Prepare a first-day activity that engages students in the content, skills, and common routines of your class

Why

Want to get students excited and interested in your course from day one? Instead of a traditional syllabus review, try inviting students to actively experience what it means to ‘do your discipline’ and practice the types of engagement strategies you plan to regularly use. Using a low-stakes or introductory activity can help you spark student curiosity for the content, you as an instructor, and what they will learn and accomplish by the end of the course.

How

1. Reflect on what students will do in one of your typical class sessions. Questions you might ask yourself include:

• Will students be expected to engage with other students during class?  How?
• How do I want students to engage with me / participate during class (both logistically and in terms of what “good” participation entails)?
• What routines will be present in all or most classes?
• What is a habit of mind or heart central to my discipline that I want my students to embody throughout the semester (e.g., inquiry, perspective-taking, etc.)?
• How does my classroom deviate from expectations students might have coming in?
• Do I expect them to complete and submit work during class? How will that be accomplished each day?
• What level of thinking about the content do I want them to do during class? (See Bloom’s Taxonomy for levels of cognitive tasks.)