Friday. Junior English. Third period.
It was my first day flying solo (so to speak--there's a co-teacher) in Ms. A's class. The lesson plans said to present a slideshow to the class while they took notes. Easy enough.
I previewed the slides. And I panicked a little. The classes are 92 minutes long. There was no way the slides could possibly take up a full hour and a half of class time.
The classes will read The Great Gatsby once we return from spring break. The slideshow was about The American Dream, F. Scott Fitzgerald (the author), and general historical background on the 1920s Jazz Age (when the book is set).
But, I had made the assignment from the previous class due Friday, so they'd get a bit of time to finish that up if they needed it. Or so the plan went.
After the morning announcements, we got to work. As I do, I discussed the slides. They had bullet points about The American Dream. I expanded upon what was there. I pointed out how while taking notes, they didn't need to write down what was on the slides verbatim.
And as I talked (and waited for the students to finish writing), I watched the clock. Time kept ticking away. And soon I realized this was all taking some time. A lot of time.
We had twenty minutes of class time left. I did a mental inventory. We had a lot of slides left. And I realized, I wasn't going to finish the slideshow by the end of the period.
Oops.
Although, this was a good problem to have. I was worried I'd have half the class to fill after finishing up.
I had no idea I could talk that long. And it wasn't even an issue of me having to stop every two minutes to get their attention again. They were following along, a few piping up when I asked questions of the class. I mean, it went well.
When I noticed that we were within five minutes of the end of the period, I called it. Not quite finished, but looking ahead to the next week, I realized I could finish off the slides then. I definitely have a bit of a cushion, although that means that we'll do a video on the author's life on the last day before spring break. They were supposed to have a free day as Ms. A was kind of expecting many of them not to show.
No big deal. The video is just on F. Scott Fitzgerald's life. I mean, it's interesting and all, but it won't hurt them if they miss that day.
The slideshow was 55 slides long. I got through about 30 of them.
So, now I know I can fill an entire 90-ish minute period with 30 slides. I might need this information later.
Today's A to Z Challenge post brought to you by the letter
Perhaps off topic, but: I wish that when I studied The Great Gatsby in high school that I had the historical background and info on the author's life and the Jazz Age in general,, instead of just plunging into the book. As it was, I found it boring and lost interest quickly. I may have had a different experience if I had been in your class.
ReplyDeleteYeah, they didn't take that sort of time when we were in school. Of course, they made us read the book on our own. Nowadays, we know the kiddos won't actually read the book, so we do it in class with them.
DeleteWe got some historical perspective, but not a lot.
DeleteSomething's better than nothing, though.
DeleteIt's great the students were engaged - and clearly you were too. :-)
ReplyDeleteOh, I don't know about that. The kiddos weren't talking over me, so that was great.
DeleteYou had no idea you could talk that long! It sounds like the subject must be one you were enthusiastic about. And that your talking was interesting enough the class didn't get antsy and disruptive!
ReplyDeleteOh no. I had slides to read from. If I had to make up a lecture, I would speak for maybe ten minutes.
DeleteFrom having too much time to not enough.
ReplyDeleteHowever much I practised talking to my slides to get the timing right, I *always* took longer on the day. ;)
ReplyDeleteThese weren't even my slides, so I was winging it as I went through.
DeleteI have noticed, both when I was a substitute and in real life, I tend to underplan. Meaning, I have very little trouble filling class time. I guess I just yack too much. I never had problem writing papers, either. Not that they were works of art, mind you. It's just that I always met the minimum. I just had trouble cutting things back. You know, like this comment.
ReplyDeleteAbout three minutes per slide sounds a good pace. It sounds a good learning experience for you as well as the students.
ReplyDeleteVisiting from A to Z https://anneyoungau.wordpress.com/
I didn't think of it like that, but yeah, that would have had to be the timing.
DeleteThat's a lot of talking
ReplyDeleteIt was. And I was just getting over a cold, so I was dreading doing it.
DeleteI'm sure you had great fun with some comparisons between Trump's MAGA and Gatsby's themes of nostalgia for bygone era, exclusion vs inclusion, wealth and identity...
ReplyDeleteYou give me way more credit than I deserve. I just read off the slides that they had already made.
DeleteIt looks like the class/lesson went smoothly, so….well done!
ReplyDeleteMy J is here https://theboxofcolors.wordpress.com
Thanks.
DeleteSounds like the lesson went way better than expected! Always a good "oops" when you think you’ll run out of stuff but end up needing more time. Glad the class was into it—definitely a win for your first solo day!
ReplyDelete