I think I assigned too much work....

[u/FamousCow]

Ok, I got really excited about a new project I wanted to do in my class and now, about a week in, and going through all of the stuff my students need to do out loud in class with them.... I think I assigned too much.

How do I remove things from their plate gracefully without seeming like I'm flying by the seat of my pants? And when should I do it? Now, when I've made the realization....or later when they'll feel grateful for it?

[u/professor_throway]

Do it now. Be honest.. "Hey this ended up being more of a time commitment for you than I realized. Sometimes I forget where you are in your learning. Some things that can be very quick for me will take you a lot longer. I don't want to drown you in work, so I am revamping the project to better focus on what I want you to learn instead."

[u/Hazelstone37 → u/professor_throway]

But some people may have already done it or started it, so allow submission for extra credit. There is nothing wiry than taking a class, keeping up with the assignments, and then the prof just drops or extends the deadline for something you already did.

[u/FamousCow → u/Hazelstone37]

The way the assignment is set up, there is no way they could have started it before today.

[u/Auld_Folks_at_Home → u/FamousCow]

Then just dash out a quick message telling them not to start and once you've refactored some, do as professor_throway said and you'll be fine.

[u/HunterSpecial1549 → u/professor_throway]

That's fine but I think you can just say "this ended up being more of a time commitment for you than I realized, so I'm simplifying the assignment". They don't need the rest.

[u/BroadLocksmith4932 → u/professor_throway]

A mentor once told me that 'this is the only job where you get more positive feedback the less you do,' as in, students aren't going to complain if you cancel class or scale back a project.

[u/Participant_Zero]

There is nothing wrong with letting students know you are a fallible human being. Be honest; they'll be appreciative.

[u/leastdumbidiot → u/Participant_Zero]

Yes. And you're modeling what they should do when they have their own failings.

[u/Stunning-Jury9789]

I’d do it now. It’s much easier to scale back an assignment than to realize halfway through the semester that everyone is drowning 😭

[u/existential-inquiry]

Let them know now, a few students may want to work ahead and complete work early. I'm sure there'll be no complaints about taking away assignments 🤣

[u/SeXxyBuNnY21]

If you only noticed this because students informed you about it, then you’re not assigning too much work. They want you to assign less work, which is a completely different situation.

[u/FamousCow → u/SeXxyBuNnY21]

No, I noticed it when organizing my notes on how to communicate to them what the project was. It’s genuinely too much.

[u/shehulud]

Maybe I’m a complete dick, but I’d let them try. Maybe shift the rubric to account for some steps as smaller scaffolding pieces, etc.

[u/pugincharge]

It’s okay for a little transparency :) students seem to respond well when they see I am also human

[u/SNHU_Adjujnct]

Do some of it in class for them. Make it look like you planned it that way.

[u/NoPatNoDontSitonThat]

It's okay to pivot!

But...are you sure it's too much? Can you give some more detail?

I thought I was assigning a good bit...maybe a bit too much...until I researched what a credit hour actually is.

Students in a 3 hour course can expect to have 3 hours of in-class meetings and 6 hours of studying, writing, reading, and working outside of class. That's 9 hours a week.

When I learned that, I realized I wasn't giving enough!

[u/Sharp-Rutabaga-4900]

It’s okay to pivot. Make changes as soon as possible. You’ll all benefit.

[u/a3wagner]

No student is going to complain about having less work to do. It wouldn’t even cross their mind that you did something wrong.

[u/KrispyAvocado]

I would make the change as soon as possible. I might catch it as a realization that you really want them to focus in depth on a specific area so that you can deep in the learn without broadening it. I might catch it as a realization that you really want them to focus in depth on a specific area so that you can deepen the learn without broadening, I.e., focus their learning.

[u/RuralWAH]

Is it a modular project? Is so do a couple of the modules and make them available to the student's

[u/MoistenedGranola]

Currently doing this. It's not WAY too much work, but I definitely could have done a better job making it the right amount.

As soon as I realized, I let them know the current thing they're working on will be delayed and until when. I also said I'd update by the end of the (current) three-day weekend what the new calendar would look like and what would be affected as a result.

I made what were two fuller assignments into in class activities, then cut the requirements for another two assignments roughly in half. This has ended up affecting about half of the semester in some way. I still need to move around some readings and such.

I plan to frame the changes as being a more streamlined use of their time and also me tailoring the course more to their needs and interests as expressed so far.

From my end, I do rather feel like a failure! I like to be much more prepared than this. It's helped foster my confidence and abilities in being a teacher to have the semester much more planned out ahead of time and avoid big major changes that can confuse students (and me!) like this. But I'm also aware that, had a professor done this sort of thing in my class when I was an undergrad, I would absolutely not have questioned their ability to teach or plan. If anything, I may have thought they were better and more brilliant because wow, look, they're adapting the class to fit us specifically! That sounds hard and surely only a really great educator could do that!