Preparing a Course: First Day of Class
From the Center for Teaching Excellence,
We all have experienced some anxiety about the first meeting of class. Some faculty avoid “first day anxiety” by handing out a syllabus, giving an assignment, and dismissing the class. This only postpones the inevitable. It also gives students the sense that class time is not too important. Most of all, it fails to take advantage of the opportunity to use the heightened excitement and anticipation that students bring to the first day, the chance to direct that excitement toward enthusiasm for the class.
On the first day, make sure that you arrive at the classroom early, to ensure that the equipment is working properly and to engage in small talk with students. Greet students at the door as they enter the class. When students enter your classroom, they have any number of things on their mind. To help them focus, many teachers use a hook, or a three- to five-minute activity to engage students at the beginning of class. (Some instructors use hooks at the start of every class throughout the semester.) Ideas for hooks include playing music and asking students to think about how the lyrics relate to a class topic, presenting a question to the class to begin discussion, giving a brief demonstration of a principle you will be discussing that day, or projecting a photograph, cartoon, drawing, or chart related to the day’s topic.
Some other recommendations for the first meetings of a course include making sure you start class on time and take attendance. Make note of any absences, and follow up with these students after class by contacting them through phone or e-mail.
In addition, start to learn students’ names. To this end, there are several methods you can use to help learn the names of your students quickly:
*Have students give their name before they speak in class.
*Try to memorize a row of students every class period.
*Have students make name plates with 5” x 8” index cards. Ask students to fold the cards in half and write their names on them in large print. You can collect these name plates and hand them out at the start of every class, which will also serve as a means of taking attendance without using extra class time.
*Use students’ names as often as possible.
*If you’re teaching a large class, divide the entire group into smaller working groups. Give each group a short project, and learn the names of everyone in a particular group. Do this several times throughout the semester to learn each student’s name.
*Ask the students to provide index cards with their name, a photo, and an interesting fact about themselves. You can use these to study their names in between class meetings.
*Be honest with the students and patient with yourself. Your students have to remember the names of only four or five teachers every semester, while you have many more names of students to learn. Even if you call a student by the wrong name, the class will appreciate your efforts to acknowledge them on a personal level.
Other ideas for the early meeting of a course include asking students to write out their expectations for the course, as well as what they hope to learn this semester. Assess the students’ previous knowledge by distributing a pre-test over the material you plan on covering that semester, and provide feedback on their responses as soon as possible. Each day, provide the structure for the day’s material using an outline on the chalkboard, overhead, or PowerPoint slide. This will help students see where the lecture is going, as well as aid the organization of their notes. Use multiple types of media for the presentation of the material, including overheads, films, audiotape, and models or demonstrations.
Information Age Education (IAE) is a non-profit organization with a goal of helping to improve the education of people of all ages around the world through technology. IAE assumes that every person is both a lifelong learner and a lifelong teacher. As a teacher, each person helps themselves and others to learn.
The Information Age Education (IAE) project will grow and prosper through the volunteer work of people who:
1 comment:
Why not blow the students minds with your brilliance? This is something I had happen to me as an undergraduate. On the first day of class the prof called the roll and asked us to give him the name we wished to be called. Then on the second day of class he called the roll again and thereafter called us by our correct names: "What's your opinion on that, Sarah?" "What do you think, Steve?" and so on. As a professor I figured out how he did it and do it myself. Before class make a seating chart of the class with empty squares for each seat. Then when you call the roll, underline the name on the roster sheet the student wants to go by and write his or her roster number in the correct square. Do this without being obvious about what you're doing. After class, match the name to the number, thus making a seating chart. On the next day, call the roll, noting who is sitting in a different place. Over 80% will be in the same seat as before, and you can quickly draw arrows to the right seat for the others. Then, start calling on students by their names, using your chart as a crib. You'll be surprised how quickly you learn their names, and they'll think you're brilliant for learning them so fast. Hint: After the second class review your seating chart, and see how many students' faces you can match to the names. Or, if you have the students do an in-class exercise, match their names to their faces while you're waiting for them to finish. Obviously, this works best for classes of 30 or fewer.
Edwin Duncan eduncan@towson.edu
Post a Comment