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[whatsmyname]

I'm teaching two classes this term. I've taught these classes a number of times before, over the past several years.

I use essentially the same syllabi, and I have a complete set of notes, which are slightly reworked from term to term.

And yet, I still aside a massive amount of time to prep for each course. When I've gotten in a pinch, I've simply printed out each lecture shortly before class, looked over it for fifteen minutes or so, or even less than that, and the lectures went very well.

How do you break out of this "I need to prep a full day for each lecture so things will be absolutely perfect' mentality?

[molli_sols]

One thing that helps me is to reprep entire topics at a time, rather than individual class sessions.  So that might mean revisiting 2-4 class sessions at a time, reviewing my existing notes, updating the cover sheets of handouts and activities with the current dates, and removing or adding segments as necessary. Then, I hand out everything for that topic as one packet and I don't have prep again for a few classes. 

Also, when I encounter materials I might want to add to a class in the future, I put it in the appropriate topic file for that class right away so that when I do reprep the section I have all the possible new material at my fingertips. 

YMMV but for me it cut my reprep time by about 1/2.

[kedves]

There is some point for each of us at which diminishing returns make additional expenditures of time irrational--at least in terms of improving the lecture.  Did these threads help you at all?

http://chronicle.com/forums/index.php/topic,61534.0.html

http://chronicle.com/forums/index.php/topic,62617.0.html

[circularity]

By doing what you've done: going into class less prepared than I wanted to be and still having the lecture turn out great. I bet your "underprepared" classes went just as well as, if not better than, your well-prepared ones. When you don't overprepare, you're more natural and spontaneous, you improvise, you're more energetic and enthusiastic, you're more open to ideas from the audience, you foster greater interaction, you make the classroom environment more comfortable and less rigid...do I need to go on? One article that I read on the subject advised spending no more than 2 hours prepping for each hour of class. I can often get away with prepping for just an hour per hour of class (for classes I've already taught), and sometimes I can do it in half an hour. My classes are far more interactive and fun now than they were when I overprepared them.

[mountainguy]

Also, when I encounter materials I might want to add to a class in the future, I put it in the appropriate topic file for that class right away so that when I do reprep the section I have all the possible new material at my fingertips.  

Chime with Molli. I find that keeping a notebook for each course--to which I can add material--helps immensely the next time I teach the course. I also find it helpful to jot down what worked and what didn't after each day I teach.

On a related note, I'd be curious to hear how other forumites prep. I realize that sounds absurd and largely depends on the subject matter and instructional method. But I'm still curious. I generally do a formal lesson plan outlining my objectives, what sequence I'm going to do things in, and questions to ask students. I'm terrible at coming up with good discussion questions on the spot unless I have them written down. But I don't need to write down a lot of lecture material--in fact, I find it counterproductive when I do. I just put down a list of key ideas to cover (usually  no more than 1/2 to 1 page) and do it.

[csgirl]

I teach very technical material, so overprepping is kind of a norm for me.Putting together a lecture means understanding something pretty arcane and technical to a very high degree so I can answer student questions. So I spend a fair amount of time reading technical references, preparing Powerpoint slides, and lots of code examples which have to actually work of course. I would guess it takes me, for an upper division course, about 4 hours of prep time for every hour of lecture.

[madhatter]

A former forumite used to claim that her classes would be unchanged until retirement. I suppose that's a different spin on "perfectionism."

[mystictechgal]

Please forgive me, I don't mean to hijack, and this is tangenital although, perhaps, related...   So far I'm seeing anywhere from 1/2 hr. (and saying that's an anomaly) to 4 hrs. of prep time per hour of class taught spent--by the professors teaching it.  Do any of you think to mention that to your students when explaining the expectation might be 2 hrs. of study time per hour in class to actually learn the material for the first time?

[msmicrobe]

Please forgive me, I don't mean to hijack, and this is tangenital although, perhaps, related...   So far I'm seeing anywhere from 1/2 hr. (and saying that's an anomaly) to 4 hrs. of prep time per hour of class taught spent--by the professors teaching it.  Do any of you think to mention that to your students when explaining the expectation might be 2 hrs. of study time per hour in class to actually learn the material for the first time?

Yep. All the time, and especially when they say it takes them 3-4 hours to read and take notes on a chapter. I tell them that's about what it takes me to do exactly the same thing when the material is new.

They don't like hearing that, though. Many of them want the faster way, which doesn't exist.

[msparticularity]

One other suggestion is to watch carefully what you are doing with your time when you do all of this prepping. Are you thinking about how to improve or maybe rearrange your lectures based upon your students (mis)understandings last time around? If so, then some of this time may be justified since it could make you a much more effective teacher.

However, if you're nit-picking and/or "wordsmithing" you are wasting your time; you are striving for a level of polish and finesse that ought to be going into your publications, where your peers can appreciate it--because your students certainly won't!

[whatsmyname]

Probably the latter.

And I'm also learning that a lot of my "prep" simply involves re-reading my previous lecture and reading notes, and this level of repetition is boring me.

So I should be reading new material, whatever it may be, to revitalize my interest level.

It's also somewhat counter-productive in the sense that the students I teach are so academically challenged, they literally cannot read a sentence properly.

[hiddendragon]

Ditto!!!  I'm sitting here having prepped virtually all evening.  I had also spent about three hours preping earlier in the morning, too.  And, I'm thinking the same thing about wasting too much time on these courses that I've taught before.  The more I prep, the less I felt ready because I start thinking about having not done this or that, forgetting to get this point in, etc....  Arrrrrgh!  I'm going to quit prepping and go to bed now.  Sleeping is probably more productive than stressing.

[baphd1996]

Ditto!!!  I'm sitting here having prepped virtually all evening.  I had also spent about three hours preping earlier in the morning, too.  And, I'm thinking the same thing about wasting too much time on these courses that I've taught before.  The more I prep, the less I felt ready because I start thinking about having not done this or that, forgetting to get this point in, etc....  Arrrrrgh!  I'm going to quit prepping and go to bed now.  Sleeping is probably more productive than stressing.

I'll have to agree.  I'm always amazed to find out how little I know when I'm preping for a class.  I go with at least 2 hours of preparation for each hour of lecture for classes I've taught before.  It's more like 10 hours prep per hour lecture for new classes.

[sugaree]

It depends - if the course is brand new, I can spend up to 5-6 hours prepping for a single lecture/discussion (and I had forgotten it was this much work when I created the new course I'm currently teaching, ugh!). If it is a course I teach regularly, less than an hour is all it takes for my prep. I let go of perfectionism long long ago (if I ever even felt this sense before, which is doubtful).

[whatsmyname]

What's odd is that I have every single lecture typed and printed out from my computer and I also have reading notes on every single assigned reading as well, also printed out. All of this is oganized in order in a binder and I can easily review a lecture's notes and readings in approximately 5 minutes.

Yet, I cannot relax and allow myself to believe or feel as if I am fully prepped. Which I am.