When I was in Concurrent Education, a book called The First Days of School: How to be an Effective Teacher was wildly popular. Although I haven't read it, I understand the basic concept is to take advantage of the first days of school to set up well-structured procedures, smoothing out transitions to reduce potential conflicts and classroom management issues before they even start. This is especially important in a primary classroom where classroom management can take a lot of energy, but even at the university level I think the first days of school are really important.
Usually I use this time to establish some boundaries and policies for my tutorial, but I also think its important to give my students an idea of who I am and what kind of space this is. I make it clear that I am concerned about each of my students, about treating them fairly and respectfully, and that I am an open, approachable person who wants to help them and work with them. I also try to make it clear that philosophy is something I care about, and that I believe can be fun and enjoyable. To me, establishing a relationship of trust is important to keep a classroom functioning because students who don't feel you are on their team won't be open about what they need or are having difficulty with. I think its also important to convey enthusiasm for the material because students learn more when they are having fun, and you need to lead by example.
Unfortunately this year there was an error and I have to switch tutorials with another TA after our first class. I'm a little concerned about not having established my relationship with this class before teaching them, but it will also be interesting to see what kind of effect this will have. Perhaps I can use my morning tutorial as a control group to give me a rough idea of just how much impact the first day really has. Of course, different tutorials always have different personalities, so predicting the results might not be so easy.
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