Today I got up and taught again. What a revealing experience. I have really got to work on making clear instructions and stating the learning outcomes clearly before the lesson starts.

Today some of the students were trying to have me on a bit. At first I just sort of ignored it and went on teaching – pitching my talk to those who showed interest. It became apparent that this tactic won’t really work in the long term.

What could have been done better on my part would have been to not go on too long and let them get on task. Their attention span is too short to handle a drawn out waffling session suitable for a university audience.

I mildly got on someone’s case for starting the task before I was finished giving my talk. They stopped but I noticed that I didn’t get the most heart warming reaction from her.

What I thought to do today was during the task I spent most of my time hovering around the part of the room where the rowdy kids were. I ended up having a few light moments with them and I could tell that this helped gain their trust a little.

Friday I teach this class again and I will try to do a fun task like a competition to achieve some of the lesson objectives whilest having a little fun.