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The Spring Semester is here. This means that first-year Graduate Student Instructors are off to their first day as teachers of Writing and Rhetoric in the English Department at Columbia. They’ve prepared; they’ve practiced; they’ve puked (okay, maybe no one puked), but there are definitely first day jitters. As a second-year candidate and someone who has experience teaching at Columbia, I am often asked about how to calm nerves and about what to do in various circumstances during the first few days of school.

Over the last few weeks, my colleagues in the program have been discussing (in our super-secret Facebook group for Columbia Graduate Nonfiction students… I know, so exclusive, so exciting!) different ideas for first-day icebreakers and writing exercises, as well as ways to calm your nerves.

In a previous post, I wrote about the training that we receive as Graduate Student Instructors, but I thought I’d clue you into some things that you may or may not be told in your Theory and Praxis training—the inside scoop.

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The first day of class usually consists of reading through the Syllabus and going over the Course Schedule, talking about course expectations and the textbook you will be using for the semester. These are the basics. Here, however, are some ideas for what else you can do on the first day:

1.)  Icebreakers – Meant to “break-the ice” aka the tension on the first day of class, these in-class exercises are ways for students to introduce themselves to one another and for you to introduce yourself to the class. My favorites are “two Truths, One Lie” and “Silent Introductions.” “Two Truths, One Lie” is a more common Icebreaker that involves students writing down two truths about themselves and one lie. They then introduce themselves and read what they’ve written. The class then gets to guess which is the lie. This always leads to laughter and loosens everyone up. “Silent Introductions,” asks students, as a class, to decide what five things they would like to know about each other. Once the questions have been decided, they then pair up (preferably with someone across the room, not just next to them) and have to ask each other the questions and then, without speaking, mime or act out the answer to the questions. At first they all feel silly, but eventually everyone is laughing and getting to know one another. They then return to their seats and introduce their partner to the class. Both exercises definitely lighten up the mood on the first day.

2.)  This one has nothing to do with the students, but rather, your comfort—a brief list of things they don’t tell you in Theory and Praxis: wear loose clothing (oh the sweating!), don’t arrive tremendously early (you’ll end up making awkward conversation and everyone will be staring), one or two cups of coffee max (otherwise you’ll be wearing it or worse, your students will, because you’ve knocked it across the room with your wild hand gestures), make copies of your syllabus way in advance (The copy machine will jam. Always. This is proven fact.)

3.)  Have your class do some kind of in-class writing. This is, after all, a writing class, so why not get the ball rolling on the first day. Some ideas I’ve tried and that my colleagues and peers have tried are:

1. A letter to the instructor in which you tell a little about yourself, address any course concerns and share with the instructor any disabilities (whether documented or not) that may impact your ability to be successful in the class.
2. Answering the question, “What is good writing?”
3. Answering the question: “Why did you choose Columbia” and/or “Why did you choose your major?”
4. Write about your strengths and weaknesses as a writer
5. Write about your first memory of writing and/or your favorite memory of writing

This is the insider stuff, the stuff that you may or may not know until a few days before you are (nervously) standing in front of a room of eighteen students, thirty-six pairs of eyes, all staring at you, all wondering why the heck they’re in your class. This is the good stuff, the stuff to jot down for later