Lessons from Teaching a College Class for the 1st Time

Last semester (Winter 2018), I had the joy of teaching my first college class called Student Development 117: Career Exploration at Brigham Young University. 28 students, half freshmen, half open majors. Tuesdays and Thursdays 1:00-1:50pm. There were many sections of the same class taught by other advisors on campus and I was allowed to copy their syllabi but I wanted to make it my own. I read several of them, looking for different approaches - class topics, readings, and assignments. Then I worked frantically over a month or so to create my own class curriculum from scratch which included:

• Designing the schedule of topics for 28 class periods including picking the articles and assessments for each
• Designing my attendance and grading policies for my syllabus
• Designing every assignment - instructions and grading
• Coordinating visits from the University Advisement Center and my previous professors, and a visit to the campus Career Studio
• Putting ALL of this on Learning Suite, BYU's own course management system
• Designing a Google Slides presentation for each 50 minute class period (I did this throughout the semester just a week or so ahead of the students)
• Grading assignments and entering attendance grades

I did all this for $0 extra compensation and it took about 10 hours per week of prep and grading time, often more. But I loved every minute of it! My boss kindly gave me 8 hours a week of work time to use for this class and I will forever be grateful to her for this opportunity that turned out to the highlight of my career so far. I quickly remembered how much I love teaching. I told my students I hope however short I come up in my lesson planning and class organization, I would hopefully make up with my love for them and enthusiasm for career development. I worked hard to memorize each of their names by the 2nd week of the semester. I had so much fun orchestrating the in-class learning activities, learning about the students, and sharing my own stories. I was so sad at the end of the semester. 

A few weeks after the semester ended, there was an advisor retreat and I was asked to share my tips and experience for teaching a Student Development class for the first time using Kahoot, an online tool for designing interactive quizzes. So I thought I'd share those things here:

PREPPING

1. Be humble and ask as many questions as you have beforehand
2. Get hands-on training for the course management system and setting up classroom A/V
3. Research others’ syllabi & slides
4. Pull from own interests & expertise for class topics
5. Research resources & materials (preferably online) and always cite sources
1. Magazine/newspaper articles
2. TED talks
3. Church talks
4. Diagrams/models
5. Book excerpts 
6. Use campus resources - i.e. Career Studio & Strong Interest Inventory presenters
7. Be super organized (Google Drive is a lifesaver)
8. Clearly state learning outcomes, grading and attendance policies on syllabus - ask for others' opinions
9. Beware of sequencing topics & assignments (i.e. teach networking before career fairs, not after)

TEACHING

1. Learn and use all student names ASAP
2. Be open and vulnerable in sharing own experiences, but don’t hog the spotlight
3. Live what you preach (you should have already done and reflected on every single assignment and reading you give students)
4. Exercise flexibility, creativity & variety in lesson planning & in the classroom - you never know what may come up that day/week
5. Prime students for whole class discussions - may start with calling on students by name
6. Be sure to intersperse small group discussions and silent writing for introverts
7. Divide student groups in different ways (i.e. by Holland Codes, gender, etc.)
8. Be sure to give opportunities to move around the room in activities (super challenging if in a stadium seating classroom)
9. Use technology to make things more competitive/interactive (i.e. Kahoot & Poll Everywhere)
10. Invite guest speakers and graciously express thanks
11. Be clear at the beginning of each class whether laptops/phones will be needed or not that day
12. Bring treats occasionally (i.e. Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Halloween, etc.)
13. Ask about students' personal interests and follow up with them on it (i.e. sports games, arts performances, weddings, trips, etc.)
14. Respect your students - they may have low self-esteem or high anxiety; show them your high regard for their previous experiences, work ethic, humility to learn, etc.
15. Learn from your students - be open and willing to accept and incorporate ideas & experiences they may express
16. Genuinely consider feedback & follow up - if you say no, do it respectfully with good reasons
17. Be humble and apologize for mistakes, and fix it ASAP - fairness is paramount
18. Love your students - never serve those you don't love, because you will not be willing to sacrifice for them

GRADING

1. Be creative and accommodating with alternative assignments (i.e. when they can't attend career fairs due to work/classes)
2. Clarify expectations repeatedly
3. Maintain & enforce high standards consistently
4. Respond quickly via email

I hope I'll get the chance to teach this class again. 

Our silly picture on the last day of class. I'm in front center in the white sweater.