When you go abroad, chances are small that your institution will do things exactly the same way as Gettysburg. One of these differences that was surprising at CIEE’s Berlin program is that all classes are roughly three hours long. Sure, sometimes there were lab classes at Gettysburg that were that long, but now it was every class.
The first challenge you have to expect in these classes is making sure that you’ll be able to pay attention during the entire class. For the professors, this is a normal class. They have material planned that is all equally important as you would find in two hour and half long classes. That means it’s important to find ways to ensure that you don’t check out so that you don’t miss information or gain any potential wrath from the professor.
One of the most important things to make sure you stay present during the entire class is to pace yourself and plan accordingly. Is the class right after lunch and you know that you get tired after eating heavy foods? Then plan a lighter lunch or maybe a larger brunch instead a few hours earlier. Do you know that you usually get hungry after two hours of class? Bring a non-crunchy snack that you can eat during the latter half or during a break.
Plan points that you can bring up during the different topics that will be covered so that you can actively participate instead of fading into the background. By keeping engaged with the class, it will be less likely that you’ll unintentionally fade out. An extra bonus to this plan is that the professor will probably be impressed with your participation as well.This will also help stave off the largest danger of the three hour long class: boredom.
If you get bored in class then you’re much more likely to completely check out. Unfortunately, you can’t really control if the topic of the day or the teaching style is particularly engaging. As such, one way to get around these unpredictable factors is to prepare quick, small things you can do to reset your attention. Doodle something in the margin of your note page. Write down a few lines of a daydream or a story. These kinds of activities are good because they are much more subtle ways of resetting your attention than checking your phone or another device. And if worse comes to worse, then take a quick bathroom break to stretch your legs before continuing with class.
With the right preparations, even the dreaded three hour long class can become easy as pie.