1.) Have confidence in yourself.
Trust me you need to have confidence in yourself. I remember being in front of my first graders trying to read to them being so unsure of myself. I felt myself shaking and thinking they probably couldn't hear me or didn't like how I read. You know what happened when I finished? The kids told me that the book was their favorite and asked me to read another. My mentor teacher gave me this piece of advice when I explained to her I couldn't ever be a great teacher. "If you don't believe in yourself how can you ever expect me or anyone else to believe in you?" She said she doubted herself a lot to but great teachers have confidence in themselves, their lessons, and their students most importantly.
2.) There will be days when you feel like you aren't helping but hurting instead.
I can't tell you how many times I felt like I was just hurting my students. I couldn't help them with whatever they need my help with and they were relying on me to give them guidance. It took some time to understand that as a person you will have some down days but that does not mean you aren't a great educator! To help me get through these types of days I had a journal where my friend and I wrote some motivating notes and quotes to one another. Just remember your whole career is not determined based off of a couple bad days. It is determined by how you inspired students and gave them all the information they will need in life. Or next year which ever comes first.
3.) Have fun and enjoy what you are doing.
Although teaching can be a stressful job remember to take deep breaths. Then take a step back and remember doing this should be fun and hard work. If you keep on focusing on all the hard work you are not going to want to do this for years down the road. So let's just remember you can work hard but play just as hard!
4.) Teaching is a special job
When I was younger I thought teaching was for people who couldn't get a better job. Now I see that being a teacher is a special job that not many can do. To be a teacher you must have qualities that many people lack. To teach is to inspire and care for your children.
5.) Not only do students get attached but so do you.
When I worked with my first graders I thought that it was sweet how they got attached to me. When it was time to say goodbye I realized that the ache in my chest was the thought of not seeing them for a while. I thought before that teachers really didn't care for their students but I proved myself wrong. When you teach you don't have 1 child you have many children.
6.) Dont be afraid to try something new.
Doing things in a traditional style is great. Doing new things is ever better! Just imagine where we would be right now if we would of never tried something new?
7.) There are many factors that affect students and their learning.
Being a student myself I guess I understood this. When you get into the classroom though things like these seem to slip your mind rather quickly. Do whatever you can to help your students get on track. Help them in any form you can let them know you care.
8.) You cannot be too lenient with students or too harsh.
It's hard not to be a passive teacher that lets students get away with a lot of stuff. With that said that does not mean you can be a very strict teacher that students are afraid to come to. You somehow need to find the spot in the middle of these 2 teaching styles. Be the teacher students know not to try and mess with but let them know you understand if they need anything.
9.) Share any ideas you have with other educators.
I noticed teachers sharing and ideas or lessons they did with each other. We usually kept ideas to ourselves but see that's not such a great thing to do. You need to share with one another so that your students can get a better understanding of what they are learning. Plus it's fun sitting around sharing these awesome ideas you found or came up with.
10.) Be careful you might end up loving the teaching profession.
I thought I had a clear vision of wanting to be a police officer. Then I took this amazing opportunity to work along side a 1st grade teacher and guess what? I ended up having doubts about what my future career looked like. I enjoy teaching children things they will use throughput their lives. I just want to be sure that I am 100% certain teaching us what I want to do.
