Fifteen Minutes Before Class

I have been haphazard about trying the Five Minutes Before Class suggestions by James Lang. However, this semester I have the pleasure of having no class scheduled in the classroom right before my class, so I’ve been able to go in and set up at least 15 minutes early. My general chemistry class this semester is MWF at 8am, i.e., the first class of the day. My two sections of Research Methods are in the middle of the day but they are not in the science building (where classroom space is tight and classes are scheduled to the brim), and it so happens there is no class meeting the period before.

Normally there would be 10 minutes in between class periods, but it’s always tight. A few students always come up to the instructor right after class ends with questions. Then depending on the setup of the previous instructor, the next person may have to set up the audiovisual or a demo or something else. This might leave practically no time to chat with students. So having a free classroom and the leisure to set up ahead of time this semester has allowed me to take advantage of being available and unhurried when the first student walks into the classroom. In very rare cases a student will beat me to class, but it’s not common for a student to show up 15-20 minutes before class starts.

I’ve only just finished Week 3 but I already feel that I’ve built up a good rapport with students in all three of my classes. I managed to learn all their names sometime in Week 2 because these were smaller classes, but I used learning their names as they walked in as an excuse for a little chitchat. Interestingly, I’ve noticed that when class ends, quite a number of students say “thank you” and “have a good day” on their way out. It could be I have super-polite and friendly students this semester, but maybe the before class greetings have somehow extended to after class greetings. This happens even when my back is turned, because I’m quickly erasing the whiteboard so the next instructor can set up as quickly as possible.

One limitation is that the students who come to class early tend to be the same ones who I chat with at the beginning of class. Students coming from another class will typically make it on the dot, i.e., not early. For the 8am class, it can be a challenge for some of the students to get in early. Half of the class makes it in with at least five minutes to spare – they’re the “morning” people. (Yes, I did ask the students last week how many of them considered themselves morning people. I then talked a little bit about data from sleep studies on how your wake-up time varies over age.) I do try to make an extra effort to chat with students who don’t come in early, and with the quieter and more introverted students at other times (e.g. during in-class group work). I think this helps subsequent class discussion. Except maybe at 8am, when everyone is sleepy, myself included since I’m not a morning person. It’s still challenging to get discussion going about chemistry.

It’s been an excellent three weeks so far on the teaching front. I hope I can keep this up for the rest of the semester and take advantage of my fifteen minutes before class!