My lectures this semester are three hour chunks on Wednesday evenings. Evening lectures are late, but that’s not too big a deal. The problem is the three hour marathon.
Lecturing is more draining that people probably realize. There’s a lot of pacing back and forth, gesturing wildly, and staring into an overhead projector. Three hours at a stretch is pretty long.
Of course it’s mentally draining. The problem is talking while trying to figure out what you’re going to say next. Not saying something retarded in a three-hour span is pretty hard. I have a great deal of sympathy for politicians and celebrities who spend a lot of time on camera: the odds of saying something stupid are really high and that’s naturally the thing that gets remembered.
I think I have stumbled on a winning strategy to not feel like I have been beaten with a stick after three hours. I have been going down to the food course in Harbour Centre and getting a smoothie just before class. I drink it just before/at the start of class
My theory is that the smoothie does two things: keeps me hydrated and keeps the blood sugar up. I haven’t felt too bad after lecture the weeks when I have done that.
A coffee in the morning (which I don’t usually have, so I’m sensitive to the caffeine) seems to help too.
June 5th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
Vanilla Lattes do it for me…
June 12th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
Three hour lectures aren’t fun for us students, either. It’s hard to keep focused and not zone out, though it helps that you hand-write your lecture notes so we have to pay attention and write them down.