The first day of class, the first day of clinical is always the make or break you situation. It is of utmost importance that the instructor have a handle on what is happening on day one. This module was very informative and to the point. Being a student success coach, this module have given me a lot of information to use.
Taking a clear approach to knowing who your students are and what is expected of them throughout the course is a key element in developing a strong beginning relationship and understanding the requirements of both the class and of you. Having these will make it easier to have a successful classroom environment and experience.
Introducing myself to a new class will help establish a trust between myself and students as they hear about my experience and background and what kind of teacher I am
I like the folded index card idea both to help me learn student names but also to help students learn each other's names.
Instructional Delivery and Assessment:
There are a plethora of things that I have learned from this module that I am thrilled to implement into the classroom: Things that students should have at the end of class, The value of participation, and Motivating Students (just to name a few).
The four things that professors want their students to have at the end of their first class meeting are clear paths to set a clear tone and supportive path for the students.
- A sense of where there going and how they are going to get there. An overview of the expectations with support to achieve goals.
- A feeling that the other members in the class are not strangers. I have had the pleasure to walk students through a Collaborations tab in Canvas to assist with virtual groups in my English 110 course which was an embedded recommendation for an activity, on-the-other-hand, my Humanities 205 course has not had the honor to experience virtual group activities. This module overview helped me to realize that, that needs to be incorporated in both courses . I am looking forward to lecturing later this week to introduce the Humanities students to group work as well.
- An awareness that you care about their learning.
- An expectation that the course will be both valuable and enjoyable.
Group activity will aid in a solution to increase participation as group work will require brainstorming. According to Harvard Business Publishing "Participation is evaluated on willingness, courage, ability to learn, and the ability to let other people build on what you have said." To create such a motivational tone in the beginning will excite students to participate. That is surly a technique that I will be implementing going forward.
In conclusion, motivating students by setting reasonable expectations based upon industry standards will help them to prepare for their areas-of-study by creating an atmosphere of engagement.
It's important for you to introduce yourself as well as get to know your students' names too.
The first class sets the tone for the rest so make connections
From this module, I learned the importance of making a genuine effort to get to know each student individually.
Comment on Alycia Hubbard's post:
Hi Alycia, thank you for you comment. I agree with being kind and human. The video that was shown in this course that suggests never to sound like a know-it-all. Allowing the students to see the instructor as being human and relatable.
-Feli Ruth Ramirez
There are so many valuable information on how to be prepared as an instructor. It has given me better insight for preparation and expectations on the first day of class. I believe knowing the names of the each student is important, not only for the instructor to be able to communicate to the students, but to let the students know that they are seen individually also. The suggestion made to use a 3 x 5 index card sounds fun and engaging. I want to incorporate a fun learning experience as a way to help memory retention of the course content.
It's important to let students share a little about themselves and also for you to share about yourself. This allows the students to relax.
The importance of learning the names of each student. This is a challenge for me!
need to know every students by their name
Know your students. Also, show them that you know their name.
I learned some ways to help students introduce themselves and to get comfortable in the class
It's important to break the ice on the first meeting by introducing yourself and have the student do the same.
Let students participate in learning and have active discussion during class
Learning your students is knowing your audience. The more you allow them to express themselves the first day, the better an instructor can deduct how each student learns
Meeting people for the first time can be very scary even for teachers. I would be very keen on making everyone comfortable, and that we are all learning together. Most people have many things in common, we just have to realize that everyone has to be patient with each other. I love the idea of a pretest. That give a great idea of what test will be like and the knowledge base of what needs to be studied more.
Using index cards to help break the ice and get to know students better.
