This post was written by Lisa Kurz from the CITL and Eric Metzler from the Kelley School of Business.

While your syllabus might be your first point of contact with your students at the beginning of a semester, the first day of class is also critical. That’s when students form their first impressions of the class and of you as an instructor. It’s also where they begin to develop expectations about how your course will go. Here are some strategies you can use to ensure that your students have established a positive first impression and reasonable expectations about your course.

Before the First Day of Class

Get to know your physical classroom. Acquaint yourself with the technology, find the light switches, and think about how you might arrange the chairs (if they can be moved).

Start to meet your students in advance. Review the Photo Roster in your Canvas course site and listen to any NameCoach recordings; this will help you start to attach names to faces. Also consider creating an online survey to learn more about your students; you can administer it either before or during the first day of class. In the survey you can ask students for their preferred name, their pronouns, reasons they chose your course, their background in your subject, and any other information they want to share with you.

Introduce yourself and welcome your students to your class, in a welcome message or brief video in Canvas. In it you can say a little about your background, why you like the subject matter of your course, and a few personal details you feel comfortable sharing (e.g., your pet’s name, your hobbies or leisure activities).

Think about the impression you want to convey in class on Day One. Reflect on the level of formality you want to establish in the class, and prepare to dress the part. This would be a particular concern for instructors who might struggle to establish authority in the classroom.

Start to create a learning community in your course. In your welcome message you can encourage students to record their names in NameCoach. You can also think about setting up a discussion in Canvas where students can post information about themselves that they’d like to share with their peers.

Make the first day count, by carefully planning how you will structure it. Plan to have students do some substantive work on Day One to show that you mean to get right down to business. Class time is a precious and limited resource; don’t waste it!

On the First Day of Class

Arrive early to welcome students, engage them in conversation, and answer their questions. Linger after class to answer more questions. You can also project a PowerPoint slide with a welcome message at the beginning of class, to reassure students that they’re in the right classroom.

Introduce yourself and tell students what to call you. When you introduce yourself, you may want to share a little about your work or experience in your field to establish credibility. At that time you should also tell students what to call you (Professor Smith, Dr. Smith, Ms. Smith, or whatever; depending on how formal you want your class to be). At this time you can also share your pronouns, as a way of communicating a welcome to your LGBTQIA students.

Review key points in the syllabus – but DON’T read it! Instead, highlight information students will want to know: what is this class about (that is, what will we learn)? What will the workload be? How will I be graded? What important policies do I need to know right away?

Tell students what they can expect from you. Here are some examples you can tailor to your own situation:

• I’ll normally arrive to class early and stay late to answer questions.
• I’ll answer emails within [some specific amount of time]
• I’ll try to return graded work within [some specific amount of time].
• I’ll be available to meet with students outside of class during the following hours: [office hours and any other times you’d be available]. (At this point you might also explain what office hours are for and why you encourage all your students to use them.)
• I’ll send out a weekly announcement or email to students, outlining the topics you’ll focus on that week, any approaching deadlines, etc.

Tell students what you’ll expect from them. Discuss expectations for attendance and preparation for class, device use in the classroom, late assignments, and discussion etiquette. You can consider setting aside class time to establish discussion guidelines as a class activity; that will encourage buy-in from your students.

Continue to build a learning community. Help students get to know each other by allowing time for an icebreaker or other activity to introduce themselves to their classmates. If you didn’t administer a “get to know you” survey before class, you can do it in class. When you engage students in discussion on Day One, ask each student who speaks to give their name, and use their names as much as possible. Be sure to engage all your students, not just those who raise their hands or sit in the front row.

Get students talking. If you will ever want students to be willing to talk (to each other or to you) in your class, establish that expectation on Day One, or at the latest in the first week. One strategy to accomplish this is to pose a question or problem likely to spark students’ curiosity about course content – something they’ll learn about later in the course. Have students discuss the problem in small groups, then invite groups to share what they discussed.

Coach students on how to succeed in your course, so that you can begin to build a growth mindset in your students. Tell them where to go for help: the AI, other students in the course, you, tutoring services, and any other resources.

Show enthusiasm for your course and discipline – it’s surprisingly contagious. Explain what you find interesting or exciting about your course material.

And finally, relax. Smile. Be yourself.