Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Hi Denise,
Take your personality to the classroom and see how it fits. If you are more of a serious person try to be a little more relaxed, if you are laid back then bring a little more structure to your teaching. The key is to find a persona in the classroom that you can wear like a comfortable article of clothing (think sweat suit).
Have your students give you feedback on a regular basis on how they see themselves fitting into the course and how the instructor (you) are relating to them. I do this every few class meetings by having the students write down their feedback on 3x5 cards and hand them in anonymously. This feedback will help to give you ideas about your instructional style and how to refine it.
Additional input can be secured by having other instructors sit in on your classes and give you feedback.
Gary