What do you do on the first day of delivering a course in a university or college to take up your semester on the correct path, and operate your first day of a course into the best learning experience your students have ever experienced. It is not fair to leave that to chance, it is not reasonable to be unprepared, uninspired, or unfocused, for that matter. For a lasting first impression and set the tone for the reminder of the semester, what do you do in the very first class?
Before you go in, make sure not to worry much about first impressions. ;) They are stuck with you for a semester and that's a lot of time to win them over. Introduce yourself. Some personal stuff to let them know you're an actual person an not some teaching cyborg is good but don't go overboard with the details. Get the 'technical stuff' (syllabus, textbooks, evaluation scheme, etc) out of the way to easy anxieties. Probe into student's understanding of and/or fascination with topics you'll be dealing with. Let them have a taste of your overall teaching style. If you want to include jokes, ease them in on the flow as you go. Don't freaking script and rehearse them. Staged comic relief is worse than none. Sarcasm is not a first-day deal, even if that's your normal humor avenue. You'll have to build into it before it gets to be inoffensive.
Hi Asterios,
Thank you so much for sharing your interesting experiences.
It sounds very great!
Cheers
I explain the nature of the academic study of religion and show its advantages to all students, no matter their religious beliefs or lack of religious beliefs.
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