Assessments are important because they reveal how much the student has learned.

Create the assessment in order to challenge the student not only on remembered knowledge, but the ability to apply that knowledge.

Make students feel their participation is valued, especially those who would not expect it. 

Be receptive to accommodating different learning styles in order to give the most well-rounded version of your course and enable the most folks the best opportunity to excel.

Hit the lecture as many different ways as possible so that you can as there are many different students in the class that learn in many different ways.

Meeting the class for the first time is really an investigation to the dynamic of mixes of the various personalities. 

I believe that connecting with the students prior to the class enables the instructor to feel out the student audience prior to communicating the course material to them.