I agree that it is not best to announce to the class that you are teaching for the first time. Just like in the field, never tell your patient that this is the first time doing a procedure. This will make the patient uncomfortable and not have trust in you.

I caught a student cheating on his midterm exam by having information written on his forearm. I confronted him, gave him a zero for the exam grade, wrote him up, and he has to turn in a 2 page paper on the information he was cheating on. He admitted he cheated and that he made a mistake. It is not always fun to deal with these situations, but I feel it is necessary.

I like the idea of handing out colored cards to each student to allow them to ask that many questions during the class. Sometimes I think students like to ask questions to get the instructor off track.

I have found it to be very helpful to inform my class on the first day the penalty for late assignments and examinations. I post on the student's portal an extra document dealing with these issues and what situations will allow the student to make up an examination.