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[westernpomeranian]

Since classes are starting soon, I thought I'd start a thread specifically about Jedi Mind tricks for the first day. I'll start with Mad_Doctor's excellent suggestions. Does anyone have other suggestions?  Or, if you've tried any of the ones below, how did they work out?

As for me, I'm still trying to find that optimal mix of "friendly but tough" for the first day. I came off too weak my first time around.

Since classes start next week for us, I think it's appropriate to review the Jedi mind tricks that are appropriate for the first day of class.  They are mostly about the relationship between first impressions and teaching evaluations, so they can be very important in the grand scheme of things.  Most of these mind tricks also have the added advantage of being supported by empirical research.

*  Put on a happy face
*  Smile a lot
*  Use hand gestures and positive body language
*  Tell them how happy you are to be in class with them for the semester.
*  Tell them how happy you are with how previous students have enjoyed the class, and how you expect the same will hold true for this class.
*  Tell them that, based on previous experience, students learn a lot in this class, and have fun while doing so.
*  Tell them how hard you work to prepare for this class, because you enjoy it so much
*  Tell them how dedicated you are to making sure that every one of them will get as much as possible out of the class.
*  and so on - you get the point.

There is empirical research that actually shows how students are so susceptible to first impressions, that it almost doesn't matter what else happens in the class throughout the semester.  Statistically, first impression ratings are so highly correlated with end-of-term teaching evals as to make end-of-term teaching evals unnecessary if you already have first impression ratings.  It is even likely that you can totally drop the ball during the semester, but if you made a good first impression your teaching evals won't suffer much.  I've been doing this for years, and it really works.  It's the higher ed equivalent of Obi-Wan telling the storm trooper, "these aren't the droids you're looking for...  move along..."  If you're good, you're students will even repeat the same phrases you use on day in their qualitative comments on your evals - just like Obi Wan and the storm troopers.

[geonerd]

We've got one of those

http://chronicle.com/forums/index.php/topic,50350.0.html

[polly_mer]

Yes, Geonerd, we have a Jedi Mind Tricks thread.  I think Westernpomeranian is asking for particular tips for the first day and chose Mad_doctor's post from that thread as a starter for a targeted discussion as we come up on the new term.

I've been thinking a lot about this because my first day usually goes very well. However, the students tend to immediately ignore the lessons that I carefully designed to help them succeed and, by the third week, I have mutiny because their expectations of the class did not change based on those first few day lessons.

For this semester, I'm stealing Quietly's idea from the study time thread about showing student schedules with the study time blocked off to drive home the point: you must study and you should be spending a "ridiculous" amount of time on this class because 5 classes is a full-time job.  Putting a 20-hour-a-week job on top of that means you have little free time.  I've put meals, exercise, church, and three big blocks of time with friends on the schedule to show that the days are just packed, but everything fits if one only needs 2 hours outside of class for every hour in and has no other responsibilities.

I always start the first day with an activity on fun science that people pull from their non-school lives as well as grading examples of emails to have the discussion on what to do and what not to do with low stakes.

[imawakenow]

I always start the first day with an activity on fun science that people pull from their non-school lives as well as grading examples of emails to have the discussion on what to do and what not to do with low stakes.

Same here  (well, I teach "basketweaving" rather than science).

I always start with a case study or something from the news that is relevant to the class. Have the students break into groups of 2-3, work on it and then present their results. Then use the activity as a jumping off point to talk about the scope of the course, what is important to you, etc.

[hstrytool]

I quote from Master Yoda himself, "Do or do not - there is no try!"  (Do your papers or don't but please don't tell me you are "trying.")

I think I might have to try moving over to the Dark Side of the force and try Darth Vader's technique of squeezing while saying "I find your lack of faith disturbing!"  :)

[mountainguy]

Whatever you do on the first day, I think it's important to get the students talking and actively participating. Standing there and reading the syllabus to them might be easier to plan, but it sets the tone for passiveness later on.

One thing that I'm toying with doing this semester is to spend 5-10 minutes each class period for the first two or so weeks of class going over different types of study skills (ie, how to take notes, how to best "read" the textbook, etc.). I'm guessing a lot of it will fall on deaf ears, but given that most of my students will be freshpeeps, it seems important to define expectations clearly.

