Thread: Future Teacher and SCARED

Children learn to sing and move their arms, legs, hands and so forth. Collect as many recordings that you can slip into the media player so students can sing along, move along to the music that's helping them learn. My niece had the best kindergarten teacher who used all sorts of songs to learn about various things. My niece came home singing every day and was a definite kinesthetic learner. She's been singing, moving and learning ever since.

Be prepared all the time. If you know that you have an excellent grasp of the material or the lesson, it will boost your confidence and lessen your anxiety. I agree with what others have said. Make a plan. Know exactly what you're going to do.

Going into teaching is like learning to jump off the high dive. You just have to take a deep breath, close your eyes and jump in. Ready or not, here you come. Your day will pass quickly in a school classroom. There will always be tomorrow's lesson to do better. Just go for it. That's what successful teachers do.

Keep a bag of tricks in case the kids get out of control or your lessons run short. If you know a bunch of what you may know as "Sponge Activities"... I just call them fun games you will be fine. Be sure to explain the expectations before you play the game..you stay in your seat...you raise your hand...your voice is off ..... Then take just a second to have a kid model it....Johnny is sitting, voice off, raising hand...everybody give a silent clap for Johnny.

Dscho has great advice about making sure that you are prepared with "extra" activities in case your lessons run short. I always have three or four pre-made craft projects prepared. I also keep a lot of different quiet independent learning activities for my fast finishers. If you need some ideas for those check out Pinterest and look for file folder games or file folder learning.

You might want to look at some sites or pinterest to find filler activities. This site: www.math-games-and-activities-at-home.com has a ton of quick and easy math games. I have used these games in class as "sponge activities" or if time permits after a lesson. The kids really love them and they are great teaching tools!

I love Pinterest and there are so many great classroom management, organization, learning tools, worksheets, and theme unit pins it is unbelievable. I think George's analogy about jumping off the high dive is pretty accurate too. Good luck to any new teachers getting ready for the Fall.

you know it is something natural to be nervous but you can focus on your abilities to teach. imagine yourself in an artificial situation and record your moods by a camera then have a look on that this can be usefull

Remember that each child is different and tailor your approach as much as possible. Also, please be patient with the trouble-makers. You never know what home they come from. One of mine tests my patience, but he just saw his father try to kill his mom. When I get angry with him, I remember this and try to be understanding that he is an emotional wreck right now and acting out is part of his way of dealing with it. I have to be firm, but loving with discipline.

Also, please, if a child has to go to the bathroom often, don't assume they are playing. I had a teacher do that to me and had an accident in the room because she said she was going to suspend me if I got up and left after asking her several times to go. I had a helper yelling at a child where I work to get out of the bathroom. I told her that he is my regular and he has colon health issues. This is just something I try to tell people because so many people aren't tolerant of kid's bathroom needs.

Other than that, just enjoy your new job. It will get crazy and hectic at times, but there are so many rewarding moments as well. I had a girl crying because she was scared of coming to a new place and two girls in my class sang a song to her because the one girl said her mom does it for her when she's sad. It was so sweet to see how loving they were towards her. Sweet moments like that, and the silly moments when kids say things that are just so funny, and that moment when a concept a child was struggling with finally clicks- those are the moments that make this job so worth it. There will be days when you wonder why you ever got into this field, but then one of those moments happen and you know why.