Instructional design is a profession within the field of education. It focuses on how to create effective instructional experiences that can then be applied to a variety of settings, such as corporate training, the military, higher education, or other educational spaces such as museums, libraries, or nonprofit organizations.

The great thing about the internet is that information is everywhere, but there is so much of it that sifting through it all can be overwhelming. This is why an eCourse, or online course, is appealing to so many people who want to learn. An eCourse is taught over the internet, usually via a learning management system (LMS).

I didn’t sleep much the night before my first day of school. I was nervous, anxious, scared, and more afraid of riding the bus than anything else, but that’s mostly because I was 5 years old and terrified to start kindergarten. ©Wavebreak3 / Adobe StockFlash forward 17 years, and the mood was much the same my first week as a first-year teacher.

Without a doubt, brand new teachers worry more about classroom discipline and management skills than they worry about anything else. Deep down, you know that if you can’t maintain discipline, you have little hope of getting rehired and eventually receiving tenure. ©Cartoonresource / Adobe StockAt its very heart, effective classroom discipline boils down to three basic skills: motivating your students, confronting inappropriate behavior, and maintaining class discipline after you’ve established it.

Your first week with students is a lot like a first date. In both cases, you don’t know each other very well, so conversation is awkward and forced. Therefore, you need to have a full agenda planned so that none of those awkward lulls in conversation cause the chemistry between you to fizzle. Other than learning names and assigning seats, what should you try to accomplish during the first week?