A first-day topic I've found useful and very interesting to read is "Describe two or three challenges to your success in this class  and two or three resources you have to overcome those challenges." Their writing helps me get to know a little bit about their beyond-the-classroom lives and reminds me of the difficulties many of them face in the pursuit of their college degrees. 

I might add that I teach in a community college in large urban environment.

 
On Aug 18, 2011, at 5:00 PM, Amy Benjamin wrote:

It's your first day and theirs as well. I'm sure they are nervous. I would suggest doing something that offers reassurance that they can succeed in their new endeavor. How about some kind of listing activity that would generate a profusion of language on a given topic. Propose a rich and open topic: communication, college, science... and have the students brainstorm its nouns (first concrete, then abstract), adjectives, verbs, and adverbs. Do something fun that gets them talking to each other.
Amy
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