My teaching debut

It was my first class. the topic to be covered was just some Matlab basics and a revision of some digital communications class from the previous week.
Though, I am very comfortable with these topics, I spent a good part of the day, preparing for the class.When it was finally time to begin the class, I felt that I could easily pull it off. A class of under 30 people, me just covering the basics, . . . no problemo, I thought.I could not have been more wrong.
"Hi, folks. Shall we begin?", is met with a silence.
"Did you read the material I posted on the website?". Silence again . . . atleast I got a few nods now, answering in the negative( some response is better than no response!!)
"Did you atleast read the homework questions posted earlier in the week?" resulted in a deafening silence.
Now, I was ready to run out of class. What am I supposed to teach, if they dont respond at all?But I go on . . . blabbering away, my speaking speed accelerating . . (as usually happens with me) . . . I see many blank faces,with the odd one or two nodding in agreement. ( so I slow down my speed, or so I think), I fix my gaze on those poor chaps and begin speaking in earnest . . . soon they realised, the more they nod in agreement, the more I punish them by looking only at them while teaching...so they stop looking at me.... now I am stumped.
So, I started off with trying to discuss the homework that was due in under a week's time, and some time later, they opened up a bit and started asking a few questions, thankfully!!
From then on, time flew( atleast for me, am sure the guys listening to the leture felt otherwise) . . .before I knew it, the hour was up, and I still had not covered everything that I had planned for the session, people were asking doubts left and right,it was chaotic, but I had to wind up quickly. So I just directed them to room 420 and wound up for the day.

I always wanted to do one thing when teaching, I did it today!!
When asked a particularly probing question,to which I dont have an immediate answer, I always wanted to say, "Let's take it offline" and not waste others' time. I DID ask one person to meet me offline . . . but he did not bother to turn up at all. Guess, he had enough of me already, in the class :-D

I got some feedback from "friends" among the junior batch students . . . It was a complete washout. I even had to send a mail, correcting some of the things I had wrongly stated in class.
I will have to take one more class some time in the next few weeks, hope that turns out better.

Ciao.