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I believe a better title for Unit 20 instead of “Troubleshooting” would be “First Day Strategies” (or “Survival” for those of a pessimistic nature)! It was refreshing for me to learn that first day jitters and preparation haven’t really changed in my 25 years of teaching and that it universally applies to all disciplines and manners of learning.
I find the first step to a successful first day and indeed success throughout the course and the learning process is to connect with the students. This can be accomplished by greeting students at the classroom door with a handshake or customary bow. It sends a message that as the teacher you want to get to know them which in turn relaxes their own anxieties. Once all students have arrived it is important for the teacher to introduce himself and start building a rapport by telling students about himself.
Once the greetings, introductions and teacher-student rapport building has started it is time to focus on some icebreaker activities. Icebreakers are a great way for both teachers and students to get to know the class and it also helps in learning names. Learning student names quickly sends a message that the teacher is interested in and cares about the students.
The next step in the first day process is to set the tone of classroom expectations by stating, explaining and demonstrating daily routines. In fact, teacher modeling of the tone began before the class started. The first routine shown is the most important, because it sets the bar for what is expected day-to-day.
Finally conduct a top-notch first day lesson! By jumping right into a lesson on the very first day, showcases teaching style. A great first lesson could start with a student survey activity, where students work in pairs to collect information about their classmates then graph the results. The goal is to send the message that class is fun, while still showing them that they need to work hard to be successful.
