Second Post

Beginning Teachers Chatboard Bulletin
beginning-teachers@lists.teachers.net

Topic: “Is teaching different than what you had expected?”
(topic posted by Experienced)
Dates Spanning: 10/07/08-10/14/08
The topic was posted by a teacher who was curious about whether or not things had changed since he/she started. Apparently this teacher felt that college and student teaching did not adequately prepare him/her and was hoping that things were different today.

Unfortunately, and to my dismay, the responses were generally the same. Although the reasons as to why these particular students felt unprepared for “the real thing” were slightly different, the overall response to the posted question was: no, things have not changed!

Many teachers were overwhelmed and/or frustrated with the fact that they didn’t know how to manage the paperwork or that that the amount of paperwork eradicated their creativity. From reading the responses posted, it is my opinion that it might be beneficial for pre-service teachers to have at least one class on management. This management class should cover topics ranging from learning how to manage the paperwork that goes along with teaching to learning how to manage 20-30 children with different skills, backgrounds, personalities, etc..

Another teacher mentioned that as an elementary school teacher, you are also taking part in raising children because many children come to class with poor manners and/or poor social skills. This is why many young teachers, who do not have a lot of experience dealing with children, have difficulty managing their students. Therefore, teachers not only have to know how to teach children, they also have to know how to relate to them!


Question I Posed and the Response:
One particular teacher (JB) mentioned that he/she had a really tough first year and felt that he/she would have benefited from a class on behavior management. However, JB noted that he/she eventually figured out how to handle the students as the year went on and that when he/she went into his/her second year, he/she knew how he/she needed to begin the year.

I asked JB (and any other people who wanted to respond) if he/she could tell me some of the major things he/she learned in his/her first year and made an effort to change/implement in his/her second year. I was curious about this because, as mentioned in my previous blog post, I am concerned about being a first year teacher and figuring out how to manage my classroom.
JB advised that he/she learned to set the ground rules right away and to be very strict about them at first. From JB’s response, I learned that it’s okay to ease up later, but the important thing is not to be too lenient or “nice” in the beginning.


Some Reflection and Useful Information for my Teaching Future:
It seems as though no particular amount or type of training can completely prepare you for the day when you step foot in your very own classroom. If you think about it, no one can fully learn about any profession without actually doing the work. For example, you can read books about painting and watch the greatest artists paint, but until you put a paint brush to paper, you’ll never really learn to paint! No matter what the profession (or task) is, you have to get your hands dirty! Therefore, it’s probably best to take what you’ve learned from books and from people who are more experienced, and then make it work for you- in the best way you can for your circumstances.

It makes sense that I hear so many teachers say, “Oh gosh, my first year of teaching was all trial and error!” or “That worked last year, but not this year!” not only because we all need hands-on experience but also because there are so many variables involved in teaching- and as teachers, we are the first variable! What works for Mrs. Jones in her classroom, may not work for me because I have a different personality than Mrs. Jones! Moreover, I am aware that I will have to continually change aspects of how I teach because my students will never be the same year to year. Strategies that may keep my students motivated and happy in my first year may not work so well in subsequent years.