Advice on the First Day of Classes
From Mark Sherman:
There will be plenty of time to learn actual mathematics in subsequent classes. Why not use the first day to let the students learn about you (their teacher) and each other (their peers) through informal socializing (e.g., dancing or sharing a meal)?
From Warren Phenegar:
Get the students to see you as an interesting character, one whose quirks and life story invite spending further time with you. The interest they express in you as a person will hopefully transfer to the subject matter you teach.
From the Chronicle of Higher Education:
Dress in the most formal attire you ever plan on wearing that semester.
Be yourself: students will see right through any attempt to display inauthentic personality traits.
Finally, communicate at least three essential pieces of information that students are desperate to know (but avoid robotically reading through the syllabus line-by-line):