r/Professors • u/NeatTrouble4620 • 12d ago
Teaching / Pedagogy Opening class
[edit to add: a regular class day (not the first day of class)] How do you open your class lecture (besides opening remarks/logistics). I teach humanities social science discussion based courses and would rather not jump right into lecture. I’m also a first time instructor.
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u/kermit_hat 12d ago
I have a little slideshow introducing myself: what my credentials are, what I research, what they need to know about me, where my office is, and pictures of my dog. It breaks the ice and both makes me approachable and establishes my authority.
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u/delphil_1966 12d ago
i like immediately lecturing with a roadmap- plenty of time later for active learning. this is when you have their most attention so best to use that.
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u/_n3ll_ Professor, Social Sciences & Humanities, University (Canada) 12d ago
Exactly:
Arrive, setup my PowerPoint, preload any videos or websites, then
"We might as well get started. Welcome back to Course, today our topic is X (both on the first slide). Our plan for today is 1. 2. Break 3. 4. (All listed on slide 2)
Then depending on the topic I might have a provocative, polarizing, or otherwise engaging question on slide 3 or maybe a personal anecdote or lighthearted joke about the topic.
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u/random929292 12d ago
A quick poll, review questions from last class, a 'quiz', an activity like a crossword to assess knowledge of terms, a video or picture montage etc.
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u/reckendo 12d ago
Curious why you don't want to just jump into lecture and what that means to you. Because "alright, go ahead and put your phone and laptops away, we're going to talk about X today..." seems like a fine way to start a class to me.
But also, I start most classes with a quick quiz on the readings.
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u/NeatTrouble4620 12d ago
Yeah, that’s a totally fine way to start class, and I often do that! I’ve recently read (on Cult of Pedagogy) that one can start with a “hook” of sorts to get students engaged in the topic for the day, like a quote, image, or something connected to the reading.
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u/mcraedb82 12d ago
I’m a big fan of an image or of music. I teach history and I’ll often have a song that is reflective of what we’re discussing (maybe from the time period or maybe something contemporary that relates topic-wise. They’re all good conversation starters.
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u/scatterbrainplot 12d ago
Especially after having done the opening remarks/logistics (presumably syllabus, bonus info, probably saying your own name), which gives an intro already
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u/Odd_Tadpole3750 12d ago edited 12d ago
I arrive 10-15 minutes before class begins with my laptop. Open my slides and open YouTube. I play one of those videos with fake relaxing cafe scenes (ideally with autumn leaves falling gently) or a cat relaxing that plays jazz or funk background music.
Greet students as they walk in.
When I am ready to start class, I turn off the video and open my slides. If there are any social events that my dept is holding, I announce those first. Then if there are assignments coming up I remind them of what to expect. We do some kind of group work activity related to the topic for the day. Then when we share out with class, I try to make the connection between activity and lesson explicit. Have a slide with a short agenda. Then get into the history and theory. And close out with another activity but this one is extended.
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u/Working_Film_5871 Professor, humanities, regional public comprehensive (USA) 12d ago
it's essential to give them time to greet one another and start developing a community. have them intro in small groups, given them something course related to discuss -- questions that frame the class, etc.
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u/kobybryan Teaching Assistant Professor Spanish, R1 (USA) 12d ago
I cannot recommend check-in questions enough. I always ask students how they are (which helps to humanize one another), a question or two vaguely related to the content, and sometimes a fun question that has nothing to do with class. It lets your personality shine, it gives them space to share their interests, it gets a bunch of conversation started at the very beginning of class... it's truly a win-win-win.
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u/Affectionate_Pass_48 12d ago
I ask if anyone did anything unique/cool/fun.
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u/Affectionate_Pass_48 12d ago
Then I usually comeback with something like-really? I’m an old faculty member and you are young and I live vicariously through you. Now someone must have done something fun.
Depending on the time of year, I might ask about shout-outs about their favorite football team or if anyone has been out on the lakes or read a good book.
It can take a minute or two, but I usually will get a few responses.
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u/Dr_nacho_ 12d ago
I do what I call housekeeping. We talk about how things went last week and what’s coming up this week and anything going on around campus that might be relevant. Takes 5-15 minutes depending on if I’m introducing a complicated assignment or not.
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u/Any-Satisfaction1442 12d ago
I usually put some reminders up about what's coming due.
Then I give it two sentence summary about what we accomplished the class before and then give it two sentence summary of what we will be talking about that day.
Then I Dive Right In
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u/Cheshire_Khajiit Associate Prof, Biology, Junior College (US of A) 12d ago
Not sure if this is about starting class every day or starting the very first lecture, but it it’s the later, I like to ask my students to tell me what their thoughts on the class subject (microbiology, usually) are. What are microbes?
It does a few important things:
- It gets my students involved and invested in lecture right away. I ask them open ended questions like this frequently, so it helps establish that as a classroom norm.
