Its importanat to be prepares for your students. Make sure you know the class objective and your class has all they need to understnad the objectives.

Meeting the class for the first time is really an investigation to the dynamic of mixes of the various personalities. 

I believe that connecting with the students prior to the class enables the instructor to feel out the student audience prior to communicating the course material to them.

Repetition of new terms is crucial to learning and retaining content vocabulary.  Using newly acquired terms in written and oral expression is an effective method of assessing a student's vocabulary acquirement. When I am introducing new vocabulary words to my students, I pronounce the word, they repeat the word aloud, then they write the word.  As a result, they see the word, hear the word, say the word, and write the word.

I like the idea of working in groups especially when it is to research, evaluate, discuss, and conclude on a hot button topic.  I also use the random assignment of groups.  In my experience, it works more effectively for the students even if they know each other very well.

Groups are great ways to learn.

Use eye contact, video tape yourself for evaluation.

checklist for the instructor and student is good for first day of class

Develop a plan  of content continuing education that will enhance my knowledge base

Active learning can be achieved from other sources such as the internet, library, reference materials, and other students. Successful active learning requires planning ahead and organized.