I taught three classes today and in all of them I made little mistakes (some that could have been avoided)

First up was Higher. With  a test tomorrow revision was the order of the day. I had decided to use a revision sheet produced by one of the other lecturers. The sheet is very good, covers everything a student will need to know for the test.

Two problems I will try to fix for future revision.

1. Give sheet out beforehand. Giving the revision out just over 24 hours before the test is probably not the best idea. This would allow the students to work through the problems outside of class and discuss the topics in the classroom.

2. Mix up the questions. The questions were prepared in order of the topics. This makes sense when constructing the revision sheet because it makes it much easier to check whether all the learning outcomes are covered for the various topics. However, exam papers don't come ordered by topic so why do our revision sheets? Its the same with some of the revision stuff in the textbook, questions in the same order as they were taught. I think the revision would work better if the order was muddled up a little.

The other issue both of these address is making sure students identify a weakness they may have with a particular topic. Giving the sheet out earlier lets them have more time to assess their strengths/weaknesses and not ordering the topics means that if it is given to them in class, they will probably cover at least one question from each topic with me there to help. Some students today only got through a couple of the topics.

Second was a numeracy class. I wanted to use the roof mounted projector but when I came to turn it on (thankfully during a 10min break) it wasn't working. Cue rush to photocopy the charts I was then going to have to draw on the whiteboard. Next time have the back up plan sorted.

Third up and despite knowing what I wanted to get through and having that planned I forgot to double check what the notes I had already handed out covered. Again more photocopying needed so they had the notes covering the homework I had set. I did however remember to sort out that homework and photocopy it. Double check next time.