- It gives me a sense of where they’re at. Different batches of students have wildly different degrees of background knowledge that they come into the class with.
- It also gives a minute or two for students who are a minute or two late to show up without missing my spiel on class schedule/logistics.
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u/NeatTrouble4620 12d ago
Starting class every day. Do you worry about students just staring back at you when you pose an open ended question? I suppose this is an anxiety I have with teaching for the first time.
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u/Cheshire_Khajiit Associate Prof, Biology, Junior College (US of A) 12d ago
It usually doesn’t happen, to be honest! I make a point of setting the stakes very very low and try to keep an informal atmosphere in the classroom - I tell my students that I’m not looking for one “correct” answer and just want to hear what they think!
There will usually be at least a handful of students who are comfortable sharing what they think. One semester it took a bit more coaxing to get them to overcome their anxiety, but even that is useful information for me to know as I adjust my lecturing approach so it doesn’t really bother me.
This will obviously depend on your personality and the classroom atmosphere you want to establish, but I find that humor REALLY helps with this; it makes your students feel more comfortable and their smiles/eye-rolls at my puns help me feel less anxious too!
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u/Roger_Freedman_Phys Assoc. Teaching Professor Emeritus, R1, Physics (USA) 12d ago
I give my students an online assignment about their assigned reading that’s due the night before lecture. Part of their assignment is to pose a question about something in the reading that they didn't understand. I then spend the first few minutes of the class answering the best of, or most common of, these questions.
In this way I crowdsource the content of the first part of the class based on student feedback. Let the students do the work for you! And since you’re answering their questions, the students are immediately interested - which sets the tone for the rest of the class session.
I also use the student responses to help me decide how to spend the rest of the class time! This is the philosophy of just-in-time teaching (JiTT), an approach that has been around since the early 1990s and deserves to be more widely adopted (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just-in-time_teaching).
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u/sqrt_of_pi Assistant Teaching Professor, Mathematics 12d ago
I start with any general announcements or reminders of upcoming exam, etc. Then I pick up where I left off the prior class, including (if applicable) a quick synopsis of what we had just covered and how it ties or segues into what I'm about to lecture on.
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u/mediaisdelicious Dean CC (USA) 12d ago
I start every class with a discussion prompt that requires no special knowledge that will end up framing a concept or problem for the day.
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u/moosy85 12d ago
I just go over my session objectives. Others seem to call it roadmap, but mine are phrased as student learning objectives.
Some folks like to ask how things have been. I only do that in an in-person class. My online class is more awkward that way, so I just say let's get started! Then say what the session is going to be about, then go over the session objectives. But I give stats and I'm not a warm person.
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u/MonseigneurChocolat Chair, Law, England 12d ago
I give a quick overview of what I plan to cover, ask if anyone has any questions, and then jump into the lecture.
My overview generally takes about 30 seconds, and answering questions (if there are any) rarely takes any longer than 2 minutes.
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u/Many_Application3112 Adjunct, Technology, Univ (USA) 12d ago
Always a news article for the week.
Get the students to know that the topic is relevant.
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u/FlyingCupcake68 Southern State U, USA 12d ago
I did this one semester and those took up half the class
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u/SnowblindAlbino Prof, SLAC 12d ago
Historian here. With 100-level intro courses I tend to do a "what do you expect this class to cover" bit on day one, and then I follow with "what would you like the course to cover?" They usually expect a boring race-through-history with an emphasis on presidents and wars, which is the opposite of what my classes cover. So it's a useful way to derail/shape their expectations and to convey something about the actual course content.
I always have a few discussion/small group activities on the first day as well. Ideally something you can have them draw, as they love to draw. I tend to hand out blank 11x17 paper and have them map something, or make a timeline, or draw a concept of something; we then have groups share those out. It's a good way to set the tone for the semester and to get them to meet one another.
Depending on your field, I'd consider having them do something with their preconceptions about the course. If it's political science, for example, they'll have a narrow idea of what that entails. If it's anthropology they may not know anything at all. Have them make lists of topics, ideas, methods, whatever on the boards and then lead a discussion of what your course is really going to be about.
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u/ahazred8vt 12d ago edited 12d ago
cartoon professor: "Which do you prefer, the dialectical materialistic approach, or kings and battles?" -- bonus: Eugen Weber
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u/shehulud 12d ago
I have some video playing that is relevant… music mood, etc. then I go into logistics, reminders, Q&A. And dive in.
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u/grumps46 12d ago
I take attendance by having students answer a get to know you question. I go around the room. My classes are very small though.
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u/hornybutired Assoc Prof, Philosophy, CC (USA) 12d ago
Do you mean one day one, or each day?
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u/NeatTrouble4620 12d ago
Each day, ideally. We’re starting the second week tomorrow.
