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Teaching | 2 comments (2 topical, 0 hidden)

[new] The first day is the most important (none / 0) (#2)
by JHamblin on Mon Aug 28, 2006 at 03:50:34 AM PDT

Today is the first day of classes for me, too. I think that the first day is the most important, as you set the tone for the whole rest of the semester. When I was a student, I never really paid much attention to syllabi, but I've found that most of my students do. So I try to address most common problems (what to do if you miss an exam, etc.) in the syllabus and talk about those kinds of things on the first day so that the students aren't surprised later on. You're better off setting strict policies on the first day and then relaxing them later; you can't really go the opposite way.

Beyond syllabus and course info, if the class has a prerequisite (which almost all math classes do), I give them a worksheet with review problems (finding slopes of lines in a calc class, for example) and have them work on it in groups. I used to play name games, but it takes a lot of time, and it never seemed to help me remember the names anyway.

Anyway, good luck with your first class. Just remember that you're probably going to do a lot of things wrong, but you're going to learn a lot. Keep an open mind, be open to trying new things, and talk to your colleagues about things that are going wrong (or going right!).

Teaching | 2 comments (2 topical, 0 hidden)

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