The First Day of Class

The first day of class sets the tone for the rest of the semester. You want to convey to your students how the class will function, the ways in which you assess them, and what kind of instructor you are overall.  Here are our tips:

Get to know each other.

• It’s important that your students see you as someone other than an intimidating figure of authority. You want them to visit during office hours, right?
• Tell your students a bit about yourself: what interests you about your field, what your teaching experience is, what hobbies you have outside of teaching. You don’t want to be too personal; try to maintain a sense of credibility, but also let your students know you’re human.
• Ask your students to do the same. You can use icebreakers, have them stand up and introduce themselves, put them in groups and then introduce each other, or even have them fill out a note card with personal facts. When a student raises his or her hand to respond, ask them to give their name. Use this tactic for the first few weeks of class so that both you and the other students can get to know each other’s names. You will be working with these bright minds for the duration of the semester, so put forth the effort to get to know them. Believe it or not, some of them will end up surprising you in good ways.

Teach your students something the first day.

• Although students can often express discontent when they have to do actual work in class, they actually expect to learn something when they walk through your classroom doors.
• You can divide them into groups to tackle a basic problem (for example, if the class is an Introduction to Ethics, you could have your students brainstorm about what “ethics” actually means to them), give them a questionnaire to fill out individually, start the first lesson right away, or initiate a class discussion about a particular topic relevant to the course.
• When you set the stage for learning each and every day of the class, your students will come to expect this throughout the semester. In the end, you’ll be able to cover more content and your students will learn more.

Set expectations early. 

• It is important that students are clear on your expectations regarding attendance, late work, homework completion, disruptive behavior, classroom culture, discussion etiquette, and general classroom practices. These policies should be clearly stated in your syllabus and explained to your students.
• Every instructor has a different way of assessment, so it might be useful to your students to explain to them how you plan to assess their work and formulate their grades during the course of the semester: papers, quizzes, tests, group projects, and individual presentations are all options.
• Conveying to your students what type of learning environment you desire is also important. If you expect students to raise their hands before being called on, you will need to enforce this the very first day of class. If you prefer a more intimate setting in which you move about the classroom rather than simply stand behind a podium at the front, then start fostering this atmosphere from day one.

Have fun!

• Sometimes it’s easy to get so wrapped up in all of the demands of being an instructor in a new place, but it’s important to remember why you decided to teach in the first place.
• You will be working with your students for the next few months, so starting off your rapport with them in an enthusiastic, well-mannered way will increase the chances of the great class dynamic almost all instructors wish for when beginning a new class.
• Relax and know that if something goes wrong or unexpectedly, there are a variety of resources at Auburn that can help you get back on track.
• Be yourself. If you tend to lecture a lot during the course of the semester, don’t have your students do a group assignment on the first day of class if you don’t have a serious intention of maintaining this teaching style throughout the rest of the semester. You don’t want to confuse or trick your students about what to really expect out of the course.

Resources about the first day of class from other universities

• University of Hawaii
• Carnegie Melon University
• Vanderbilt University