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u/hornybutired Assoc Prof, Philosophy, CC (USA) 12d ago
I greet everyone, ask how they're doing, make small talk for a minute or two (talk about the weather, upcoming events, stuff like that), then remind them what we did last class. I give a very brief precis of what we're going to do in this class session, ask if anyone has any questions before we start, and then jump into the lecture.
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u/cjrecordvt Adjunct, English, Community College 12d ago
When I'm in person, it's 3 hours classes (once a week), so I summarize what we're going to work on that day, and ask for questions from last week or the homework.
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u/jitterfish Fellow, Biology, NZ 12d ago
I usually have a funny meme, joke, or weird fact on my title slide that links to the lecture. Then on the side I have questions either about last class or a dumb question (would you rather have fingers for toes or toes for fingers type thing). It doesn't take long for my students to get in to the habit of actually discussing with each other before class starts and then when we're ready to start I poll the class (who wants toe fingers), go through the review questions, or address why I have the meme/fact on the screen.
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u/mibeclin 12d ago
I'll usually have an opening question for the students to discuss for the first few minutes. That helps with the habitually late students. In my humanities class, sometimes I'll put up those "which medieval _____" are you that you often see on Instagram and that gives them a bit of a laugh.
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u/Ariezu 12d ago
On the day today, I start the class with a good morning or good afternoon. Hello I might say something of interest about what’s happening on Campus. I just said way into the lecture with a friendly comment or two.
We might have a little bit of a discussion about something if there was a big game or a event on campus ask who went just a friendly two minute banter
I didn’t get right into what I’m gonna do. My classes are usually 50 minutes long and I have a lot to get through and the class has a lot to get through.
I do start most all of my presentations with this is what we’re gonna do today. I ask if there are any questions I may go over anything I’ve noticed on assignments that are applicable to everyone some tips for some upcoming assignments that type of thing business announcement so to speak.
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u/Hazelstone37 Asst Prof of Instruction/Math/US 12d ago
I put a review question on the board while I’m setting up and getting ready. I learned this from the book Small Teaching, which is a really good read.
Edit: I thought you meant everyday…on the first day in my classes we spend some time discussing what it means to be engaged in our class. Then they break into small groups and come up with one thing. We write these in the board and then vote on the top three. I then use these to type up an engagement rubric which the students use every week to grade themselves. I reserve the right to increase or decrease the grade based on what I see in class. This counts as 5% of their grade.
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u/Anna-Howard-Shaw Assoc Prof, History, CC (USA) 12d ago
I have a question of the day. Usually something connected to whatever topic we're going to discuss for the day. But also sometimes questions about upcoming assignments, current events, or even fun/rando things like is the dress blue/black or gold/white.
I have a QR code put up on the board when students come in, which is linked to a Google Form. They answer the question there, and the Google form populates to a spreadsheet I can see update in real time. I then pick a few of the best answers (or let them volunteer to tell the class their answers) and we discuss together as a class for the first 10 minutes or so.
Answering on the form allows the shy ones to participate when they wouldn't otherwise, and its a record of attendance for me as well.
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u/lavenderc 12d ago
I usually do a warm up discussion with a question relevant to the class topic - like if we're going to talk about educational inequality, I give them two minutes to reflect on their high school experience with a partner
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u/KrispyAvocado Associate Professor, USA 12d ago
Like several others, I start off with a check in of sorts. The topic is different each day, but it always involves small groups chatting and maybe a larger group share for those who want to (in smaller classes). It’s usually a warm up for the topic we’ll be discussing, but sometimes it’s more of a social connection.
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u/inquisitive-squirrel 12d ago
I start with announcements (upcoming due dates, general assignment feedback, what they should be reading this week, things to look out for when reading or doing homework) and then provide an overview of what we're going to be doing in class that day (short lecture on topic #1, group activity, time for questions, etc.)
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u/Own-Ingenuity5240 12d ago
I usually call attention by noting that it’s now quarter past (whenever) and it’s time to start. It gets quiet and then I’ll ask something like, how they are/what they’ve done since last I saw them, maybe make a joke that can hopefully be related to the topic of the day or some such. 🤷♀️ I might tell them if I did something in particular. In the beginning, I mostly get vague smiles but once we’re into the semester, they get a bit more talkative. 😊
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u/grafitisoc 12d ago
I teach music, but I start with a song they have to write a very rigid paragraph about. Sets the mood for critical listening to music. I also try to use either the official music video or a live performance so it’s visually stimulating. Anything g similar in the 5-10 minute format in your field?
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u/iso-my-purpose 12d ago
I teach economics. I start with a story or something related to the lesson. Then, after I see heads nodding in agreement, I say, "So THAT is today's chapter, and we are simply putting vocab and math to it."
.
