This question makes me laugh because it illustrates that Ground School teachers struggle with the same major issues all teachers struggle with: Too much curriculum, and not enough time! :)
I think the first thing you have to ask yourself is this: Is my goal to simply "cover
Simply talking at students for an hour or more will not enable most of them to absorb the information you are trying to share. Plural pathways must be forged in order to ensure that the different learners in your group begin to connect new information to previously existing schema, or to build new schema altogether.
Beck and Kosnik’s (2006) research noted that the common feature of successful programs was their social constructivist approach by which is meant that:
- knowledge is constructed by learners,
- knowledge is based on experience,
- learning is social, and
- all aspects of that person are involved in learning.
Whether you teach one class, or a whole series of classes in Ground School, you will want to consider how you can set up a learning environment that takes the above into consideration.
For example, a cross-country planned in a small group draws on the expertise and experience of different group members, and it is a social activity. As such, the experience and the learning will be retained much beyond a lecture on "how to plan a cross country". Cooperative learning is a complex structure, and much has been written about how teachers can best set up a learning environment hospitable to it.
It may seem at times that students new to aviation have so much to learn. Your job as a teacher is not to cram as much as possible into their brains and hope some of it sticks. Your job is to introduce key ideas and information in a safe, inviting manner so that students' minds are open to learning. An excited, engaged brain will retain far more than an overloaded one!
Numerous resources on instructional strategies exist to help you with this endeavor. Here are a few:
Marcia Tate - Sit 'n' Git Won't Grow Dendrites
Wellman and Garmston - The Presenter's Fieldbook
Bennett and Rolheiser - Instructional Integration
Marzano et Al - Instruction that Works