How will you use the first day of class?

• Introduce myself
• Ice Breaker activity
• Review Syllabus
• Let students out early????

Engage students in their learning on the first day

Five Things to Do on the First Day!

1. Conduct a "content show-and-tell that features a surprising fact, a question the content answers, some current issue that relates to the content, or something that illustrates, better yet, demonstrates why the content in this course matters." - Faculty Focus (2013)
2. Get the students talking! "They should be talking to you and talking with each other. Maybe it’s a getting-to-know you ice-breaker, or some initial exploration of a content issue of interest to students, or a student discussion of what’s on the syllabus."- Faculty Focus (2013)
3. Be personable! "It’s much more effective to begin the course letting students know that this is a course you want to teach (fingers crossed that it is) with content you love, and that you are there to help them learn. Students want to be taught by a professor but one who acts like a person."- Faculty Focus (2013)
4. "Give students a reason to read the syllabus. Distribute the syllabus and give students five minutes to review it. Then put them into groups and give the groups five minutes to answer 10 questions about the syllabus. The first group to answer all the questions correctly wins stickers that say “We’re #1,” high fives from the teacher, applause from the class, or whatever suits your style and conveys the message that the things students need to know about this course are in the syllabus and they should look there before asking you."- Faculty Focus (2013)
5. Be authentic! “Professors who established a special trust with their students often displayed the kind of openness in which they might, from time to time, talk about their intellectual journey, its ambitions, triumphs, frustrations, and failures, and encourage students to be similarly reflective and candid.” –From the chapter “How Do They Treat Their Students” in Ken Bain’s What the Best College Teachers Do (Harvard Press, 2004)

7 Common Concerns for the First Day

1. How do I begin?
2. How can I learn my students' names?
3. How can I get to know my students?
4. How to I communicate my expectations?
5. How do I present a course overview?
6. How do I deal with registration issues?
7. How do I motivate students?

Ice Breaker Ideas!

Try one of these from CRTL at Univ. of Michigan

10 Tips for Dealing with Nervousness on the 1st day of Class

Have a great 18 - 19 academic year!