First Week Class Activities

It's been a good first week of classes.  Because I may forget later, let me talk about what I did in the actual classroom during the first week.

Day 1

It's hard for me to leave the time honored practice of going over the syllabus.  I don't read the syllabus, but I do point to some policies.  More important, I talk about assignments and my approach to writing and writing classes.  In my younger years, I thought that I did this so that if students thought that my approach wasn't for them, they had time during drop add week to go to a different class.  Now I think that it's the rare student who has enough self-knowledge to make that decision--or the rare student who realizes that it could be different in a different class.

I gave out colored paper and had them write two truths and a lie about themselves.  I had a plan for how to use them on Day 2.  I had them write while I was passing out the syllabi.  Yes, I print out the syllabi for the first day of class.  I'm old school:  I don't trust that the technology will work, and I believe there's something to be said for interacting with paper, not staring at a screen.

We ended the class with writing.  I had them write three paragraphs, one that told me about themselves as a student, and then as a writer/creator, and then as a reader.  These paragraphs might be the basis for more formal writing later, or it may only be useful as an introduction. 

Day 2

I saved the bulk of the icebreaker/getting to know you stuff for this day.

We began with the lies and truths on the colored paper.  I had them stand if the statement applied to them.  We didn't know who had written what, which was the lie and which was the truth.  And because I was reading them, I could censor any problematic statements (but there were none).

We then played opening day Bingo.  I gave them a sheet of paper that was a grid with qualities (I'll list them below).  They had to move around the room, talking to students, and they could use each student only once.  That worked better than I thought; they seemed to enjoy walking around the room getting to know each other.  We talked about what we had learned from this exercise (nobody does yoga, for example, or how one plays Dungeons and Dragons).

Because the activities didn't take as long as I thought they would, I had them turn the paper over.  I had them make a list of everything that was fabulous about them.  Most people had a very short list, so I said, "Come up with a list of twenty things that are fabulous about you."  Many of them expressed disbelief that they could come up with twenty, but they tried.

I also had them make a list of what they valued in a friend or a partner.  I hoped it might spur them to think about what they took for granted in themselves and what made them valuable.

We then did a brief guided meditation.  If God was making this list, what would God say was valuable about you?  If God was here in the room, talking to you, what would God say?  I had them close their eyes for a minute or two, and then when they opened their eyes, to write.

I knew that for some of them, channeling the voice of God would feel weird.  We talked about the value of using their imagination in unconventional ways.  We talked a bit about theology; I told them about my Foundations of Preaching teacher who told us that most people had never heard that God loves them, even if they've gone to church every week.  I told them that if they channeled a negative voice, then they were probably hearing another voice, not God's voice, and I/we talked about whether or not God really does talk to us through a guided meditation.  Is it not just our brains talking to us?

And then, again, we ended the class with writing:  one paragraph that told what this past week of school had taught/revealed about themselves and one paragraph that talked about what they learned about their community.  It's a way for me to take attendance, it gets them writing, and it might be useful for their first graded assignment.

The first week of fall semester usually has a vibrant energy, but this past week was unusually vibrant.  I hope it continues.

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Bingo Card Categories/Squares

Plays a musical instrument 

Has green eyes           

Has a sister   

Has travelled outside of the U.S.

Majoring in Business

Knows how to do yoga           

Has played football  

Knows how to sew

Has lived in more than one state     

Has lived and/or worked in a space with a fish tank           

Has participated in a performance 

Has worked in a fast food restaurant

Has baked bread or cookies

Knows how to play Chess    

Knows how to knit     

Has played Dungeons and Dragons