I wanted to comment on the suggestion to "avoid a cold start" by getting to class a few minutes early and chatting informally with students before the class starts. While in point of fact I do the latter, my idealized image of a teacher or a professor is to be more aloof. I'm thinking of John Housman in "The Paper Chase," or even how Alistair Cook used to introduce Masterpiece Theatre. The professors I remember the best in my own education, from Harvard, Yale, and Vanderbilt, had a larger than life quality. I feel so small in comparison, even now… >>>