I taught at a number of college campuses (campii ??) here in NS, mostly computer related subjects. I think some of my students developed a love/hate relationship with me. One of the reasons was that for the very 1st class at the start of the semester, I'd hit them with a 'surprise test'. Boy, you should have seen the looks I'd get... Then I'd mark them, return them with their typically dismal scores.. THEN tell my students that this test didn't count... You talk about waves of 'relief', I'd see it literally roll around the room. Then I'd tell them it was the only test I'd ever give that didn't count... BUT, that they'd each had one of their worst 'nightmares'. They'd walked into a 'test' where they were totally unprepared. But life went on. So, it put things into perspective, yet demonstrated the truism that life often puts us to the test, and it generally feels better if we are prepared for it. One of the other things I was noted (hated/loved/despised) for was my unusual teaching method. Other instructors commonly started off slow, and gradually ramped up to more and more difficult things. I did just the opposite. Following a brief primer on the basics, I'd dive my students into the hardest part of the course from the word 'go'. Man, talk about panic.. My biggest challenge at that point was to make sure no one gave up... convinced themselves they just couldn't do/get it. It
was only with time they grasped & appreciated my 'bizarre' teaching method. See,
by starting with the hardest first, I'd given my students the entire semester to get it... and then we'd gradually ramp down... Each & every day would follow with less
and less challenging things to learn.. So those still having problems with the hard stuff had more and more time to go back to it... and those w/o problems could go ahead... I had the highest success rate, and my students were far more advanced
than any of their peers or counterparts. I just had to remind them to reverse this process for tests... but either method will work. One thing more I'd like to add. If you approach school as if it were a 9 - 5, mon - fri job, it will do couple of things. First, that method should get you thru school, even if some days you need to work a little overtime. Second, that approach will prepare you for the workplace.
If you've grown accustomed to a 40 hr workweek at school, you'll find working in any other situation 'old hat'.. (second nature)
