First class terrors and errors

I gave my first lecture at the Party School after working there as a teaching assistant for six months. At first, I didn't know how to communicate with the students and I trembled when I spoke with them. Later, I discovered they were kind and modest. I taught a regular case study course on law-based administration. I spent more than a month preparing, while senior teachers made suggestions about my lecture and told me about things that could confuse the students and the questions they might ask. I read my lecture notes often and thought about how to improve them, and often stayed at the office preparing till 10 pm. Sometimes, I rehearsed in front of a mirror to hone my expression and gestures.

After working as a teaching assistant for about three years, I gave my first lecture on the petitioning system and reducing social conflict. It's a case study course. Some colleagues spent more than a month in Central China collecting examples, and we spent another three months choosing the right ones and we amended the lecture notes more than 20 times. I met with the students that would take the course when they entered the school and joined them in lectures. I felt good about my first class, and many students shared fresh insights - for example, one suggested a system for recalling officials who hadn't fulfilled their responsibilities.

In 2013, despite 10 years as a teaching assistant, I was anxious about my first class, which focused on ethnic issues, and started preparing about two months in advance. A week before the class, I knew the 20,000-word lecture by heart. In addition to rehearsing in front of colleagues, I went to the classroom in the evening to practice on my own. I thought about the questions the students might raise and how to respond. I felt a little nervous when I opened the door and walked to the platform, but I calmed down when I opened my notes. I delivered the lecture without a hitch, thanks to my good preparations.