I have written before about the first day of a course. I do not believe in going over the syllabus. I often do not even believe in discussing the topic of the course in any specific way. The first day should be all about creativity, motivation, and surprise.
Here is another suggestion of something to do.
On that first day ask students to write down a couple of their wildest dreams. Not just dreams, but wildest dreams that could actually be achieved with fierce determination and intense work. And not dreams that are so universal they are meaningless (happiness, wealth, success). Make these wildest dreams as specific as possible. Give the students about 15 minutes to do it.
Why?
Because it allows two things to occur. First, you then can talk about the subject of the course in terms of the wildest dreams it can allow to be achieved. They have just written about wildest dreams so their minds are already on that page. And, using wildest dreams as a motif for discussing course topics and content is a creative approach to get students to do a little critical thinking.
Second. Talking about wildest dreams allows you to then make the point that being a university professor and teaching courses like this one and motivating students to learn and watching students learn is the fulfillment of one of your wildest dreams.
And if you can’t say that, figure out why you can’t and how you can get to the point that you can.
And those are the actual purposes of this brief assignment. It’s about making your students think critically about their dreams. It’s about also making you think about whether teaching is still one of your wildest dreams.
--------
"With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts."
--Eleanor Roosevelt
Recent Comments