Hi Richard,
The other part of getting to know your students is that the one on one sessions don't all have to occur the first class meeting. By chatting a bit with the students as they come in and get seated you can learn a couple of things about several of the students then during breaks you can chat with a few others, then others during work time, etc. Before long you will have talked with each student individually and gotten a snap shot of how they see themselves fitting into the course.
Gary
