On the first day, I spend a significant amount of time getting the students to mingle. Initially, I have them go around the room and introduce themselves, stating their name, major, and a fun fact about themselves. I will start this by stating these facts about me. Usually, I come up with the most random, entertaining fact I can that will make them laugh. I think getting students to see their instructor as both professional as well as silly can really make them warm up.

This past presentation helped me realize my tendency towards perceiving all teaching matters as urgent, and immediately tending to them. As a newer teacher, I feel that this has stemmed from insecurity. Additionally, I have several tasks to complete each day between teaching, grading, going to school myself, and personal matters. This presentation has also helped me realize my growth towards not handling matters as immediate as I used to. I feel that I am growing more towards handling more urgent matters initially (e.g. rescheduling a test), then moving towards the less urgent matters (e.g. grading a paper).

I have only been a college instructor for six months or so. When I began, I was completely overwhelmed with organizing classroom policies. It was especially difficult to communicate these rules on the syllabi. I found it very helpful to view the syllabi of my collegues, and use them as a model. After viewing the various formats in which my collegues used, I felt more confident in constructing, and delivering my own.