After the first day of classes I asked one of my professors how she felt about her courses and students, to which she replied, "I think I scared off the requisite number of them. I tend to be stern on the first day." As an instructor, I am completely opposite (though envious of the ability to be stern enough to make students fear me!). In fact, my first class meeting recruited another student. I tend to allow my policies and syllabus to do the regulating on the first day, while my demeanor is more friendly and fun (I think--it's difficult to self-evaluate).
How do you approach the first day of class? Are you stern and "scary" or more laid back and welcoming? And, for more experienced teachers, how does the instructor's demeanor on the first day of class tend to affect students' perceptions of how serious they are expected to be about their work?
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4 comments:
Great question, Sarah. I've found that the more I've taught, the more distant I feel from them in terms of age and the more I think I might seem stricter than I used to be. I do go heavy on the policies the first day, not to be scary, but because I feel if I don't hit them it's hard to bring them back in later.
That said, I'm definitely myself, which is someone who sees no need to be fussy or proper, so I hope they find that welcoming, as I certainly do want to welcome them.
On a scale from Nike shorts to formal suit, I'm a khaki pants kind of teacher, I suspect.
On the same scale, I'm closer to the formal suit on the first day and then descend into the nike shorts by the last day of class.
And I always feel like a lame teacher on the first day because of the syllabus. I'm a big fan of teaching as an ongoing conversation, and the students really aren't that interested in conversing about late policies and plagiarism.
I think I go heavier on the visual authority (necktie and button-up), but more casual on the behavior (trying to break the ice and get people conditioned to discussion).
After reading Dr. CH's note, I'm remembering past troubles and wishing that I'd put more pressure on the policies. (Hope that doesn't come back to bite me....)
Regarding Joel's question: does anyone ever NOT go over the syllabus on the first day? I've thought about just jumping in and maybe assigning it as a type of homework or just waiting a few class periods to go over it.
I've tried making it fun -- I've even had groups responsible for acting out the policies (with one memorable incident that involved students jumping off tables...) but I STILL feel like going through that long document really kills the joy of the first day.
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