[marigolds]

For this semester, I'm stealing Quietly's idea from the study time thread about showing student schedules with the study time blocked off to drive home the point: you must study and you should be spending a "ridiculous" amount of time on this class because 5 classes is a full-time job.  Putting a 20-hour-a-week job on top of that means you have little free time.  I've put meals, exercise, church, and three big blocks of time with friends on the schedule to show that the days are just packed, but everything fits if one only needs 2 hours outside of class for every hour in and has no other responsibilities.

Would you consider posting (or emailing) an example of this? I'd love to see what y'all are doing. 

[changinggears]

Along with what others have posted (clearly establishing course expectations, going over some ideas for time and life management, and having students do some active learning to start things off in a way that imitates what all future classes will be like), I also have a meet and greet between students (either interviews, student bingo, or short introductions) and I make an effort on my part to get to know the students better: I make sure I note their preferred name and I have them fill out an index card of biographical info and either a) a question they have about me or the class, b) a concern they have about the class, or c) something they think I need to know about them (or any combination of the three).  I read over these before the next class meeting and then openly address any that I feel need to be cleared up.

The other trick I do is to activate students' prior knowledge and/or feelings/assumptions about the course topic.  For example, I might write "writing" on the board and have students brainstorm everything that comes to mind, the good and the bad, when they see the word; we then work together to create a word web around "writing" and we discuss some of the common themes that come up and I try to reinforce the good stuff and put a positive spin on the bad stuff (or just acknowledge the bad stuff but assure them that we'll work through the bad stuff together and sometimes you learn more from the bad stuff than you do the good stuff).

Obvious, you can't do all of this on the first day.  I usually spend the first week on this stuff; I call it [Course title] Bootcamp.  I prioritize the stuff that will best serve to make a positive first impression and really establish the tone of the course (active learning, student collaboration, getting to know students and their concerns) and do that the first day.  I save syllabus review and other housekeeping stuff for the second day.

[hegemony]

Changinggears, can you describe "student bingo"?  I'm lost on what this actually is.

[scampster]

Changinggears, can you describe "student bingo"?  I'm lost on what this actually is.

If it is the same as the icebreaker I know of (and that makes sense in this context), you make a bingo card with things on the squares like "has been to three continents" or "knows how to juggle" and they have to go introduce themselves to people and find people who can check the bingo box for them because they know how to juggle. I actually think this is kind of a fun icebreaker because at the end you remember people better - "Oh that's Jim. He juggles."

[polly_mer]

Changinggears, can you describe "student bingo"?  I'm lost on what this actually is.

If it is the same as the icebreaker I know of (and that makes sense in this context), you make a bingo card with things on the squares like "has been to three continents" or "knows how to juggle" and they have to go introduce themselves to people and find people who can check the bingo box for them because they know how to juggle. I actually think this is kind of a fun icebreaker because at the end you remember people better - "Oh that's Jim. He juggles."

Personally, I hate those activities.  I prefer, even as a student/participant, to have an ice-breaker that is somehow related to the reason we are gathered in the room.  I prefer to have something like share the answers to:

1) What do you hope to learn from this class?
2) What is an experience related to this class from your own history?
3) Give an example from a book, movie, or television show that is related to this class and why you make that connection.
4) If you had the opportunity to spend the day with a professional who is knowledgeable in this area, what kind of professional would you choose and why?

You still get to learn about people in the class (Hi, I'm Jim and I want to spend the day with an oncologist because of my experience with my mother), but the experience isn't touchy-feely crap that makes me want a refund the tie to the class material is stronger and the experience can be a nice introduction to ways of thinking about the class.

[concordancia]

Changinggears, can you describe "student bingo"?  I'm lost on what this actually is.

If it is the same as the icebreaker I know of (and that makes sense in this context), you make a bingo card with things on the squares like "has been to three continents" or "knows how to juggle" and they have to go introduce themselves to people and find people who can check the bingo box for them because they know how to juggle. I actually think this is kind of a fun icebreaker because at the end you remember people better - "Oh that's Jim. He juggles."

Personally, I hate those activities.  I prefer, even as a student/participant, to have an ice-breaker that is somehow related to the reason we are gathered in the room.  I prefer to have something like share the answers to:

1) What do you hope to learn from this class?
2) What is an experience related to this class from your own history?
3) Give an example from a book, movie, or television show that is related to this class and why you make that connection.
4) If you had the opportunity to spend the day with a professional who is knowledgeable in this area, what kind of professional would you choose and why?

