My first semester as a faculty member taught me something I wish I had understood on day one: most of the stress did not come from teaching itself. It came from the absence of systems. I was making constant small decisions—how to answer student emails, when to grant an extension, what to do when a student disappeared, how to keep course materials organized, and how to protect research time when the week kept getting fragmented. None of those decisions seemed large in isolation, but together they created a steady drain on time and attention.
What helped was not finding a perfect method. It was building a few repeatable habits that made the semester more manageable for both my students and me. The five practices below are simple, practical, and adaptable across disciplines. They do not eliminate the learning curve of a first semester, but they do reduce unnecessary friction.
1. Create Communication Scripts Before You Need Them
Most student emails fall into a small number of categories: missed work, extension requests, confusion about instructions, grade questions, technology problems, and “I’m behind—what should I do now?” If I wrote every response from scratch, email quickly became a second job. What changed everything was creating a small bank of reusable responses.
A good script has three parts: a respectful acknowledgment, a reference to the relevant course policy or resource, and a next step. For example, instead of writing a long custom reply, I could say, “Thanks for reaching out. Please review the late-work policy in the syllabus, and then submit the assignment by the updated deadline listed in the LMS.” That kind of response is calm, clear, and consistent.
The goal is not to sound robotic. The goal is to reduce decision fatigue and improve fairness. When students receive similar guidance in similar situations, they are less likely to feel that policies are arbitrary. I also learned to send one short weekly announcement in my LMS that answered common questions before students needed to ask them: what is due, what to prioritize, and what usually causes trouble that week. Those announcements prevented many repeat emails before they ever landed in my inbox.
2. Make Expectations Explicit Early
Many first-semester problems are not really performance problems; they are expectation problems. Students often do poorly not because they are unwilling to succeed, but because they are guessing about what “good participation,” “professional communication,” or “acceptable collaboration” actually means.
One of the most useful things I did was create a single “How to succeed in this course” page. I included communication norms, participation expectations, late-work rules, where to find assignments, how quickly I respond to email, and what students should do if they fall behind. I also addressed issues that now matter in almost every class, such as responsible use of AI tools and how to distinguish collaboration from unauthorized help.
The important part is not just posting expectations once. It is revisiting them early and enforcing them gently but consistently. If a student sends an unprofessional email in week two, that is the right time to redirect them. If several students misunderstand an assignment, that is a signal to clarify the directions immediately. Small course corrections early prevent repeated negotiations later. Clear expectations are not about being rigid; they are about making the course more predictable and easier to navigate.
3. Build a Default Weekly Workflow
In a first semester, it is easy to let the calendar decide everything for you. Meetings get scheduled, student needs pop up, grading expands, and research time disappears into whatever space is left. I learned that if I did not build a default week, the week built itself around the most immediate demand.
My solution was simple: protect a few recurring blocks. I designated specific times for course prep, grading, and scholarship. Even a single 60-minute protected block was more effective than hoping I would “find time” later. I also started grading in batches. Instead of checking the LMS constantly and responding to each new submission or question as it appeared, I grouped similar tasks together. That made me faster, more focused, and more consistent in my evaluation of student work.
Another small habit helped more than I expected: I kept a running “next semester fixes” list. When I noticed an unclear instruction, an awkward assignment sequence, or a resource students kept missing, I wrote it down rather than trying to rebuild the course mid-semester. That list lowered my stress because it let me acknowledge a problem without turning it into an emergency. Sometimes the most sustainable move is not to fix everything now, but to capture it for later.
4. Ask for Mid-Semester Feedback While You Can Still Use It
End-of-term evaluations tell us how students felt after the course is over. Mid-semester feedback tells us what we can still improve while the course is in motion. Once I began using a short anonymous check-in, I found it to be one of the most efficient teaching tools I had.
I kept it to five questions: What is helping your learning? What is still unclear? Is the pacing manageable? Is the workload reasonable? What is one change that would help you succeed? Those questions provided useful information without causing survey fatigue. More importantly, they helped me identify friction points that were easy to fix: unclear instructions, too many clustered due dates, or a resource that students did not realize was available.
The real value comes from closing the loop. In the next class or announcement, I would briefly say, “Here is what I heard, here is what I am going to adjust, and here is what will stay the same.” Students responded well when they saw that feedback had a purpose. I did not need to adopt every suggestion. I just needed to show that I was listening and making thoughtful decisions. That transparency improved trust, engagement, and, ultimately, the course’s tone.
5. Learn Your Campus Referral Network Before a Problem Becomes a Crisis
One of the hardest parts of a first semester is realizing how many student issues are not purely instructional in nature. Students may struggle with attendance, accommodations, mental health concerns, financial pressure, technology barriers, conduct issues, or personal crises. New faculty often feel pressure to solve these situations on their own. That is rarely the best approach.
What helped me was learning the referral map early. I needed to know who handled disability accommodations, student conduct, counseling and wellness, academic support, Title IX concerns, library assistance, and LMS or classroom technology problems. I also needed to understand an important professional boundary: my job was not to investigate everything or become the sole support system. My job was to respond appropriately, document when needed, and connect students to the right office.
This is practical workload management as much as it is student support. When faculty know where to refer, they act more consistently and with less uncertainty. Instead of improvising under pressure, they can say, “Here is the office that can help, and here is your next step.” That helps students faster and reduces the isolation many new instructors feel when difficult situations arise.
A Final Thought
If I could go back and advise myself before that first semester began, I would not say, “Work harder.” I would say, “Build better systems sooner.” A few well-designed habits can dramatically reduce the chaos that makes new teaching feel overwhelming.
For anyone starting out, I recommend choosing one practical change this week:
- Create three email scripts you know you will reuse.
- Post one weekly LMS announcement template.
- Draft a five-question mid-semester check-in.
- Identify the three campus offices you are most likely to need.
You do not need to solve everything at once. The goal is not perfection. The goal is to build a sustainable way of teaching—one that supports students while also protecting your time, attention, and confidence.
Peter Szawranskyj holds both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, where his graduate studies focused on safety and human factors. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Occupational Safety and Health at West Virginia University, with a research focus on human factors, training, and safety behavior in aviation. His academic and research interests include advanced cockpit design, cognitive science, and aviation safety systems. He currently serves as a faculty member in the Department of Aeronautical Science at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, where he teaches and mentors future aviation professionals. In addition, he serves as a faculty mentor, supporting and guiding new faculty in their professional development and instructional effectiveness. In this role, he draws on more than three decades of military and civilian aviation experience to bring a practical, safety-focused perspective to the classroom. His instruction emphasizes real-world applications of human factors, crew resource management, flight department operations, and advanced flight systems.
In addition to his academic responsibilities, Peter also serves as the Director of Aviation for a large corporate flight department. In this capacity, he oversees operations for a fleet that includes two Challenger jets and is actively involved in all aspects of flight department management, including flight operations, regulatory compliance, and safety oversight. His leadership in this role provides valuable, current industry insights that enhance his teaching and benefit his students. Peter began his flying career as an F-14 Tomcat pilot in the United States Navy. Following his service, he held various roles in the airline, charter, and corporate aviation sectors, including Safety Officer, Chief Pilot, and Director of Operations. He holds type ratings in the A320, B737, BE-300, BE-400, CL-30, CL-604, DA-50, G-IV, G-V, and MU-300.
Outside of his professional work, Peter is an avid adventurer. He enjoys scuba diving, hang gliding, and soaring in his Stemme S12 motor glider. He also volunteers with wildlife rehabilitation efforts, helping to care for injured and orphaned animals in his community.