I ask them what they expect of me and what they expect to learn and take from the class. After that, I tell them what I expect from them and most of it are listed on the syllabus. I encourage them to ask questions and I try to give examples to illustrate what I expect from them.
Hi Hugh,
Yes, but I will take a different approach to help the students to remember the content. If through Q&A they aren't responding as I think they should in terms of mastery of the material I will put them into teams and we will have a competition. The game atmosphere gets them excited, they review the content and have fun all at the same time. The in summary I go back and check to see what they have learned from the activity we have just completed.
Gary
Will you review again if the responses don't meet your expectations?
I go over the syllabus the first night of class and any expectations of the students from the school and myself. We also discuss options of contact, conduct, and schedules. The other part of introductions are also to include finding out what their expectations of the course is and this also aids in future classroom activities and instruction.
Hi Christopher,
This approach also gets student buy in. They get to think and then verbalize what they perceive the expectations for the course as being. Their self evaluation of the first assignment in relation to expectations really gives them the idea of where they need to go as the course progresses.
Great job.
Gary
I am a producer by trade, so I often pose to them questions that will coax them into saying themselves what my expectations are. Of course, that isn't to say I don't state them clearly before hand, but when dealing with new students, that doesn't always work.
Usually, I have them do the first assignment, tell them what they should do, then pose the questions and make them realize whether or not they think they met expectations. Most of the time, I don't have to say a word after and they see the problems and I help them with the next itteration of the assignment.
I review the syllabus and review what we are going to cover at the beginning of each class. I find the structure of powerpoint presentations to help me clarify with pictures, text and audio the content and expectations of the class.
After taking the roll at the start of class, I ask them who remembers where we ended the previous day's lesson. When the responses are satisfactory, I randomly select students to demonstrate exercises from the previous day. This helps me determine if I am reaching them effectively but also challenges them to prepare for the following day.
Since I teach a pass/fail course, it is important to remind students that they cannot pass the course by just showing up. I make it a point to explain my requirements and the scope of the class work. Especifically what my expectations are for participation, tests and homework. I also cover absences and tardiness very carefully.
Hi Matt,
Your approach to the first class meeting is a good one. It lets the students get settled into the class and comfortable with you. You then can share your requirements, expectations and polices with them in a conversational manner. Good job.
Gary
I think your questions branches off to many parts. What I expect of them regarding punctuality and timeliness, classroom expectations, time spent studying outside of class. These are all things that I like to cover in my opening class conversation. I use the word conversation because I don't like the first class to feel like a lecture. I want there to be give and take, and for students to feel like they have some input about what is expected of them.
This really depends on what kind of course it is. When I teach developmental mathematics, I try to develop an expectation of trust in them. These courses tend to require a good amount of "hand holding," as they often lack confidence in their own basic skills. This is best done with soft tones and smiles.
On the other hand, I sometimes teach more advanced mathematics courses where I need to jolt the students out of their comfort zones and get them thinking "out of the box." Often I will try to demonstrate some of the stranger concepts that they will need to understand later on.
Hi Jane,
What a great way to get the students excited about the upcoming course. You do a really good job of setting the stage.
Gary
Syllabus, addendum, signed copy of policies and procedures, verbal discussion, lecture and Q and A.
I teach a professional wine studies course (yes, it's a college credit course!) The main point of the course is how to talk about, serve, and sell wine in a fine dining establishment. On the first day of class I pour a taste of wine for each student and ask them to describe it. We always have quite a raucous discussion, and then I ask if they would like to hear what I think. I rattle off a detailed wine description, wine making notes, food pairing suggestions, and a bit of creative wine writing as well. Then, I explain to the students that the difference between their answers (which of course were all good) and my response is exactly what they will learn from the class!
Hi Samantha,
Good strategy. This really helps to create a connection between what you are trying to do and what the students need to do for success in your course.
Gary
As we prepare for tests, I hand out a sheet that reviews the important topics we discussed - and expectations of what a student should be able to answer if "someone off the street" asked them about the specific topic.
I do something interesting. I sort of turn it around on the students and ask them if they were a professor what they would say to students. We then discuss their responses and clarify what would be most effective for them in earning the highest grade possible. The students seem receptive to this. It also helps them to understand where the professor is coming from by putting things in perspective and thus I am no longer viewed as the "enemy."
Hi Thomas,
This ice breaker is a winner. I know your students have a great time with it and at the end of the class see all kinds of applications for math in their lives. In addition, they see that they don't have to be afraid of math. It won't attack or destroy them. It can be their friend. This sets the stage for a very successful class.
Gary
I try to include an on-topic "ice breaker" that involves students introducing themselves. For example, at the beginning of a math course that covers statistics, I have students give names, ages and heights. I also give my name, age and height. Then we use this information to discuss mean, median and mode; we draw a frequency plots and discuss the effects of my age on the mean (since I am usually significantly older than the class, i.e., an outlier). It is usually also possible to discuss normal distributions & probabilities. I use the data collected in subsequent classes to discuss standard deviations and percentiles.
The exercise indicates to the students that they are expected to do calculations (and motivates bringing a calculator to class), they they are expected to be able to interpret numbers and graphs. More importantly, they see that they are really part of the class because we are using data from them.
