John A. Bogdanski (Lewis & Clark) & Samuel A. Donaldson (U. Washington) have published Teaching Tax and Other Tedious Topics, 17 Perspectives – Teaching Legal Research & Writing 102 (2009):

1. Let Them See You Care
2. Know the Material Cold
3. Give Context to the Unfamiliar
4. Convert Potential Energy into Kinetic Energy
5. PowerPoint Is Your Tool, Not Your Master
6. On Humor

The high-wire act between too much detail and not enough can be daunting. But stepping back from one’s course descriptions, and reimagining them, can be a valuable exercise that ultimately improves one’s performance up there. Teaching is a highly creative enterprise; sometimes the best creativity takes place long before day-to-day class preparation begins in earnest.

(Hat Tip: Ann Murphy.)