10 Ways to Engage Your Students on the First Day of Class

What sort of classroom are you looking forward to this term? One full of energetic, committed, responsible and eager learners? Or one littered with needy, passive, disenchanted chair-warmers? That hardly needs answering. Every teacher wants a classroom that functions at the highest level.
The question is, how do you get there?

If you want to create a first-class learning environment, start with the first class. From the very first day–literally from the moment students walk in the door–you can set the tone for the entire semester. You can establish expectations, clarify responsibilities, energize and engage your students, and create a strong framework for success.

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In 10 Ways to Engage Your Students on the First Day of Class, Dr. Mary C. Clement, Professor of Teacher Education at Berry College, shares practical, proven tips for starting your classes off right. She covers:

• Setting up your classroom.
• Creating a first-day agenda.
• Welcoming students and performing introductions.
• Reviewing the syllabus.
• Using visuals effectively.
• Conducting interest inventories.
• Delivering a “mini-lecture”—how and why.
• Establishing expectations on attendance, grading and more.
• Giving first assignments.
• Addressing plagiarism and cheating issues.
• Establishing communication channels, including new media.

If you don’t set the tone in your classroom, your students will. Learn about the steps you can take to ensure a strong start to the semester!

Whether you’re a new TA, adjunct or instructor, a new professor, or an old hand looking to adjust to a changing student body, you’ll find a wealth of smart tips in this unique seminar.

In 10 Ways to Engage Your Students on the First Day of Class, you will get strategies to win the hearts and minds of your students, and clearly establish your expectations and goals for the class. The presenter will help you create a:

• positive classroom environment;
• more fulfilling teaching experience for you; and
• better learning experience for your students.

Who will benefit:

• New professors
• Experienced professors
• Adjunct faculty
• Teaching assistants
• Instructors
• Deans of teaching centers

There’s no better time than Day One to set the tone for your classroom. Learn proven strategies for success in this idea-filled seminar!

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In the online seminar 15 Survival Strategies for New College Instructors, Dr. Peter M. Saunders, director of Oregon State University’s Center for Teaching and Learning, outlines 15 effective teaching strategies that address some of the common pitfalls facing new higher education instructors

The Syllabus as a Classroom Management Tool

“If you ask me to pick the single most critical issue that new instructors should focus on, it would be classroom management, “ says Saunders, “because without a solid management system in place, all the good work one has done preparing for teaching can unravel right before your eyes.”

Indeed, for new college educators to survive and flourish, one of the most important things they need to do is consistently establish and manage student expectations and behavior. The syllabus is a way to help accomplish this, Saunders says. Not only is the syllabus an informational tool that answers the key “Who, What, When, Where, Why and How” questions that students have about a class, but it can be transformed into a powerful class management tool that sets clear expectations for workload, learning outcomes, learner behavior and responsibilities, deadlines, grading, late assignments and assessment.

“As instructors, we forget just how confusing it is for students who travel from class to class and encounter differences and inconsistencies,” says Saunders, noting that it’s important to not only communicate your expectations but to frame them in such a way that students understand the rationale behind the behaviors you’re requesting.

For example, to communicate the expectation of a positive learning environment, the following language is appropriate: “As your instructor and as a student in this class, it is our shared responsibility to develop and maintain a positive learning environment for everyone. Your instructor takes this responsibility very seriously and will inform members of the class if their behavior makes it difficult for him/her to carry out this task. As a fellow learner, you are asked to respect the learning needs of your classmates and assist your instructor to achieve this critical goal.”

Effective Teaching Strategies for New Instructors

Using the course syllabus as a classroom management tool is just one of the 15 strategies Saunders discusses in the 90-minute seminar, 15 Survival Strategies for New College Instructors. Other strategies for surviving those first couple of years include smart approaches that will help new higher education instructors:

• Create a safe environment and emphasize time on task
• Understand when technology should be used and when it should be avoided
• Motivate learners with the power of peer pressure and peer admiration
• Integrate teams into small and large classes
• Provide feedback to student learning without excessive, time-consuming grading

“One piece of advice, you can’t integrate all of these at once,” says Saunders. “Integrate them slowly and at the rate that you feel comfortable with them.”