Making a Positive First Impression
Why is a positive first impression important when starting a new class?
First impressions are often lasting impressions. Once a student makes a decision about the instructor he/she is likely to hold on to that initial impression. When the impression is positive, students will be more eager to learn from this instructor, to respect him/her, to value the information and most important, they will want to do their best to succeed in the course.
It is important since most people form an opinion of you within the first 30 seconds of meeting you regardless of the circumstances. You can recover from a negative first impression, but the energy used to recover may take away valuable time.
A positive first impression is important in any professional experience. This is what will stay in the minds of the students. If you are completely unorganized and ruffled on the first day of class this is the idea that sticks in their mind. It is important to portray yourself as a professional and responsible instructor.
Making a positive first impression lays the ground work for a successful course. If students have a bad first impression of you, they may not think your class is worth while and not an important part of their learning. It can affect future courses with them as well.
David,
This is a critical time because it is the foundation upon which the course will be built in the coming weeks. You are right it needs to be a positive forward focused first meeting.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
You want your students to have buy in. Being unorganized may cause anxiety in some students or student may think that is how the entire class will be. You want students to feel comfortable and informed and hopefully the instructor projects that also.
I feel the teacher should set the example. If I'm positive maybe I can encourage the students to be positive too. I believe attitude is everything.
Students want to be acknowledged and experience that you care about their success and wellbeing in and outside of the classroom.
Ninette,
Buy in is critical for students. We need to show them that we respect them for who they are and that we are there to support them and their learning efforts. Knowing this helps the students to see that they can make progress in their career development as a result of the course.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Rolonda,
You are a model and learning leader for your students. This needs to be remembered anytime we are interacting with our students. Your point about having a good attitude is a good one because this sets the stage for learning and student growth.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
A positive first impression is like winning your first game of the season. It is simply a great way to start a course. If you have a shaky start, you may still go 15-1, but you are not going to have a perfect season.
A positive, well organized launch will put all the students heading towards the same checkpoint. If you have a slopply launch, you will have to spend twice the time getting students on course to their first checkpoint.
Kent,
Good point and well explained. This is the value of a good start with a new course.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
You are setting the stage for what's to come. They will always remember their first impression of you as their instructor. I know I remember the assumptions I made of the instructors in grad school. I always want to make sure I don't come into class unorganized or looking flustered. They will sense that and assume that you will be a "nutty professor" of sorts.
Marina,
Well said about the "nutty professor" part. It is easy to get a reputation like that by not being organized, starting class on time and in other ways sending the message that you are not prepared as the learning leader. With your approach you are demonstrating a professional attitude and modeling the desired behavior of the field.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
First impressions are very important when starting a new class. If a student sees my desk unorganized or me in sloppy attire, they will second guess of my ability to educate them. Let us not forget that we are the leaders of that classroom, therefore we should lead by example.
Ana,
So true and so important. We need to make a positive first impression because it is upon this first impression that the rest of the course is built.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
This allows you to start off on a positive note. It also gives the students a clear view of who you are and what to expect from you.
Your first impression will always stick in the students minds and that is going to be their expectation of how the rest of the course is going to go. It may change their attitude from being positive about the course to negative and that starts them off on the wrong path from the beginning.
Angela,
Right you are and this is why it is critical that a positive first impression be made. It is upon this foundation that success is going to be built in the course.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