You still get to learn about people in the class (Hi, I'm Jim and I want to spend the day with an oncologist because of my experience with my mother), but the experience isn't touchy-feely crap that makes me want a refund the tie to the class material is stronger and the experience can be a nice introduction to ways of thinking about the class.

There are certain disciplines that allow for party style ice breakers that are related to the class - anthropology, sociology, communication, etc.

[changinggears]

Changinggears, can you describe "student bingo"?  I'm lost on what this actually is.

You create bingo cards with student characteristics.  Students have to go around the room and fill up their card.  You can do this one of two ways:

1) have students write down something interesting about themselves on an index card on the first day; create the bingo cards using this info and play bingo at the next class meeting

or

2) put generic info on the cards and have students play bingo on the first day

I've done the second option by putting things like: likes to tweet on Twitter, majoring in Nursing, was not born in the US, lives in a coed dorm, plays for a college sports team, etc.

Students don't necessarily have to fill up the card; it's just a way to get them talking to their peers because it gives them a purpose for asking each other questions about their personal lives.

In line with what polly says, I try to gear the characteristics towards some aspect of campus culture.  On the other hand, I don't feel the need to stick so strictly to classroom- or content-related issues.  I think it's just as important (if not more) for students to get to know something about each others' lives outside of the classroom.  I've found that they bond a lot quicker over these activities/commonalities than over coursework and that if I can foster bonding over out-of-class interests first, it's easier for them to bond during class-related activities.

[polly_mer]

Changinggears, can you describe "student bingo"?  I'm lost on what this actually is.

If it is the same as the icebreaker I know of (and that makes sense in this context), you make a bingo card with things on the squares like "has been to three continents" or "knows how to juggle" and they have to go introduce themselves to people and find people who can check the bingo box for them because they know how to juggle. I actually think this is kind of a fun icebreaker because at the end you remember people better - "Oh that's Jim. He juggles."

Personally, I hate those activities.  I prefer, even as a student/participant, to have an ice-breaker that is somehow related to the reason we are gathered in the room.  I prefer to have something like share the answers to:

1) What do you hope to learn from this class?
2) What is an experience related to this class from your own history?
3) Give an example from a book, movie, or television show that is related to this class and why you make that connection.
4) If you had the opportunity to spend the day with a professional who is knowledgeable in this area, what kind of professional would you choose and why?

You still get to learn about people in the class (Hi, I'm Jim and I want to spend the day with an oncologist because of my experience with my mother), but the experience isn't touchy-feely crap that makes me want a refund the tie to the class material is stronger and the experience can be a nice introduction to ways of thinking about the class.

There are certain disciplines that allow for party style ice breakers that are related to the class - anthropology, sociology, communication, etc.

Eh, I'm curmudgeonly.  I have zero patience with the "let's get to know each other out of context" stuff.  No, I signed up for a class in whatever.  If we taking a poll on family size for sociology, then I'm in.  Want to know what I have used as media for the past week to facilitate a discussion in communication?  I'm in.  Shall we compare physiological features for anthropology?  I'm in.

Ask me to name three interesting things about myself for the whole group and I'm thinking "I didn't sign up for group therapy; I signed up for X.  You have until the end of class to convince me that this is a one-time annoyance instead of your standard MO or I'm dropping this class as fast as I can run to the registrar's office."  I'll name something generic (I'm a wife; I'm a mother; I've lived in New Mexico), but I freakin' hate those kind of ice breakers with a passion that is hard to describe since I can't write here with blood and spittle.

You know how some people feel about being asked to do math?  Yeah, let's multiply that by about 10.

[nucleo]

Do people really have time to do icebreakers and the like in class?  Good god.  My curriculum essentially demands that I complete half of the first section of the text in the first class, unless I want to be pressed for time in the last week of classes. 

(I would like to have this changed, but there is substantial pushback from my colleagues.  You could claim that since I have the slowest pace of lecturing (not by much, but it translates to an hour or two over a 55-hour class), I should just speed up and everything would be fine.  However, since I have some of the highest evaluations and just won a teaching award, I'd claim that perhaps slowing down a tad might benefit the students.  Also, if a faculty member is sick for a day or two, it would be nice if the class as a whole wasn't routinely screwed.)