The Guide to Teaching
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First Day of Classes
Date: Tue, 30 Dec 1997 10:49:04 -0500 (EST)
From: "Krisan L. Evenson" <klevenso@mailbox.syr.edu>
Hello Teachpol:
Following this tangent of first day experiences, I have tried something
similar to Melissa Butler's suggestion a couple of times in classes
recently. I thought some of you might be interested in adaptations.
I asked students whether they were firstborns, because (the political
socialization angle) college classrooms have a larger percentage of
firstborns and "only children" as a general rule. Then I ask them not
what they first learned about politics, but what/how their younger
siblings think about politics. This takes the spotlight off the student,
and warms up the classroom with similar stories (that happened in your
house TOO?). Those who have no younger siblings either have older ones,
or else cousins to talk about, so no one is excluded.
Often, in fact, dinner table conversations about politics tend to be the
way in which most kids first learn about politics, and figure out how it
works. So, on the second class meeting, we do an "actual" introduction to
the course material and relevant overview, in the style of a refectory
table. I have students put all the desks together two-by-two facing each
other, pass around a bowl of popcorn and punch, and we hold class exactly
in a family setting. It's amazing to me how this pulls people together,
opens up discussion, and politics turns out to be fun (which, I trust, is
the point!)
--Krisan Evenson
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Krisan L. Evenson
International Relations Program, and
Department of Political Science
Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs
225 (and 100) Eggers Hall
Syracuse University
Syracuse, NY 13244-1090
http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/maxpages/students/klevenso
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