Get Your Students Hired
You need to set a statement. If you do not you could spend the rest of the class session to get it right
Your students will respect you and see you as a positive role model. It will enhance the liklihood that they will be engaged in class and will help them retain more knowledge.
Students have to realize that you are interested in teaching not just receiving a paycheck. This can and will keep students engaged in the learning process and hopefully they will continue to come to class.
Doug,
I teach until 10:00 pm in my classes as well so I can really relate to your comments. I know when I let me students out early they get very excited because they know it won't happen on a regular basis so they need to enjoy the extra time that is given to them on occasion.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
First impression is important no matter the situation. In my class I know that first impression will help determine how my entire term will be.
I do find myself varying the first impression I give as a way to feel out both students and myself. Being fairly new to teaching I am still finding my 'niche' and so I alter my approach, especially that first class, to see how much the first class can influence the term.
A good example is my evening class. They technically get out at 10:00pm. At the start of class I will remind them that class is schedule until 10:00pm and any transportation arrangements should take that into account. If your ride shows at 9:15 please let them know they will need to wait 45 minutes. I then follow up by making sure that class runs until 10:00pm!
Rarely do I have further issues about time, If I do let them out a few minutes early they feel like it is a treat.
Doug
The old saying is true that " first impressions are lasting impressions." It's very important that your students see you in a positive light. Thereby, making it an easy task to trust that you are there to help make them the best student possible.
It is said that "first impression is teh last impression" which is 100% true. I believe that first day of teh class sets the tone of the entire length of the class. good impression on the very beginning of teh class can put you and your students at ease for coming days. Students concerns must be addressed on the first day and they must be inform about policies and procedures.At the end of day one every body must be on the same page.
Mike,
Yes, it is. It gets the students excited about the upcoming course and what they are going to learn. This lays the foundation for the development of respect.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
Veronica,
Well said. Positive first impressions set the stage for success. It is a building process from there on, rather than a correction effort by the instructor to win the students back.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
It is a great chance to begin to motivate them, showing students you have interest in the subject. Also to set the precedent for your expectations of the class.
Positive first impression is important in "setting the tone" of the class. A 10-week class may feel like a year to both the teacher and the students if making a positive first impression has failed on Day 1.
Moreover, students have very high expectations from their teachers. They need to be assured that they are getting their money's worth and that their time spent in class will not be wasted.
DaKetia,
So much easier to start with a good impression rather than spending the course digging out from a negative one.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
First impression is everything. First day instructor needs to be prepared and presentable because you never can get the first day back.
Shawn,
Thank you for sharing your own life experiences in relation to being a role model for your students. You are giving them ideas about how they can develop their own behavior and skills to have a successful career in CJ. This is a way to "connect the dots" between the classroom and real life.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
Most of my working criminal justice experience is within the field of juvenile corrections. I stress to my career-oriented CJ students that first impressions mean everything in life, and in the field. I present personal stories of people who didn't last in my line of work because of horrible first impressions within the juvenile lock-up population. These horrible first impressions involved lack of confidence, stuttering in speech, lack of commanding presence, lack of charisma, and lack of "soft skills." I apply this same principle to the classroom. Students are paying money to an institution for which they are wanting to learn, and to be held accountable. As an Instructor, I am the first direct contact interactive face that students come into contact with. If my classroom or myself gives students an unconfident feeling of attending a school I represent, then I have failed as an Instructor.
The first impression is the most important because it will set the process of the future of the class.
Coming from a business background, I know how important it is to make a good first impression with clients if you want to make a sale and/or long lasting relationship with a customer or client. Students are also in a way a customer, they are paying a lot of money and hopefully spending a lot of time and energy into completing their studies at the university that is my employer. With that said, it is my job to make sure they are satisfied with my teaching ability... That starts with the first impression they get when they walk into my classroom.