The First Day of Classes

I remember vividly my first day as a college instructor. It was overwhelming. I had been hired four days before and I was following Steve Jankowski as the lone instructor of radio broadcasting at Lewis and Clark Community College. Lets be clear....I made every mistake a teacher could make and I made them with zest. I recall how one second-year student, who had been a pet of Jank's, looked me straight in the eye and said: "We are so disappointed that they named you to this job. We were expecting so much more."

Shelia never really got on the Dreith bandwagon but she did graduate and had a very successful career despite her wasted year with me.

The beauty of being a teacher is that there is always the chance for renewal. I was at least smart enough to recognize the errors and correct them for the new group of students that were coming in the following fall. My teacher evaluations were never a problem because despite my poor instruction....I was....and have continued to be.....entertaining. I might not have taught you anything but I could always get a laugh.

The first year as a teacher forced me to enroll in a degree program through SIUC which taught me about how people learn and I think I became a pretty good instructor before heading upstairs to administration some eight years later.

That first day in the classroom was 23 years ago. Today I worry about other things----like the size of the cafeteria and the design of a new dorm. Things that have nothing to do with walking in front of that group of 19-year-olds and handing out the syllabus. God help the new instructors of today. I never had to deal with PCs, text messaging or any of the other distractions prevalent in today's classrooms.

For them I pray they can get through the day without some young student approaching them and mentioning how inadequate they were on their first day of class....