When I think about how to organize my classes, I start with this premise: 5 segments per class with a (potentially) changeable order.
Those sections are:
- Review
- Textual Engagement
- Lecture about a key idea
- Writing/Small Group Discussion
- Application
Now I can see swapping #1 and #2 or having #4 follow #2 and having #5 come out of the lecture.The point is that as I develop my plan for the day, I have something substantive in each of these categories.
Day #1, for instance.
- Textual engagement with the syllabus, including a quiz to help students get into it.
- Review: the key points of the syllabus’s promises and requirements
- The Key Idea: the artist/author as a creator in the image of God; literature as part of the redemption of the world
- Writing/Small Group Discussion: a goal for the class
- Application: talking as an entire class about how to tie their individual goals to what the course specifically asks of them
It’s not a perfect structure, but it gives me a good start to evaluate whether I’m ready with a given lesson or not.