Starting Out
Overview
You may have recently accepted your first position and are wondering what you should do next, or you may have been teaching for a long time but are waiting to see if you will have a class this semester because it depends on enrollment. You might also be in a situation in which your position is secure but the textbook, syllabus, etc. has already been chosen and/or written by someone else.
Adjuncts have to deal with many variable factors. Having a plan will go a long way to ease the stress of being in a new situation or of having to work within the confines of another instructor's course plan while infusing the plan with your own unique teaching style and personality.
Provided here are some resources that will help you get started with the process of planning for the courses you will teach. A checklist of some of these planning items is included.
Wilbert J. McKeachie's book Teaching Tips: Strategies, Research and Theory for College and University Teachers devises a strategy for course planning into the following time frames.
- 3 Months before class
- 2 Months before class
- 2 weeks before class
- 1 week before class
This structure of course may be quite a bit off as some institutions require that you submit textbook orders as much as four months in advance, which pushes back the entire plan by a month. You may also not be hired until just weeks before the course begins, so again, the schedule is off. The scheme above represents a suggested timeline given a perfect situation. Let us consider what elements need to be considered as a part of course planning and ways to make all of those elements work in conjunction with one another. Previous: Introductory Poll
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