My class is a Monday, Wednesday, Friday class that meets at 8am until 9:25 am.  It is a five credit class and is therefore fairly intensive for the students in the material that we are required to cover over the course of the semester.  While any given day may differ in our schedule and instructional activities, I tend to follow the same organization of my time.

(1)    Take Roll

(2)    Make Announcements – upcoming tests, university announcements, department announcements, etc.

(3)    Questions from previous homework – answer questions that the students may have regarding their homework assignment covering the material from the previous class period.

(4)    Begin day’s lesson plan – this may include lecture, power point slides, technology enhanced activities, group work, or group activities designed to engage student learning.

(5)    End class with any unanswered questions the class may still have and remind them of any important announcements and/or assignments.

One aspect of teaching at the university level that I particularly enjoy is the minimal need for classroom management.  This makes it possible to maximize instructional time with very little interruption.  In order to maximize the time in class that I do have to implement instructional activities, I encourage students to contact me outside of class, usually via email, with questions or concerns that do not concern the subject matter.  Examples of these are notification of scheduling conflicts, requests for extensions on assignments, concerns about their current grades in the class, and advice on how to improve their study skills and grade.  There are also many university and department tools and offices that students can turn to in order to discuss issues or concerns they may have outside of the specific requirements of my classroom.  These include the Math Lab, the Accommodations Office, and the Department Administration.  These resources are very useful for students and for me as an instructor to not take up classroom time addressing these things.

                The general organization and schedule of my classroom time helps me and the students to know what to expect during any given class period and allows us all to glean as much as we can from the material being covered that day.