Tips for Launching a Successful Class

Since many of you are getting ready to start a new term or semester I thought a teaching tip on launching a successful class would be appropriate. If you are already under way, compare what you did to start your classes and compare to this tip to see if there are changes that could be made when you start up the next class. This teaching tip is quoted directly from Richard Lyons, Senior Consultant, Faculty Development Associates (http://www.developfaculty.com/).

The First Class Meeting

Steadily increasing political and market pressures are requiring colleges and universities to retain those students who come through their doors throughout each course, then throughout the entire program study until their completion. The primary responsibility for retention falls upon the individual professor. The first class meeting has historically proven to be one of the key points when students withdraw from classes. The strategic-minded professor who manages the first class meeting effectively will achieve a large share of his/her retention goals. Following are nine proven practices for retaining students at the start of the term.

1. Orchestrate a positive first impression of you and the learning environment. Today's student has been conditioned by fast-action television and movies, instant-response computers, and other technology to make quick assessments of visual stimuli. Therefore, make sure the classroom is neat and clear, and your appearance professional.

2. Identify yourself effectively, to individual students as they enter the classroom, and to the class as a whole when beginning the agenda. Remember, students are increasingly value-conscious, so demonstrate your competence without being perceived as arrogant.

3. Clarify class goals and expectations. Your careful, probing review of an eye-appealing syllabus that addresses nearly any question a reasonable student might have about the course is the key tactic.

4. Up to this point, you have controlled the stage. Address students' needs for social interaction by conducting an interactive icebreaker. In the process, you will foster relationships that will lead to the development of study groups and friendships.

5. With students in an open frame of mind, gather useful information from students that will enable you to identify and adapt to learning challenges inherent in the contemporary classroom. Using or adapting the "Student Profile" included in The Adjunct Professor's Guide to Success would be especially useful for this purpose.

6. With the completed Student Profiles in hand, learn and use students' names. You might also employ name tents or tags to facilitate students' learning each others' names.
Whet students' appetites for the material in your course. Show a video clip from last night's news, or display a critical headline from today's newspaper, that demonstrates the relevance of your subject matter.

7. Before they get away, gather some informal feedback from students - anonymously on 3 x 5" index cards. Simply print three open-ended questions on the board, including "are there any critical questions to which you didn't receive answers?"

If those of you reading today's post have other tips for getting one's class off on the right foot please send them to me at mlalopa@fooded.org. Please also provide your name, a jpeg photo, and short bio so I can give credit to the person who authored the post for our learning community.