In many City Lit classes, students are working on their own projects or tasks for much of the session and the tutor is circulating giving 1-1 support. Time management in this situation can be difficult. Below are some tips if you are involved in leading workshops or practicals.
Allow students time to ask questions before they get going. Set a time when they will be back as a group and able to ask questions.
If appropriate, put up a sheet of paper on the wall with 10 minute time slots. Students fill in their names next to a slot. To help stick to the 10 minutes, perhaps use the timer on your phone, with an alarm if necessary. Warn the student with ‘Any last questions?’
Alternatively if students are completing exercises and can get stuck, agree a signal they can use to show they need help without shouting out. Where appropriate, encourage them to use their peers for help too.
Visit less confident students early, whilst not obviously making a beeline for them.
If a student asks for help with something useful to all, open it to the whole group: ‘Can you pause and listen to/watch this as I’ve realised this will be useful to everyone’. Expect to explain it again even so as students focussed on their work may not take it in.
For students working on personal projects, ask them to think of the most important question they want clarified in their 1-1 so you can be as focussed as possible. Limit your feedback to 2/3 goals for the next stage.
Ask students to clarify what they are doing next before you leave to check they have understood.
Use brief group tasks during and at the end of the session such as students sharing work with a peer. Establish groundrules for feedback - constructive and positive suggestions that form useful critique, not faint praise or offhand advice. eg ‘Give one thing you like,and one idea for the future’ .
Thanks to Adam Piper for the tips on this page.