Before we start…

The first day of school begins on September 1st for everyone, but each of us has a different idea of how to start this day. Some will choose some activity in order to soften the first introduction and experience for the students, and some will choose to begin their studies as usual.
This article tells us about the different methods of how to open the school year, what are the expectations and goals from both sides,  and give us some tips and techniques for having a good semester.

In the article the writer heard on one of the radio broadcasts an advice that a lecturer who releases his students on the first day makes them think that course is a “keeper” and he has a better chance that his students will be interested in the course and he will not have to deal with discipline problems, on the other hand, if the lecturer will leave the students until the end of the first lesson, he creates future discipline problems for himself.
Of course not every college has the duty of attendance on the first day.
This leads us to the question of whether the first day’s influences the students ?
Each theory has the opposite theory, both for the advice of the broadcaster and for the theory that the first day is essential- So what a lecturer is supposed to do

According to a study,( Whose goals are to identify the different goals (reading syllabus, laws, school vision, etc.), to review the content of the study, the “dry content”, a demonstration of discipline by comparing pleasure and study) we actually see that most students know that the first day of study is for read the syllabus, laws and expectations, but based on literature we can understand it is not always like that

Petrich describes the students studying as immigrants who are attributed to them cognitive thinking, desire, influence, and social connection.

This framework is known as Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) and identifies 4 stages:
1. Planning mission-related goals and actions
2. A follow-up process related to the high level of thinking for the task
3. Control and order of the various aspects related to the activity
4. Comments and reflections or conclusions related to work.
This approach supports the fact that the first day is essential

Although the approach to the first day is not an exact science, we offer an approach that requires students to achieve the objectives of semester-speech, writing, creative thinking, problem solving, cooperation and leadership.

The first day: expectations, goals and putting it all together

The students are not interested to attend the first day of studies and doing various activities,”ice breaker”, in which students talk about themselves and not on the content of the course, syllabus, lecturer’s requirements and etc.

Getting the students’ attention and purging the slackers

1. Some instructors think the first day is all about straighten a line about expectations.

According to  Snell (2000) the main objectives are :

• “to establish yourself”.

• Grab attention.

• intimidation (sometimes).

• His method was to scare the students.

• Snell’s objective– challenge the class’ remaining students and to cull the students that think that it’s an “easy class”.

Immediate immersion

• Higgins (2001) identified the first day as an opportunity for students to create impressions about:

• the course.

• the professor

• their classmates.

• The first day should be used to stimulate the students thinking about the course, to connect with them, connect them to each other and to challenge them.

• the first day introduces course content by using a stimulant related to the course material that is followed with a class discussion.

• The second day is followed with exposure to the course’s syllabus.

Introducing the skills and techniques necessary for a course

• Smith and Earl (2005) believe the first day’s activity should expose the students to different techniques and skills that would serve them throughout the year.

• ‘If you want them to participate during the semester, get them to participate on the first day’.

Creating connections

Kreizinger (2006) said not talk about the syllabus until the second day.

In the first day he draws a 3 circles in the board and arrow and writes me you and contact, and he says that without a connection between all this things the student will not succeed.

He establish connection of “student to instructor” by work sheets, and activities also he talks about make connection between the students.

He talks about the importance of content employment possibilities and how skills and concepts from the course can enhance student professional and personal lives.

Motivating your students

There is evidence that a positive first day experience can motivated students to do well in class. They do some research and the results were: student experiencing the positive first day reported higher levels of motivation and received signicfyntly high grades then student in the negative first day connection.

 Drawing your students into the class

when the teacher does activities that related to the content of the course and not merely used as fun and games, they can play a role in immersing or ‘drawing’ students into relevant course content on the first day in a manner mutually beneficial to the instructor and the students.

Matching student preferences with first-day goals

Problem: Many students do not attach importance to the first day of school and relate to it only from one of their duties in the course.

Result: Students are only interested in hearing the syllabus and leave early and they are not interested in building rapport with the instructor or classmates.

Solution: 1. reciprocal interview – after the syllabus review, students will be divided into small groups and will ask each other questions about their course expectations, previous information about the course and more…

2. instructor-led – each group chooses a group member who will interview the instructor with the questions asked in the group.

Student’s responses – positive

Conclusion

We suggest using the first day to engage students in the Behaviors they will be employed to accomplish semester goals such as talking, writing, thinking critically, problem-solving etc. The activities for that first day require as much thought and preparation as any other day, possibly more. The messages you convey on the first day should align with the concepts and content you address throughout the remainder of the semester and should be designed to introduce multiple aspects of the class to students. Students leave his first class with an accurate perspective on his teaching style and an understanding that they are expected to be active participants during the class. The first day is a success if your students leave with a sense of the ‘roadmap’ for the course: where the class will take them, which vehicles they will use to get there, and what their responsibilities are during the journey.

The first day presents an opportunity. It is too important to serve merely as a chance to ease into the semester. It should be as challenging and pedagogically sound as any other class day. We agree with the advice that says: What happens the first day sends a message and students will listen to that message. Therefore, the question is: What message do you want to send?

Open discussion

What do you think ?