next »

[comp1]

Honestly, have any of you had to pull an allnighter to prep for a class? I know it's not the best way to go. Neither is it professional. But have you ever found it necessary?

[econ_anon]

Good lord no!

What kind of class are you teaching?  Think of ways to get them do the work for you and don't try to stuff too much into the lecture.  Streamline to the take-aways and make sure they really get everything.

[ptprof]

My first year of Full Time teaching, I had some very late nights in the Fall semester prepping classes.  I was hired in mid-August and given 4 classes (3 lecture, 1 Lab) which started at the end of August.  I've never done it since that semester.

Currently, there are a few occasions where I may be up late looking something up to add to a lecture, but never an allnighter and only for additional materials to add to a previously established presentation.

[zharkov]

I'm a fuddy duddy and have never stayed up all night in my entire life.

I also seldom need to prep for more than on hour or so for a one hour class, and it is often less. (For me, having taught a class a few times, having  PhD in the field, and my charming persona enable me to do more of a refresh than a prep in any heavy duty sense.)

[arugula]

The days when my body could handle an allnighter are over.  But even if I could manage it, I think I wouldn't.  When I'm short on prep, it's especially crucial for me to be well rested, sharp, responsive, and emotionally engaged.  An allnighter would leave me unable to focus and more emotionally vulnerable (i.e. more likely to freak out in class over something that in retrospect turns out to be nothing).  

What single class could require all night to prepare?

If you are up all night, I wish you well and I'll send you some good karma vibes.

[voxprincipalis]

When I first started teaching as an adjunct, I taught on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Mondays and Wednesdays (all day) were given over completely to prep for those classes -- primarily research and writing lectures, since they were courses I'd never taught. Sometimes I would need the morning hours on T/Th to finish up, but I always started prepping VERY EARLY on MW because I was deathly afraid I wouldn't get it all done in time. Fortunately I had the luxury of using those days for that prep, or I would have been sunk.

Now I teach classes for which much less prep is required, but I remember those frantic days well. I wish you luck, comp1!

VP

[yatchie]

Not quite an all nighter, but about 5 hours a night.  I got my first class over the summer -- three hours a day, four days a week.  I thought that I had prepared all these notes the previous semester, then the first day came, and I blew through everything I had in 20 minutes!  So for about 2/3 of the semester I spent about five hours a night trying to come up with ways to explain the material.  Then it finally dawned on me that I could make them do stuff in class -- what takes me a couple minutes to do on the board takes them 10 - 20 minutes to do, and they even appreciate that they can ask me questions.  Now I know.  Instead of me staying up all night, I just have to throw together a worksheet or pick some problems out of the book for them to do as groupwork :)

[comp1]

Holy cow. I just realized that some of you said you had late nights, but that none of you has had to pull an allnighter. I don't know what's wrong with me. I really hope I'm not the only one. I've *almost* got it under control, but it would still be nice to know if others have found themselves in the same position.

I know, though, that I do need to find ways to promote group work (time when 50 students' heads aren't pointed towards me at the front of the class). I have an upper-year Lit. class of 50 students, and I'm clueless as to how to get them to talk to themselves for a while. Any suggestions?

[arugula]

Okay, rolling up sleeves, I think we collectively can help with this one.

What did they read for tomorrow?

One option:  Do a "silent" discussion as follows:  Write several important questions that will help discussion go how you want it to, one each on single sheets of paper.  In class, have each student write a single question at the top of a blank sheet of paper.  It should be the most pressing question the text left them with, or otherwise smart, funny, or interesting.

Then, have them start trading and writing responses to each other.  They aren't to talk or compare answers, only write.  Your job is to keep the papers moving by circulating and making sure they're getting traded.  Students can write long or short answers, depending on what they have to say, and encourage them to refer to the text or class notes.

As students receive new papers, they have to read the question and everyone's answers before responding.  Encourage them to respond to each other (agree, disagree, extend, connect) as well as to the original question on the page.

This activity works really well for some lit classes - you can sustain it as long as it's engaging your students.  It's a good opportunity for students to articulate their responses in writing, and it allows students who are often quiet a chance to speak up.

So say you do that for the first half of class.  Have everyone hand them in.  Then, ask if anyone has a particularly good question/set of answers and read a few aloud.

Last, cover any ground on the text that got missed in the general discussion: major themes, literary devices/structures they should have noted, etc.  End by connecting the current reading back to the course as a whole (how does it compare to what you read last/what you'll read next).

That's it, a full hour, everyone discussed, you covered your stuff, everyone's happy and you get some sleep.

[voxprincipalis]

Arugula, I think that is *brilliant.*

VP

[prytania3]

Comp1, I think I did pull some allnighters my first year on the t-t.

I still do, too, but I'm manic. No doubt I'll be up all night tonight worrying about my margin call.

[arugula]

Gee whiz, VP, that's the nicest thing anyone's said to me all day!

To clarify, OP: You write some questions that you put in circulation.  This means there are more questions than students, which helps keep things in circulation so no one is waiting at any moment.  It also guarantees that questions you want asked get discussed.  In a class of 50, I might make two or more sets of the most important questions and start them in different places in the room so more students get a chance at them.  If they draw a question twice they just trade it in for another.

[comp1]

Seriously, Arugula, you've got a load of good karma coming at you. Thanks for the advice.  I'm sure it will come in handy very soon.

Thanks, everyone, for your responses. Prytania, how am I not surprised that you and I are the only ones??! I hope your googling turns out to be manageable for you. Can you wait for it to go down before you have to pay back, or will you probably get called because the price went up?

[prytania3]

Seriously, Arugula, you've got a load of good karma coming at you. Thanks for the advice.  I'm sure it will come in handy very soon.

Thanks, everyone, for your responses. Prytania, how am I not surprised that you and I are the only ones??! I hope your googling turns out to be manageable for you. Can you wait for it to go down before you have to pay back, or will you probably get called because the price went up?

I'll give you an answer on "our" thread. And Argula, I, too, really liked your class assignment. Thanks!

[larryc]

I pulled my first all-nighter in years this spring working the kinks out of a proposal due the next day.  We got the grant, so it was worth it, but it took me three days to recover from sleep deprivation.  I am not getting any younger.