TEACH Program : first week of class

101 Things You Can Do The First Three Weeks of Class

mmeixner — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 16:52:00 GMT

Following last week’s posting on things to do the first day of class, take a look at the following post from Tomorrow’s Professor: 101 Things You Can Do The First Three Weeks of Class. Joyce Povlacs Lunde offers some great ideas for helping students make transitions, directing students’ attention, challenging students, encouraging active learning, building community in the classroom, and more. Check it out and let me know what you think! Is there anything new you think would be worth trying?

First Day of Class

mmeixner — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 21:06:00 GMT

Happy New Year! I hope that you have all had a restful and fun break and are ready to get back into the swing of things.As you each prepare for your first day of the semester, I thought you might be interested in some strategies related to having a successful and productive first day of class. While there are innumerable resources on this subject, many seem to touch on the same ideas including things like:

1.    Be enthusiastic about the course and the subject you are teaching…remember that if you don’t want to be there, neither will they.
2.    Establish communication. Use ice-breakers or other activities to get the students talking to each other and to you. Set a precedent for what you expect throughout the semester.
3.    Tell the students about yourself and about the class. Be explicit so they know exactly what to expect.

For more ideas and for some great recommendations for ice-breakers check out The Most Important Day: Starting Well, The First Day of Class: Advice and Ideas, and the First Day of Class: List of Useful URL’s.

Another important thing we deal with as we get to know our new students is learning their names. If you have a difficult time learning names, don’t forget about the articles posted at the beginning of the fall semester: Learning Your Students’ Names and Not Quite 101 Ways to Learning Students' Names.

Looking ahead...preparing for next semester

mmeixner — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:11:00 GMT

You may hate me for this, but as the semester comes to a close it will soon be time to start thinking ahead and planning for next semester. If you don’t have time (or the mental strength) to think about this now, that’s okay! Either way, here are some helpful resources for preparing for a new semester.

Tomorrow’s Professor Msg #871: Designing Courses

This is a very thoughtful article from the Stanford Center for Teaching and Learning. They offer great advice for learning-centered course design and provide an overview of the steps involved in a course design or re-design.

Preparing or Revising a Course

In Tools for Teaching, Barbara Gross Davis always provides great pedagogical advice that consistently proves to be effective and efficient. In this chapter, she identifies general strategies for preparing for a new semester and addresses 3 major points: “what to teach, how to teach it, and how to ensure that students are learning what is being taught.”

Learning Your Students' Names

mmeixner — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 13:35:00 GMT

Hello! Welcome to the TEACH Blog! Each week (usually on Monday or Tuesday) I will post a new article or topic, generally related to SoTL or the job search, which we’d love for you to check out and discuss with us if you are interested. If you ever have any problem accessing the article or website, be sure to let me know!

Research shows that one of the fastest ways to connect with your students and help increase student motivation and engagment is by learning and using their names. Here are a couple of links that offer some insight into learning your students’ names. Take a look at the following posting from Tomorrow’s Professor, Learning Your Students’ Names, and Not Quite 101 Ways to Learning Students' Names from the University of Virginia for some practical suggestions for learning your students’ names. There are some really great suggestions and it's not too late to get started; hopefully at least one can work for you!

The First Week of Class

sjackman — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 18:50:00 GMT

Happy New Year and welcome back! Hopefully you all had wonderful and restful breaks and are ready to get the semester going. Tomorrow's Professor has issued another great article that lists 101 Things You Can Do The First 3 Weeks of Class. There are great ideas for how to help students with transitions, directing students attention, challenging students, providing support, etc.
Best wishes for your spring semester!