willing they'll be to participate, and so forth.  It may be a symptom of the "gypsy life" where one teaches a different class at a different school every semester.  Or it may just be procrastination and/or lack of character.  I'm working on it....

[edwidge]

Our classes only meet once per week (for 2 hours and 50 minutes), so I typically read everything during the week before, then the night before class I structure the class in my mind (how I'm going to integrate the readings, what I'm going to cover in lecture vs. small group or dyadic exercises), then the day of class I write the lecture and devise the small group discussion questions and/or dyadic exercise questions. This takes me about 2 hours. Then, typically, I have to stop at Kinkos on the way to class to make copies of something for that day.

It's a slightly stressful approach, but it works for me, and students frequently compliment me on how organized my classes are, how much they learn, etc., so I don't think I come across as sloppy or last-minute.

[conjugate]

Well, now I feel slipshod.  I don't count as "prep" things like designing or photocopying quizzes, so such activities take place quite a while before the class.  But I glance over my notes (from previous semesters, usually; I don't teach new courses often), see if I want to modify my homework assignments, and think about which students will respond to what kinds of examples or explanations.  That doesn't take long at all.  Likewise, grading doesn't count as class prep, although I have to do it to prepare for the class (at least on days when I hand back assignments). 

But I always get pretty good evaluations and my students seem to like me a great deal.  So maybe it's not that bad.  And of course it's lots more time for the "new" courses, but those don't come under the heading of the question, which dealt (if I remember right) "most" preps.

[larryc]

I used to be much more concientious.  But after ten years I find I have so many arrows in the quiver--lectures that can apply to different courses, a huge collection of documentaries that work well, powerpoint presentations, clever group activities, web activities--that I hardly give a thought to what I am doing in most of my classes until I am driving to school.

[arugula]

I always prep best and most in advance when I'm avoiding grading. Especially when I have papers to read, I plan wonderful and amazing classes, sometimes weeks and months ahead of when I'm going to hold them.

Sigh . . .

[case_insensitive]

I always prep best and most in advance when I'm avoiding grading. Especially when I have papers to read, I plan wonderful and amazing classes, sometimes weeks and months ahead of when I'm going to hold them.

Sigh . . .

You are not alone. :o)

[expatinuk]

well... I answered that I prep a couple of hours before. By that I mean I read over my notes and stuff. I do DEEP prep during the summer. I have everything all laid out the day classes start. Otherwise I'd never get anything done.