I have found that eating a snack together in the morning makes the classroom more civilized. I’ll bring coffee; I ask that each class session, per the schedule below, two students bring a small snack that can be shared with the group. This might be a bag of clementines, a box of donuts, a batch of homemade cookies, etc. Each student will end up bringing snack twice in the semester.

“Never work before breakfast; if you have to work before breakfast, eat your breakfast first.” — Joshua Billings

“For it is only in company that eating is done justice; food must be divided and distributed if it is to be well received.” — Walter Benjamin