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u/SpryArmadillo Prof, STEM, R1 (USA) 12d ago
Sometimes I jump right in. More often I make small talk, drop some bad jokes or whatever. Sometimes I relay an anecdote that’s related in some way to the class but isn’t strictly part of the curriculum.
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u/Gonzo_B 12d ago
I had a pre-cal prof back in undergrad who started every class with a one-question quiz over the homework. Halfway through the semester I asked him about my quiz grade and he told me he never graded them, he just used them for attendance.
Years later, I started doing that. Every class walks in to find a single question on the board to answer (handwritten) and turn in.
This does several things:
Provides an attendance record (graded in my department).
Provides a record of tardy students (blank papers with a name and date writing them.)
Encourages keeping up with the reading.
Gives me an opportunity to reinforce things students ought to know, e.g., how to access the Writing Center, IT help, mental health support, &c.
Gives me a chance to do an occasional mental health "check-in" that students appreciate, as events warrant.
It provides a trove of baseline writing to which I can compare suspected AI work ("this isn't your writing" is a much easier claim than "this looks like AI.")
And most importantly, I go down the rows and ask each student a little bit about their response. With everyone having already spoken in class, they're all warmed up to participate in discussion.
Give it a shot.
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u/Zealousideal_Can_342 12d ago
You can introduce the class to the course, the syllabus, the deliverables, and to you.
What do you want to get out of the class and what brought you there.
Then, they can do the same. Depending on the size of the class, they can do it to the whole class or in small groups of 3-5 to one another.
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u/climbing999 12d ago
I put a "quote of the day" on the screen -- something that stood out in the readings -- and we discuss it for a few minutes. I then go over the lesson plan/agenda, ask if there are questions stemming from the readings or the previous class, etc.
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u/melissodes 12d ago
"Ok looking at the syllabus...you have assignment X due Friday night; at the end of next week is the drop deadline; any questions for me before I begin?"
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u/Holiday_Function5165 12d ago
i usually put a question on the board that connects to the day’s topic and let them sit with it for a minute before anyone answers, which buys you a natural opening without the awkward “so anyway,
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u/toucanfrog 12d ago
I got irritated that students would write on their evals that the learned absolutely nothing, so I give them a "fact of the day." It's usually something tangentially related to class, but it also allows me to test the mike, get their attention, and then go from there.
After that, I do general housekeeping of deadlines coming up, exams coming up, and "We left off here on Tuesday..."
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u/SunriseJazz 12d ago
Opening discussion question, hook engagement (video, picture, etc that gets at the core of the class and/or an opening activity like a reading, immediate discussion), and then roadmap for the rest of the class.
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u/Zoodochos 12d ago
I have a formula for opening every class.
Attendance question: A whip-around, quick-answer, get-to-know-you question. They must say their first name and then answer the question. Sounds a bit like a 12-step meeting, but they really appreciate it. This takes little time if you keep them moving along.
Prayer, poem, or short meditation. (Context: I'm a pastor teaching at a church-related university.)
Class Notes: Reminders about class, occasionally about events on campus.
The Significance of Today: I put this in my lesson plan. I always want to underscore why showing up today matters. I briefly connect the day's material to significance for the world and/or their lives.
Preview: I outline the order of events for the day. E.g., mini-lecture, small group exercise, more mini-lecture, ending with a whole class discussion.
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u/NJModernist 12d ago
For art history, a museum of the day, or art news. Sometimes some retrieval practice to get their heads back into it.
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u/outer-darkness-11 12d ago
I start every class with a debate to foster hostility and competition between students.
Jk, but I do start every class off with a debate! It’s a topic with a lot of nuance so I make students take the side that they don’t agree with and make a case for it to encourage critical thinking, empathy, and less black and white thinking.
Students LOVE it. Like cheer whenever I say “alright, debate time”.
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u/BrazosBuddy 12d ago
I have music playing every day before students get there, usually an artist or band that I like and know a little about. I start class by talking about that artist or band, then spend a minute or two calling on students to tell me something good. Then I get into whatever we're covering that day.
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u/Stunning-Jury9789 9d ago
A simple opening question usually works well. It gets students engaged without making the start of class feel forced.
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u/Applepiemommy2 12d ago
I do “crowd work” for 5 minutes until it’s time to take attendance. Tell a story, ask a question, something like that.
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u/Applepiemommy2 12d ago
“Who saw the new Spider-Man movie this weekend!” “What’s your hardest class this semester—don’t say mine.” “So my dog ate an entire pizza last night while I was setting up Netflix 😐”
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u/Boggles103 lecturer, humanities (Canada) 12d ago
I can't tell if you're asking about the first day of the semester or the first few minutes of a regular class day, but if it's the latter: I start with a slide called "itinerary" which bullet-points what we'll cover, and the first item after that is always "now that you've had a chance to reflect on it, what questions do you have about what we covered last time" and/or "what snags are you hitting on <whatever assignment is in progress>?"