Before anything else happened in Week 1, I asked all students enrolled in ENG 112, sections 06 and 07, to share their expectations for the course. I asked that they do this because I think this is one of the goals of Week 1, i.e., to not so much lay down ground rules as to make known our needs and desires in terms of learning. Students come to college with their own expectations; professors have expectations, too, as do the colleges and universities themselves. So, there's a kind of balancing act to be executed in the classroom. By sharing these expectations early on, though, I like to think that we'll all be better off, more mindful of each other and what we want to do together in the time we have.
From 11206:
They expect assistance in understanding their own thoughts, in finding the right words. They expect me to be honest in my assessment of their performance. They expect to develop better awareness of potential audiences, to be confident enough to write without using a spellchecker. They want to produce interesting material that has applications to other/future college courses. They want to be challenged, to be inspired to write. They don't want to be bored.
From 11207:
They want to learn different forms, kinds and techniques of writing, to develop better argumentation and research skills. They expect me to be fair in my assessment of their performance. They want to learn better time management, to improve their diction and reading comprehension. They want help in brainstorming topics for writing. They want assignments of reasonable length (3-5 pages). They expect an amount of fun and engagement.
These are, of course, not all the expectations students had, only those I was able to scribble down furiously in my Moleskine. If I missed any important ones, I trust students to offer further expectations in the comments.