Saturday, May 22, 2010
Planning Lectures
Calling all teachers of mathematics!! I'm teaching a course this summer (starting in a little over a week) on Linear Algebra. The course will run for 5 weeks with 4 classes a week except for the first, where there will be three (due to the US holiday). I've got the material all planned out, and when homeworks/quizzes will be due and what they will all be. I'm at the stage where I need to start planning out the lectures. Any tips for a newbie on motivating especially the first lecture? Each lecture is 2 and a half hours long, so I need to keep them in tune with what's going on at the board - easier said than done, I know. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
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4 comments:
Some thoughts in no obvious order, and based mainly on personal experience and style (though some of them based on feedback I've gotten):
*) Outline at the start of the lecture.
*) Think through the _narrative_. You are telling a story, know what it's like.
*) Find ways to anchor it outside the course you are teaching. Don't spend a _lot_ of time talking about other things, but give hints and clues as to where it connects to the rest of the world (mathematical or real)
*) Keep track of what you're doing on your board: label definitions, examples, theorems. Write down formulations, write out details. You are bound to go too fast anyway (at least I am) - you can slow yourself down by writing.
Good luck!
Excellent tips! I especially like the second one. I am used to only doing recitation sections, i.e. doing problem after problem with a few explanations here and there. Thank you!
For long classes, doing examples in detail are always a great time-filler. And if your students are anything like mine, that's almost the entirety of what they'll get out of the class - they'll go look at the homework and try to copy your examples.
I do believe that's what my students will try to do as well. In the little bit I have planned out, there are many many examples. I guess I will continue that throughout.
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