First Day Teaching

[corinne]

Monday will be my first day teaching college. I have prepared (and over-prepared) and I'm still nervous. It's surprising to make it through grad school, comprehensive exams, research fellowships, brutal job interviews and still have a class of college students scare you.

[jmengert]

I teach English at a university, so I can relate. Just remember that you know more than they do, and at the beginning they're usually as nervous as we are. My students are always wonderful people (excepting a few over the years), so hopefully you'll find the same with yours.

Good luck! I'm sure you'll do very well

[corinne]

I guess part of it is that the course is for seniors/graduate students which seems to be a bit too much for a newbie, but it's a really fun course and something I've always wanted to teach (environmental chemistry). I'm sure the students will be fairly forgiving knowing that I'm new and I'm fortunate to get such a course right away.

[elisabet]

Corrine ,it is wonderful.and the subject is intresting.just go for it.

best of luck elisabet

[NicoleAJ]

Corinne,

Like jmengert, I also teach college English. I was so nervous my first day as well, and I also overprepared. Interestingly enough, as soon as I got up in front of the classroom, I knew that I had chosen the right career--that all of my years of hard work would pay off in a satisfying job.

Did you not get to teach classes as a graduate student? Did you just do research rather than TA work?

At any rate, even Walter Cronkite used to get butterflies in his stomach every time he spoke publicly, but he said, "the secret is to get them to fly in formation." As soon as you get up there, you might be a little shaky, but you'll do what you need to do and zone out the rest of the world. In fact, the first day is the easiest day since you just need to go over the syllabus, course policies, and give some background information. I don't know how big your class will be, but asking each class member to introduce themselves and answer a question when they do so actually takes a lot of pressure off of you. Once you're finished with the first day, though, the second day will feel easier.

I've also found that students love dry wit. If you acknowledge and embrace the fact that you're a little dorky for knowing everything that you know, then they'll love you for it (and it will show in your evaluations).

[Green12]

Good luck, hope it goes well for you today

[NicoleAJ]

Please let us know how it went today.

[Mtndog]

I teach college writing. Corinne- I wish I had seen your post earlier. Ffirst of all, com=ngratulations.... look how far you've made it to this point! If you can do that you can do anything! I bet you knocked 'em dead! let us know how it goes.

[corinne]

Well I made it through the first week and really enjoyed it. The first day, the class was very quiet and didn't respond to any questions, but by Friday, they had loosened up and were really participating.

I taught a lot of labs in grad school, but I never had a chance to lecture. I have a lot to learn, but I'm looking forward to the long path ahead. I'm glad I was that prepared. The students here are very bright and actually have corrected me 3 times in class this week (and they were right)