Honorable Teacher Shoma

Shoma from Pune India says in my first year of teaching and for many years that followed, I spent an inordinate amount of time preparing my own first day of school handouts. I thought it was the “hook” that students needed. I thought that teacher dominated discourse represented learning. But it really wasn’t.
Ask yourself these questions when preparing a handout whether it is for the first day of school or just a plain ordinary lesson on teaching reading strategies.
• What is the aim of the handout?
• Will I grade the handout?
• Will I go over the handout in class or collect it?
• How much percentage will I give for handouts for the final grade?
• Is my handout well prepared?
• Do students have enough information to tackle the subject matter of the handout?
• Are the instructions crystal clear?
• Do I want the students to finish the handout at home or during class time?
• Do I want to give the students an answer key for the handout?
• How much time do I want to spend talking about the handout?
• Did I preteach the content of the handout?
• Did I illustrate the task with an example?