The Good, the Bad, and the Different. : The First Two Months at NLU

The first couple of months here at NLU have been a lot different than what I expected. Actually I'm not quite sure what I really expected. NLU is structured a lot different than the other schools that I have gone to, it's a lot ore relaxed environment than they were. This is a welcome change from the rather strict format of my past schools. My only complaint is a two parter and the first part barely rises to the level of complaint is that the class is to student participatory in that after spending eight hours talking to kids the last thing that I want to do is make a presentation. I see about 100 students a day and by 4:30 I am pretty much talked out. Now I do realize that this is my own problem as I am not as naturally gregarious as many of the other students. I also realize that presentation is pretty much the entire job in teaching so once again this is more my issue (see it's my need to be a better communicator again) than a problem with the course. My next thought is about putting some time limits on student presentations. I feel that some of the presentations have been overly long and tedious, that time could have been better spent with instructor led discussion or lecture or group time. This is in no way meant to be an attack on any of the students. Those presenters effort and research is admirable to say the least. I simply feel that we have a very finite amount of class room time in this program and a great deal to cover, so efficient time management is key to our success. Perhaps this is just part of the big picture. What makes a effective and concise lecture? Is it simply a wealth of information? Or a rousing personal speaking style. I tend to believe they both equally important. After all what good is the information if the listener has already tuned out?
Despite my complaints, I would still give the program two thumbs up.