Two Simple Tools to Make Class Prep Easier for You and Your Students

In Wednesday’s post, I made the case that clear, aligned learning objectives are one of our best tools for engaging students in the age of AI.

If you finished that piece thinking, “Okay. But what does that actually look like in practice?”—this post is for you.

Below, I share two simple teaching tools I created to help make my expectations more visible to students. The first—my “Preparing for Class” worksheet—was something I relied on for years. However, more recently, I replaced it with a much simpler reflection exercise, which I call “Three Takeaways.”

Photo by Volodymyr Hryshchenko on Unsplash

Your teaching context will likely determine which option feels most manageable this fall. If you’re teaching a new prep, the “Three Takeaways” is the simplest to implement. If you’re teaching a course you’ve taught before, you might find the “Preparing for Class” worksheet fairly easy to create, especially if you start before the stress of the semester fully begins.

This goes without saying—but I’ll say it anyway:

Please be gentle with yourself. Pick one if you try anything at all.

There’s already too much pressure. You don’t need another “to-do” added to your already full plate.