TIPS FOR (FIRST TIME)
TEACHING
Jessica L. Collett
Before the class begins…
Draw from experience.
Let someone else do the work for you.
Plan ahead.
Before the class begins…

Draw from experience.
 Don’t
reinvent the wheel.
 Did

you take the class that you’re teaching, or TA for it?
Check out those syllabi or syllabi for similar classes online.
 What
kind of reading would you do as an
undergraduate student?
 What assignments did you love (and learn from)?
 What kind of instructor do you want to be?
 What
kind of instructor can you be?
 Play to your strengths. Be yourself.
Before the class begins…

Let someone else do the work for you.
 Choose
a book – whether a reader, a text, or a
monograph – to center your course around
 Incorporate components of other people’s syllabi
 assignments,

policies, course objectives
Plan ahead.
 Determine
your course objectives
 Consider in-class activities
 Teaching
 Create
a
Sociology
a detailed syllabus
contract between you and the students
When things get rolling…
Be the professor.
When things get rolling…

Be the professor.
 Dress
the part
 Be clear with your expectations, stand your ground
 Your
job is to educate them, not placate them
 Stay
ahead of the reading, lectures, etc.
 Use only the technology that you’re comfortable with
 Be prepared
 Keep your promises
 turn-around
time for feedback and grading
 remembering to check into things
As the semester goes on…
Take a “grounded theory” approach.
Solicit feedback.
Protect your time.
As the semester goes on…

Take a “grounded theory” approach
 It’s
doubtful this will be the last time you’ll teach this
course. What will you do next time?
 Generate
a folder with lecture notes, handouts, clips and
comics, etc.
 Make note of what works and what doesn’t
 Write down student examples (from exams, papers, class
discussion) to use in subsequent iterations
 Be
willing to switch things around
 However,
ensure any changes can only help the students!
As the semester goes on…

Solicit feedback
 Mid-term
evaluations
What do you like most about this course?
What do you like least about the course?
What changes can the professor make to enhance your
learning/experience in this class?
What changes can you make to enhance your
learning/experience in this class?
1.
2.
3.
4.
Make use of the feedback


 Ask
Summarize student concerns, respond to them
a “professional” for advice
 invite
them in to watch you teach
As the semester goes on…

Protect your time
 Delineate
 This
 Keep
specific teaching time
includes reading and answering emails!
up with research
 Being
a faculty member is about balancing research and
teaching; now is the time to master that balance.
 Encourage
 Create
students to be involved without you
a buddy system or groups for students to lean on
 Encourage students to form study groups, review together…
 Solicit exam questions from students, incorporate peer
review
Wrapping up the semester
Solicit feedback (again).
Prep for next time.
Wrapping up the semester

Solicit more feedback.
Let students know this was your first time teaching and that
you really value the feedback they provide on the CIFs.
 Ask an extra-credit final exam question on their most loved
and most hated reading of the semester.




making sure they articulate rationale for these choices
Debrief with others.
Prep for next time.

While it’s still fresh, think about what to toss out, what went
over well. Incorporate student concerns from CIF. Then let it
go and get back to other things.