PUSHING BACK AGAINST SYLLABUS WEEK.

Classes are back in session at Northern Illinois University, where the every-few-years ritual of starting the semester, then standing down after a week or two for Labor Day in the fall and Martin Luther King Day in the spring, likely means a couple of weeks where bringing everyone back to speed (or in egregious cases, up to something resembling speed.)

The good news is, Montclair State's David Galef advises how not to conduct your first class.

A young friend of ours recently attended her first classes for the spring semester, only to leave quite early because all the professors did was perform brief introductions and go over the syllabus. I’d like to suggest that this kind of session, which could be one of the most important classes in the term, represents unacceptable pedagogy, cheating the students who have signed up for a semester’s worth of instruction.

If, dear reader, you are still in the classroom, or however you describe what passes for virtual college these days, kindly read, understand, and be governed by what he writes. In particular, a man who writes, "[Students who welcome a first class with no pressure] are often the same students who cry, “Yay, snow day!” when classes are canceled for any reason. Don’t let slackers rule your classroom," ought be respected.