First Day Forward

Originally published in August 2024

The new academic year is just around the corner!

Your first day in a new class can be fueled with anticipation and excitement (and maybe even sprinkled with a tiny bit of apprehension), and many of your students will be feeling the same way!

As you prepare for your first day, consider ways that you can build on your syllabus to create an engaging and positive experience for both you and your students throughout the term. Your students will look to you to lead, establish and model the energy of the class. Renowned pedagogical author James Lang reminds us that the first day provides an important opportunity to “inspire curiosity, build community, drum up excitement for learning, and manage student expectations” to make a lasting impression and set students up for success (Lang 2019).

Teaching Excellence and Innovation are excited to welcome you back into the classroom and offer some suggestions to confidently approach your first day of class.

Building a Learning Community

Students arrive in your classroom with a wide range of experiences, backgrounds, knowledge, and skills. Creating a learning environment of ‘mattering’, where students are respected and valued as whole beings, generates feelings of psychological safety, taps into emotional motivations, and reduces barriers to engagement and inclusion (Gravett, 2022; Addy et al., 2021; Felten and Lambert 2020; and Cavanagh, 2016). To foster positive relationships in your classroom, consider providing multiple opportunities for students to get to know you, for you to get to know students, and for students to get to know each other.

Students Getting to Know You

Spark interest in student learning by sharing a warm presence, an authentic introduction, and a keen interest in your course content.
Share your teaching philosophy (Your why) or pedagogical approach (Your how) with students to make visible your commitment to their learning.
Select relevant stories from your life and professional career to build rapport.
Establish clear pathways for communication and connection outside of class time. Highlight your office hours and let students know that this is time you’ve set aside for their questions, feedback, mentorship, or encouragement.

Getting to Know Your Students

Design a pre-course survey to proactively get to know your students’ prior learning, interest in the course, access to technologies, and any questions or concerns or relevant contexts that might impact their success in the course. Your surveys can also be used in a more light-hearted manner, as an icebreaker, or asking students to share their favourite season or snack!
Aiming to learn and use student names reduces anonymity and motivates students to seek help from their instructors by opening a more personal connection. Familiarize yourself with names by using seating charts or name tents that are collected at the end of each class. Invite students to share the correct pronunciation of their name and pronouns.
Students in virtual Zoom classrooms can also change their names and choose to add their personal pronouns.
Create opportunities in class to learn about students’ goals and interests, celebrate and build on student strengths, and acknowledge their contributions to the learning environment (a meaningful comment or an active listener).
Ask students to submit a one-minute paper or an exit ticket after the first class to provide useful information, share excitement about the class, and identify persisting questions.

Students Getting to Know One Another

Encourage students to introduce themselves to each other in a class activity, such as interview questions, meet-me bingo, 6-word story, share favourites, or would you rather ‘this or that’.
Leverage eLearning technologies such as iClickers, Zoom Polls, or Microsoft Whiteboard to collect and share.
Initiate collaborative learning opportunities, like think-pair-share or group projects, to reinforce the idea that learning is social and that every voice can make a valuable contribution to the class.
Set up group-based discussion boards on MyLearningSpace or suggest students form study groups to reduce isolation and create an environment of supportive peer learning.

Communicating Expectations

Establishing expectations and providing clear guidelines helps to define classroom norms, supports students in navigating course requirements, promotes accountability, and reduces misunderstandings. Aim to use inclusive language to highlight and explain the purpose behind the course and institutional policies in the syllabus and the related decisions that you have made to support learning in the course. Framing this as a collaborative conversation with your students builds ownership in the class and their academic success.

In discussing academic integrity, emphasize the importance of citational practices to developing their connections to a community and genealogy of scholars. Consider commenting on how acknowledging the work of others shows inspiration, justification, as well as their research skills.
Share with students your perspective on GenAI and its use in your course. Clarify if, when and how GenAI may be used in class activities or assessments and related student responsibilities for attribution.
Clarify your policies on electronic devices in class by discussing digital distractions and the importance of presence and engagement to their academic success. Learn more about mitigating digital distractions.
Establish guidelines for respectful dialogue in the classroom in order to turn challenging content and questions into meaningful learning moments.
Foster awareness of student support services, including obtaining accommodations through Accessible Learning.
Highlight your use of Universal Design for Learning principles that support equitable access to the learning environment.
Clearly outline options for students if they miss a deadline, need to make up for an unexpected late or missed submission, or are unable to attend a class. Whether for religious and spiritual accommodations, illness or other reasons, clarifying policies on student attendance humanizes the learning environment.

Starting your term with positivity, clarity, and a sense of community will support student success from the first day forward!