I love the first day of class. I really do. It’s exciting to start fresh and meet a new group of students. The fresh syllabus, the introductions, all of it. Of course, it’s a bit different online than in person, but I still enjoy it. Yesterday was my first day for the spring 2021 semester and I met all three of my classes. We introduced ourselves to one another, went over the syllabus, and had a brief overview of what we could expect from our semester. The first day always involves a lot of talking on my part. Where I can create breakout rooms and encourage student discussion during most class sessions, the first day is a lot on my voice! Especially with three classes!
I still get a little bit of first day jitters. Nothing major, but just little things: will the technology work? will students be able to get the textbook? what kind of dynamic will this particular group have? will I remember to log in on time? I’ve been teaching since 2004 and it’s the same every year/semester. It happened when I taught high school, it happened when I taught in person, it happens even now with the classes online. But I love it. It’s an adrenaline rush of sorts. And I can’t think of a time when I didn’t feel relief at the end of the day after meeting my students. I mean, maybe not my throat, after all of that talking, but otherwise!
This semester was no exception. I am really looking forward to working with each of these groups of students. I am a little sad that it is unlikely I will meet any of them in person, but I’m encouraged by what I saw on the first day. Even the cameras! I had more cameras on yesterday than last semester. I tried a little something that I heard from another professor. They mentioned that they turned their own camera off for a few minutes and tried teaching that way. Then asked the students how it was for them to take a class that way. It really gave them a different perspective of what class can be like from the professor’s point of view and I was encouraged that a number of students turned their cameras on after that. So if you need a tip for encouraging cameras when they cannot be required – try that!
