DIY First Day GOALS & REFLECTIONS
Today was the first day of my new DIY course. I have been excited and very nervous for about a week now. The course was filled and closed a week before the semester started - I had never had a class close before the semester began. This tells me that students are excited about a DIY course - but this also makes me fear that they will be disappointed if it is not what they had expected.
Also, I have been talking about this class a lot, and so, I feel the pressure to succeed. Of course, this pressure is only coming from me.
To start the course off, I had two objectives:
1. To explain the course and
2. To start building a classroom environment
STEP ONE:
Since this course is likely not like any course a student has taken, and it likely involves a lot more self-reflection and learning about oneself, I think it is important to clearly explain what this course will look like and the benefits. I also wanted it to be clear that while I would be pushing each student out of their comfort zone, that is was important that they let me know if they were being pushed too far too quickly.
I gave students an overview of the course as well as a breakdown of the mini-workshops I had planned for the course - with a focus on the first five weeks.
Next, I explained how they would be evaluated - focusing on explaining the different ways they could journal and what to include in their journal.
STEP TWO:
In my opinion, before any learning of any subject can happen, students have to feel that their environment is a safe one. It must be an environment where students have peers, they have support, they feel that they can ask questions and make mistakes without being mocked ...
Therefore, no matter what subject I am teaching, I always spend the first few days establishing that classroom community.
Here are some of the activities I did for this class:
A. Introduce your partner:
For this activity, I stress the importance of having the name said at the end so that it is attached to the applause from the class. Having your name said and a room of people clap just makes you feel good - even if you did nothing to deserve it!
B. (My spin on) Wheel-to-Wheel Activity
REFLECTION:
I left the first class feeling happy. My nervousness had all been for nothing :) My students seemed to be happy to be there and really interested in what was to come.
After reading students journals, I realize that I was not as clear as I had thought in my explanation of the course and evaluations. I think, going forward, specific examples would help. Perhaps sharing a sample journal entry would help.
Also, I realized just how many students struggle with being shy or anxious and who struggle with group work. I was pleased to read that while many of them felt uncomfortable with the wheel-to-wheel activity at the start, they were happy they did it and ended up meeting some friends on the first day.
Overall, I feel as though there is a lot of potential for this course to become something unique and beautiful!
