I was thinking about coming up with a survey to give to the students on the first day of class to get a feel for their learning styles. Are there any suggestions on how to come up with this?

In addition to the teacher giving a brief introduction about their background and experience, I find it helpful to find out a little bit about each student and their goals for the class. What are some good questions for them to answer after they are asked to introduce themselves? For example, what do they hope to accomplish as a result of taking the course? Are there other questions I can ask them so I can get to know a little bit about them?

As I mentioned in my previous discussion thread, I am a new instructor and have never taught before. In my masters program, I was required to give multiple presentations for each course. Initiating a discussion was one of the things I found most challenging during my presentations. What are some good ways to initiate group discussion and to facilitate it?

I am starting my first teaching job as a nursing instructor. I am excited and looking forward to the challenge, but at the same time I am nervous. The teaching experience I have is patient teaching in a hospital setting and teaching nursing students indivually when they are rotating through my department. What are some words of wisdom for a new instructor who has never taught in a classroom setting with students? What are some ways I can overcome some of my nervousness?