Thanks to Steve Klein for this contribution to my series of advice for a new adjunct journalism professor:
Steve Klein
Too often, new instructors are over-ambitious in the classroom.
And even some veteran teachers never seem to learn that one thing.
A teacher can bring a packed 20-pound bag of valuable learning to a class but probably only has time — and the necessary students’ attention span — to empty a fraction of it.
Which brings me to “The One Thing.”
What do you most want your student to learn from each class?
What will each student remember from each class?
What will each student remember at the end of the semester?
What will each student remember five, 10, even 20 years later?
That’s why you don’t want to over-pack that bag you bring to class.
And that’s the one thing every teacher should remember!
Steve sent this slide show to make his “one thing” point:
Buttry note: I welcome guest posts from other journalism faculty — adjunct or full-time — for this series. Or if you’re a current or recent journalism graduate, I’d be interested in your observations about what your professors did that was most effective and what didn’t work as well. Please name any professors you’re praising, but I’m not interested in giving you a chance to publicly bash professors you didn’t like. If you’d rather contribute from your own blog than as a guest post, send me a link and I’ll promote it here.
Earlier advice for a new journalism professor
Advice for a new journalism prof: Teach lessons a variety of ways
7 types of content to include in journalism classes
Curt Chandler’s advice to a new J-prof: Don’t assume, show examples
J-prof’s challenge: Use experience to teach specific lessons, not to bore
Teaching advice from Kathleen Woodruff Wickham: Learn how academia works
Chris Snider’s teaching advice: Students learn from presentations
Journalism teaching advice from Pam Fine: Get ready for grading
Teaching advice from Norm Lewis: What students learn is most important
Tim McGuire: ‘Experimentation is the soul of effective teaching’
The Buttry Diary 