It was the first day of the second semester yesterday. New classes new students. There is a certain anxiety to be expected with many students assessing their fate for the next five months. As a general philosophy I follow the guideline outlined below for Day One.
1. Set the Tone for the class with respect to behavior (most important for Applied Classes).
2. Hand out the Course Introduction Document that very clearly specifies the mark breakdown and policies around late submissions. There should be no ambiguity here.
3. Emphasize that extra help will be available and that you as a teacher are approachable and indeed are a human being.
4. Only hand out textbooks if the course numbers are expected to be relatively stable.
5. Define a seating arrangement if necessary (although I generally avoid this)
6. Tell the students a bit about yourself (kids like that) and your expectations. Allow them to speak freely about their concerns.
7. Use a video hook or group activity to set the initial interest in the course.
8. Start the ball rolling with some work. Momentum in this regards is key (no physics pun intended).
9. If applicable give the students a quick Diagnostic Assessment to provide a rough guide of overall skill levels.
10. Stress very clearly that you are on their side to facilitate success but the ultimate factor in the success equation is the student themselves. They have to take responsibility for their own learning.
11. With classes that are expected to have disciplinary problems it is better to take a tougher approach (but a fair one nevertheless) from the get go.You can always soften up a bit later based on feedback.
2. Hand out the Course Introduction Document that very clearly specifies the mark breakdown and policies around late submissions. There should be no ambiguity here.
3. Emphasize that extra help will be available and that you as a teacher are approachable and indeed are a human being.
4. Only hand out textbooks if the course numbers are expected to be relatively stable.
5. Define a seating arrangement if necessary (although I generally avoid this)
6. Tell the students a bit about yourself (kids like that) and your expectations. Allow them to speak freely about their concerns.
7. Use a video hook or group activity to set the initial interest in the course.
8. Start the ball rolling with some work. Momentum in this regards is key (no physics pun intended).
9. If applicable give the students a quick Diagnostic Assessment to provide a rough guide of overall skill levels.
10. Stress very clearly that you are on their side to facilitate success but the ultimate factor in the success equation is the student themselves. They have to take responsibility for their own learning.
11. With classes that are expected to have disciplinary problems it is better to take a tougher approach (but a fair one nevertheless) from the get go.You can always soften up a bit later based on feedback.
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