Suggestions!
I really appreciate the suggestions folks made for my fall classes. If you made a suggestion, please email me your snail address, so that I can send you a little something fun as a reward! (And if you have a suggestion now, add it in!) My email is: bardiacblogger AT [nospamplease]yahoo DOT com. Take out the square bracketed stuff, and translate the rest.
More Class Stuff
A while back I talked about listening to some history lectures on line. I'd like my senior level class next semester to learn a little history, and I'm thinking of assigning them several of these lectures. What do you think?
Pros: different way of getting information, very flexible for those with mpg type players. No less flexible than other computer information for those who'd have to be at a computer. Nice for different learning styles. Information in a really good narrative form, nicely focused.
Cons: Students will remember less than if they read and took good notes (in my fantasy life). Sort of weird to use someone else's lectures? (But really, any weirder than using other on-line resources people put up?)
I would plan to ask them to listen to these in the first couple of weeks, a lecture at a time, with class time for questions. And I'd consider the hour of listening to lecture as an hour of homework time, so probably reduce reading a bit in that week.
Overload
A student has asked to overload into one of my classes. On one hand, the student probably needs the class in a real way and stuff. On the other hand, we try to limit the class size in these classes for a good reason. I'm leaning towards letting this person enroll as an overload. Thoughts?
Overloading is always tricky. Students always seem to have good reasons, but how many of those good reasons are coming up because of bad planning on their parts? Recently, I was asked by a student to do an independent study (unpaid, I might add) because the class she missed with me is necessary for graduation. Turns out the student took a class that is offered every semester during the time s/he should have taken my class (offered only in the spring). That's bad planning on her part, and s/he's going to have to suck it up and take my class with the rest of the students next spring during hir student teaching gig.
ReplyDeleteThe way I figure it, by rewarding hir with an independent study, I'm taking away time from other students. It's the same thing with overloads. When you overload for a student, you're taking away time from the other students.
I know what you mean. Overloading does impact other folks. But at my school, sometimes it's not at all bad planning on the students' parts, but lack of budgeting for classes on the school's part.
ReplyDeleteI decided to let her add so long as the physical classroom has seating.