My semester started two weeks ago for three sections for me and I have embraced two of the ideas that I thought could be of immediate impact in the classroom:
1) Giving a Facebook account and Twitter account as contact options to counter the lonely office hours I've had. So far no bites, but it is still early days. I haven't been so bold as to make it mandatory - it is still new to me as well, so I'm still working on a sales pitch.
2) Giving out videos of topic material first and directing the readings to focus on the highlights. This is also new as the official line has always been "you are responsible for the material in the textbook." When I draw a line between the "will this be on the final?" question and teaching what is worth learning, would I really ask a question on a final if I thought its sole purpose was to be trivia?
As I tinker further, I will jot down my thoughts - I have noticed the classes have gone a lot faster since embracing this mindset...
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