GRAD 6100 Blog #4

What is that interesting feel of the first day of class? My friend who has taught elementary school for many years says it has a lot to do with the smell of fresh crayons. While my friends who teach high school say it is whatever new fashion trend will have the kids looking their nuttiest. Yet my husband, a middle school music teacher, looks forward to sorting out the beginning, intermediate and advanced students who all wind up in the same classroom.

This year my first day of class started off without a teacher! Class was scheduled to begin at 5, but at 5:19 all of my classmates and I were still standing out in the hallway. I was hearing all sorts of self-doubting whispers (“Has our room been changed with no note?,” “Has our meeting time or day been changed?,” “Did our professor forget about us?”)…lots of suffering. Then, to our relief, at 5:20, our professor arrived (a bit winded) and apologized for having been caught in traffic (sad, however, we all seemed to relate to that).

He recovered quickly and delivered a summary of what the evening would be like. After that, he began with roll call, and then we had an icebreaker that entailed five minutes to learn about a classmate and introduce them to the class. We completed the exercise in pairs, yet several twosomes did not do a complete introduction, for he did not tell us when to switch. I thought this was a good exercise, however, I will announce at 2 ½ minutes “it is time for the one who is asking to become the one who is telling.” After we completed our introductions, he told us about himself and did a speedy run through of the syllabus. He shared what he wanted us to do for the next class session and dismissed us one hour early.