I’m now in my third year of teaching on the tenure track after two years of a VAP. I still consider myself a newbie because despite over twenty years of practice experience, teaching is a whole different ball game.

This semester I am teaching Civil Procedure, which is now a one-semester 4-credit class instead of a two-semester class, and a 4-credit Business Associations class. Both are required at my institution and bar tested in Florida. I have taught them both before and thankfully get strong reviews from my students, but I am always looking to improve.

To that end, I recently took a look at Emily Grant’s essay, Beyond Best Practices: Lessons from Tina Stark About the First Day of Class. The abstract states:

This Article reviews and expands the literature on best practices in a narrow subset — the first day of class. As the same time it seeks to convey words of wisdom from one of the most well-known and highly-regarded legal educators: Tina Stark, a giant in transactional drafting. The first day of any law school class can be fraught with tension and nerves, even for professors. This article presents advice from Professor Stark, supplemented with guidance from best practices research, so that professors can take advantage of the opportunities that the first day of class offers to set the tone for a successful semester.

I haven’t adopted all of the suggestions– I don’t think it’s wise, for example, for an untenured professor to have students use my first name. However, I have used some variation of her techniques to make students more comfortable both before and during class. I continue to find value in the survey that I send to students prior to the semester so that I can ascertain their level of understanding of business concepts, their learning objectives, and their expected area of practice. For the first time this semester, I will send an anonymous survey after the midterm asking students what they think is working and what they think needs improvement. I may not take all of the students’ suggestions, but because I am trying new things this semester including more graded quizzes and a flipped classroom, I don’t want to waste time using ineffective techniques.

Like Stark, I also share a “humbling story” on the first day of class. This is especially important for many of my Business Associations students who fear anything related to math, numbers, or accounting. I explain my career path as a litigator and how it was naively designed to avoid interaction with complex business topics. I also discuss how what we learn will help the family, criminal, and litigation-minded students who don’t understand how this course will apply to them after the bar.

Stark focuses on a collaborative classroom and team grading, and I do as well. For the first time, I have flipped the classroom in both Civil Procedure and Business Associations, and therefore the students see my PowerPoints and helpful videos prior to class. During class we apply what they have learned. They work in law firms during class where they caucus to determine a team answer to the problems sets I have given them in advance or they work on new problems or drafting exercises based on what they have reviewed prior to class.

Stark brings in homemade brownies for her students. I’m too lazy for that so I will bring in energy bars and Vitamin C before midterms and finals, and buy lunch or bagels for students who show up to my marathon review sessions. I agree with Stark’s view that making the students feel comfortable in a supportive learning environment makes them more apt to ask questions both in class and during office hours.

I recommend the article even though many of you may be past the first day already or veteran educators. I also welcome any suggestions that you have found helpful in improving the learning environment. Please leave comments below or email me offline at mnarine@stu.edu