Hi Ann,
With your statement about the love of your field and learning you have set the stage for teaching success. I know that your students really benefit from your excitement for the field and your care about their success.
Gary

Where they come from, and where they hope to go.
As for me, I let them know that I teach because I love art and learning, and that passing on what I know is very personally satisfying.

Hi Wardell,
Good point. Instructors need to create a connection between themselves and the students so rapport can develop from that.
Gary

You are establishing yourself as a professional from whom they expect to receive guidance and information.

You are building a rapport with them because now you are not just a name on a syllabus or on their class schedules. Now, they "know" you.

In my opinion by introducing oneself an instructor is opening themselves up and letting the students know that you are available but also human. We, as instructors need to be knowledgeable but also need to be viewed as human and that we can and do make mistakes. This can give the students a sense of independence as well as power over their own learning.

Hi Justin,
Not really sure whether it is or not. I teach mostly students that are between the ages of 18-25 and I haven't had the issue you mentioned. Something you might do is to have them give their names and then have them share what their career goals are or what brought them to enroll in the area that they are studying. Since they are younger they may feel like they don't have enough depth of background to talk about themselves compared with some of the older students.
Gary

I always introduce myself and give the students some insight into my background regarding the field they are studying, but I find that the majority of the younger students really dislike introducing themselves and talking about their background. Do you think this a generational thing?

Hi Kim,
I really like your idea of creating "team" learning. Team learning is critical for students since through this they can see how everyone will learn together plus benefit from the life experiences everyone has had.
Gary

My goal is to make each student feel like they belong here with us and that this is a safe environment for learning. Not only this, but that I am someone who has been where they are now, and that they, too, can be successful in navigating the material we will be covering. Also, that they are not alone in their quest for knowledge--we are all in this together.

I'm learning more about my students - students see I am interested in them -the students are becoming more comfortable - students have some of my background and learn I have experience in the field and am a qualified instructor.

Hi Ray,
Great strategy. Thank you for sharing it. This is a great ice breaker for instructors to use. The gallbladder example is great. No one can say teaching isn't full of surprises. I would have never thought that combination of students would have come together as a group.
Gary

I think introducing the students is so important. I have taught large classes and I distribute different color strips of paper prior to class then the students have to find the classmates who have same color strip (groups of 5-7). Then the group has to identify something they all have in common not related to school. At the end of the day, the group must vote on a leader and the leader introduces each member, where they live, and what the group has in common. The most interesting gets a small gift (school pencils). The best one - was all the students had their gallbladder removed.

I think rapport is being established by the introduction process. I find in situations where introductions are overlooked there are more opportunities for miscommunication. Understanding what students do outside the classroom (i.e., work, professional organizations) can give you a greater understanding of the student and their classroom performance.

You create a connection and establish rapport.

Hi Connal,
You make a number of very good points about getting to know students and their backgrounds. Your one comment about the fact that all of your experiences
are not limited just to your field of expertise. Students continue to be surprised when they find out that their instructor has a family, hobbies, frustrations, challenges and all the other things in life that everyone faces. They seem to thing we live in boxes between classes and come out only to teach and then dart back into the box. It is good for them to know such things about us. We can do such without revealing too much of our personal lives.
Gary

Aside from the obvious benefits of rapport, a student's previous work history is useful to me as an instructor. Since many of our students are career changers, I have found it useful to know where people are coming from for simple social reasons, and also if I can make salient analogies to their past fields of experience, then perhaps I can make some new information more familiar to them.

By the same token, my background is not limited to my field of expertise, and so it is useful for students to learn that I have varied interests and experiences as well, thereby making me more accessible and making students more comfortable with their different backgrounds and experiences.

It's the first chance you get to to show the students who you are and how you run the classroom. It sets the tone for the rest of the course. Important things like profssionalism, expectations, and rules must be covered upfront to avoid confusion later on.

By introducing myself I familarize myself to my students. This lets them know they are in the correct class, as they knew in advance who thier instructor is supposed to be.

By having them introduce themselves I learn who they are as does the other class members. This is particularilly important in a situation where the class members do not know each other yet.

Both introductions allow the students to become more comfortable in the class room envoironment and with thier classmates.

Hi Theresa,
Good way to start a class. You are bringing the personal touch to the setting and this starts the development of respect and rapport. As a result the students get an opportunity to see you as a dedicated professional that is working to provide them with success opportunities.
Gary

The syllabus helps students to become comfortable with the course material and what to expect academically; the introductions help with social comfort. More learning will be accomplished if the students are also comfortable with the people involved in the course (instructor and fellow students). If students are not comfortable enough to ask questions when they have them (of me or of each other), that is a huge block to learning.

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To that end, I've always thought it important to include a few different bits of information when introducing myself to a class:

• a summary of my educational/professional history to let the students know why I am qualified to teach the class, and to let them know in which areas I am particularly qualified (I teach an intro gen ed science course which covers a lot of material).
• an overview of my teaching style/philosophy, including a few personal anecdotes for illustration (but not too personal!), so that the students will know what to expect from me as an instructor. I'm one of those instructors who asks a series of leading questions to bring students to an answer to their question, and from experience I know that that can be frustrating for some students so I like to warn them up front. :)
• an overview of my personal background (where I grew up, ...) to give the students an idea of what kind of person I am and why I like teaching at their school.
• I also like to take time the first week to have the students circulate to get to know each other. (I have a sheet for them to write down their classmates' names & contact info. They use this list initially to let them know when they have met everyone, but they can also use it later for study groups, ...)

The goal of all of this is to hopefully make the students more comfortable with what to expect from me as an instructor (& person) and get more comfortable with each other as well.