An instructor guide for a lecture: plan the hour in blocks
An instructor guide plans the hour that the deck fills: the lecture split into blocks of about twenty minutes, what students produce in each block, how to run the activity, what to cut when the class runs late, and one extension for when it runs early. It is one page next to the deck, written once and corrected after every run. Speaker notes carry the slide; the guide carries the session.
This guide is for anyone who teaches the same session more than once or hands it to a colleague or a teaching assistant. It gives a template, explains each part, and shows how the guide and the notes divide the work.
What is the difference between an instructor guide and speaker notes?
Speaker notes belong to a slide: what to say, the source, a question to ask. They are read between two sentences. The instructor guide belongs to the session: how long each part takes, what the room does, what to skip. It is read before the lecture and after it. Stuffing timing and cut lists into the first slide's note is the usual failure; the note becomes unreadable and the plan invisible.
A lesson plan in the school sense is the same idea with more ceremony; for a university lecture, one page is enough.
The template
# Week 5: Scheduling — instructor guide
**Goal.** Students can compute waiting time under FCFS, SJF and RR and say when each wins.
**Before.** Readings ch. 5.1–5.4; lab-03 data on the shared drive.
## Block 1 (0–20 min): why scheduling is a trade-off
Slides 1–8. Output: each student writes one criterion they would optimise and why.
Facilitation: ask for three criteria aloud, put them on the board, keep them for block 3.
## Block 2 (20–40): FCFS and SJF by hand
Slides 9–16. Output: Gantt charts for the two examples, on paper.
Facilitation: pairs; walk the room; the common error is starting P2 at its arrival, not at P1's end.
## Block 3 (40–60): round-robin and the quantum
Slides 17–26. Output: waiting time for quantum 2 and 8; a sentence on which is better for the criteria from block 1.
## Minimum viable path (if late)
Skip slides 12–14 (the SJF proof) and the second RR example. Never skip block 3's sentence.
## Extension (if early)
Slide 27: multilevel queues. Ask what breaks when a process changes behaviour.
## After the run
- 2026-09-12: block 2 ran 8 min long; move the second example to a problem set.
Each part, and why it is there
- Goal: one or two sentences a student could be tested on. If you cannot write it, the session is not ready.
- Before: what must exist in the room: readings, data, a working demo.
- Blocks with a student output: twenty minutes is about as long as one thread of attention lasts; the output ("write one criterion", "draw the chart") is what makes the block a block and not a stretch of talking. Name the slides so a substitute can find their place.
- Facilitation notes: the one thing you learned running it: the common error, the question that works, where pairs beat plenary.
- Minimum viable path: decided in advance, so cutting is a plan rather than a panic. Name what is never cut.
- Extension: one item, ready, so an early finish is not dead air.
- After the run: a dated line each time. This is what makes the guide better than the person who wrote it.
Guide and notes together
The guide plans the hour; the notes carry the slides. When both exist, the notes get shorter, because "time check: minute 40" and "skip if late" move to the guide. The break rhythm, if you run one, lines up with the blocks: a break after block 2 in a three-block session, or after every block in a long evening slot.
Writing the guide with an assistant
Give the assistant the deck and the readings and ask for the guide in the template above: blocks with slide ranges, a student output per block, facilitation notes, a minimum viable path and one extension. Check that the outputs are things students can actually produce in the room and that the cut list keeps the goal reachable.
Lecture Studio creates the guide as a file in the unit's folder (weekN-instructor-guide.md, offered when a unit is created), and the unit's chat has a Week guide starter that writes it from the deck and the sources: 20-minute blocks, the student output of each, facilitation notes, a minimum viable path for a class that runs late, and one extension. The guide opens next to the chat as a rendered document. The app runs on macOS 15 or later and needs an Oberik project key; it is free during the beta.
FAQ
What should an instructor guide contain?
The goal, what must be ready before, the session in 20-minute blocks with a student output and facilitation notes each, a minimum viable path for a late class, one extension, and a dated note after each run.
How is an instructor guide different from a lesson plan?
Same purpose, less ceremony: one page for one session, focused on timing, student output and what to cut. A lesson plan template usually adds standards and assessment fields.
How long should a teaching block be?
About twenty minutes, ending in something students produce. Longer blocks work for a single argument; shorter ones for problem-solving.
Does Lecture Studio write instructor guides?
Yes. A unit can be created with its guide file, and the Week guide starter writes the content from the deck and the attached sources. It needs an Oberik project key.