While working in the Student Success Department at my university, I hear time and time again that the professor’s pace is just too fast for the students to keep up. While teaching Researched Writing and Persuasive Writing, I can see the professor’s side of things as well, but that will be another post. I have also done a great deal of research and study involving differentiated education. That, too, will be another post. Today I am writing to students. Here are some straightforward tips for how to succeed in a class when the professor teaches at break-neck speed.
Know What You’ve Gotten Yourself Into
It only takes one or two sessions, or, better yet, a quick conversation with a friend who has taken a class with this professor before, to know if the pace will be a challenge for you. If you find that this class might progress at a speed that will likely prove difficult for you, then you know you need to build your contextual knowledge as much as possible. The more you develop your familiarity with a subject, the more easily you will be able to pick out key pieces of information from the lecture. Instead of trying to memorize every important date in WWII before your first day of class, instead, familiarize yourself with the broad strokes.
2. Be Ready to Make Split-Second Decisions
When your professor or teacher speaks quickly, try focusing your attention on key points or terms as they pop-up. This takes practice, and sometimes you will decide to focus on the wrong thing or neglect a crucial piece of information. This is all apart of the process! Stick with it, and soon you will do this intuitively. Also, be sure to review your notes as soon as possible after the lecture.
3. Borrow Someone’s Brain, and Lend Your Own
It’s a brand new decade, and it’s no more difficult to share notes than it is to post your favorite acai bowl or latte art. The benefit of the current classroom structure is that if the instructor is moving too quickly for you, odds are you are not alone in that opinion.
Share pictures of your lecture notes with friends and peers in the class, and ask that they return the favor. Focus on what they wrote down that you didn’t and feel free to ask them clarifying questions. This helps both of you, I promise.
4. Save Some Room For Later
When taking notes, be sure to leave plenty of room for adding in information that you may have missed previously. Use a symbol or word to remind yourself that you missed this portion of the notes so you can fill them in later.
Our brains tend to enjoy a chronological sequence, and our professor often does as well. Inserting the missed information in the order it was meant to be received is very important for both the understanding of the course content and building an appropriate scaffold of contextual understanding.
5. Talk to Your Prof.
Believe it or not, we are people too. Additionally, any instructor worth their salt should actively care about your success. The more effort you show, the more inclined the teacher will be to help you along.
Even the strictest of teachers value hard work, and it’s their duty to help where they can. Bring your notes to your instructor and show them the sections you’d like to focus on understanding. This might also serve as a kind and gentle hint that the course’s speed might be an issue for more than just you.
6. Consider “Super” Notes
Before each class be sure to not just read the required chapters in your text, but take detailed notes as you do. Pour over whatever information you can, and most importantly, write down questions you have so you can ask them in class. You can consider taking “supernotes”.
When you are taking notes on the text, leave plenty of room so that you can add lecture notes in as well. This helps you develop a bird’s eye view of the content and will help for future exams.
7. It Can’t Hurt To Ask
Again, the odds are, you are not alone in your opinion that the professor is moving too quickly. Consider writing a polite and professional email requesting that the professor consider slowing down if possible. Good advice for classroom communication, and future professional communication: be specific.
Also, keep in mind that, whether you like your professor or their personality, they have worked very hard on building this content and structure. Without personally criticizing them, let them know that you are worried about the pace. If this doesn’t work, or even if it does, don’t hesitate to ask your professor to repeat something you have missed.
8. Remember, You Deserve To Be Here
I can tell you, after having worked in post-secondary admissions, people aren’t accepted to schools by mistake. You were not a glitch in the system bound to be found out. You are not at your institution because they need bodies in the seats. You have been accepted to a college, you have the confidence of your school. No two people speak the same, or write the same, or think the same. So why is it that so many teachers assume that we all learn the same?
The topic of differentiated education is not new, and it is long. But, as a student, what you need to remember is that however you learn, you have the ability and capacity to do so… and well. When you learn how you learn, you begin to learn how to learn. This isn’t just a skill to get you through college, this is a skill that will help develop you into the best working professional that you can be. Also, it will help you get through college.
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