First day of class
On the first day of class I like to learn more about the students I will be interacting with. I ask for their Name, Where their from, Hobbies and Goals (both short and long). It gives me an opportunity to see where their mind is at and to find something we can relate to in order to help me have their attention when giving a lecture. I look at it as an ice breaker for the retention process.
Kyle, is this practice something you do orally in front of their classmates or written for your use only? I suspect some students would struggle with the short and long term goal part.
I practice this orally in front of the classmates starting with myself. I'm trying to get them thinking about their career and future. I want them to think about what they will have to do to accomplish that. That part doesn't need to be announced. I want them to recognize that they need to apply themselves to get there. If someone hesitates with the short and long term goal part I normally intervene and give them an answer that everyone is working towards - Graduate and get yourself established in the automotive industry. I always get a smile back and a positive slang remark.
This first day method works well for me. With our students being very opinionated towards a specific brands only, It helps them identify with me.(because I have love for all of there favorite brands.
I do a little bit of a lighter ice breaker. We do a "getting to know you bingo" where the students move around the classroom and find students who have never been to Disneyland or who travel more than 20 miles to get to campus. This allows all the students to learn new things about each other.
At the end of class on the first day, I usually let the continuing students leave early and keep the new students to review and do a question and answer in a less intimidating environment.
