The first day of class can set the tone for the rest of the semester. Whether you are teaching face to face or online there are some key things you can do on the first day to start the semester off right. This page outlines a simple formula you can use to get started.
Start community building
Students are more likely to come to class if they feel connected to you, their peers and the institution. Connection to you and their peers will also help students build a support network within your course. It is never too early to start building community in your course. Here are some suggested strategies.
Instructor introduction
Introducing yourself to your students helps set the tone for the course. Think about the type of learning community you want to build. What do you want your students to know about you? Your Academic journey? Your personal journey? A bit of both?
The importance of introductions is obvious in a face to face or synchronous online class. A warm and welcoming introduction can be even more important in asynchronous courses. Students can complete an asynchronous course without ever meeting you online or face to face. This means you may need to make extra effort to infuse your asynchronous courses to let students get to know you. This might be in the form of a written introduction or a video welcome to the course.
When introducing yourself you will want to ensure you tell students what you prefer they call you as well as how they can contact you. You can also set an inclusive tone by including:
- your pronouns, if you are comfortable sharing them
- Learn more about the importance of pronouns from VIU's Positive Space Alliance.
- territorial acknowledgement for your current home and even places you lived before
Your introduction is not only a chance to let your students get to know you. This is also an invaluable opportunity to set expectations for the tone and goals of the course. A strong introduction can:
- break down barriers between you and your students
- make students feel more comfortable asking for help
- create a sense of community
- set the tone for your teaching style
- establish expectations for the course
While you can create a generic introduction that you can share in all your courses, we don't recommend it. Your introduction will be more impactful if it is grounded in the specifics of the course. Think about:
- Which part of the course are you most excited to teach?
- What experiences are you bringing to the course?
- What should students expect from you?
- What do you expect from students?
The answers to these questions can be a helpful frame for your introduction.
You don't need to go into great detail on any of these points. If you are doing a written or video introduction you want to keep it succinct and engaging. Videos of more than a couple minutes long are unlikely to hold student interest. It's a good idea to write a script and then edit it down to a couple hundred words before recording.
Student introductions
Student introductions are also essential to building community in your course. This helps student learn about each other and to feel more comfortable working and collaborating together. Use low-risk activities that do not require much planning and will immediately engage students.
Have students work in groups to solve a simple problem related to course content and/or the course syllabus. If you are not in a physical classroom you could do this in Teams breakout rooms or using the Groups tool in VIULearn.
There are lots of icebreaker activities out there. Find one and use it as is, or adapt it to be relevant to your discipline.
Student Survey Card. This can help you get to know more about your students. Provide them with a physical or virtual survey that includes questions that you feel are important to their learning.
Regardless of the activity, think about how you can make it resemble what you will be doing throughout the semester. For example, if you will be using breakout rooms this is a good opportunity to get you and your students used to interacting this way. Similarly, if you have pre-assigned work groups for the term then this is a chance to get them working together right away.
Engage students with course concepts
We often use the first day to get to know each other and review the course outline. However, there is no reason why you can’t get students engaged in the content right away. This can be a hook that helps them feel excited and invested in the content. Think of one activity that introduces the content in a meaningful way. Ideally this should be something
- fun
- thought-provoking
- engaging
- low stakes
- high-impact
Latin America Art: Ask students to list as many European and North American artists as they can, and then the Latin American ones.
Cultural Geography: Give students a map of BC or Vancouver Island and a list of Indigenous language groups and have them plot them on the map.
Math: Ask students to list all the prime numbers under 100
Co-Creating course expectations
What are the expectations that you have for your students? How do you communicate those? Are any of them negotiable? Co-creating course expectations with your students can encourage student buy-in. Co-created expectations can also help you deal with situations in which those expectations are not being met.
Think about the expectations that are non-negotiable and those that are. Work with your class to co-create a set of expectations for the course that gives students meaningful agency on the latter. Topics you may want to address include:
- communication
- attendance
- due dates
- Teams etiquette
- class preparation
- group work
- lab safety
There are a number of collaborative tools you could use to have students generate and vote on ideas.
- Teams polls
- discussions in VIULearn
- Padlet
- Jamboards
- Google Docs
Explain how your course works
Your course will be different from others your students are taking. Every faculty, department and instructor may have a different approach to teaching including: Your course will be different from others your students are taking. Every faculty, department and instructor may have a different approach to teaching including:
- assignments
- expectations
- VIULearn layout
- accessing learning materials
- office hours and preferred contact method
Clear expectations on day one will help students focus on learning instead of on how to navigate your course. Spending time on thse details at the beginning of term will allow you to address potential barriers and confusion right away. This will mean the rest of the semester you should be able to focus on questions related to content rather than class administration.
If you are using VIULearn or another online platform, plan to spend some time showing this to your students. This can be high level and focused on the most important elements.
By the end of the first day students should know:
- your contact information and office hours
- where to find the link for any synchronous online meetings
- the class schedule (including due dates for assignments) and where they can go to find it
- the location of asssignment instructions and where to submit their work
- any special instructions related to learning materials
This can be something you do live in a synchronous class session or a video you post as part of your welcome announcement.
- tour of the VIULearn course
- brief review of the course outline
You can also create a low stakes quiz on this content to help students learn to navigate the course and find the information they need.