Three common mistakes new teachers make
YOU MADE it! You graduated with your teaching degree, and now it’s time to face your first group of students. It’s natural to want to be that cool teacher who you loved so much in school. You want to be liked, loved, respected. You know you won’t have to worry about classroom management because the kids will all love your class and want to learn.
Three months later, you wonder how you could have been so naive. How could kids have changed so much in just four years? They don’t seem to care about school at all! You’ve tried to get them excited about your subject, but they keep telling you school is stupid. And while they tell you you’re cool, they don’t obey you very well. What happened?
A majority of new teachers experience a certain let-down when the newness of the year wears off. Teaching is so much harder and so much more time-consuming than you ever imagined. And as hard as you try to bond with the students, they are becoming too friendly and they’re asking you a lot of embarrassing questions like, ‘Did you do drugs in school?’ and ‘How old were you when you had sex?’
You know you’ve gone wrong somewhere and now you need to toughen up to get the kids to behave. But what to do?
There are three common mistakes that almost all new teachers make. Fortunately, they are a result of being new and they are reversible.
1. LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY AND PACING
This is mostly trial-and-error learning. If you are fresh out of college, you will probably assume your students are more sophisticated than they are and teach at a level that’s too high and too fast. Students may become discouraged if they don’t have the necessary background you may be assuming they have. It takes a while to get the right combination so be patient with yourself – and with them.
2. COOL VS RESPECTED
It’s very difficult to know where to draw the line here. You want the kids to know that you understand them. After all, you may be just a few years older. But, your youth can work against you. You can’t allow students to view you as a peer. If they do, they won’t show you the respect you need to manage the class. Suggestions? Don’t dress the same way the students do. Your attire can do a lot to set you apart from them. The first time a student asks an inappropriate question, simply say, ‘That’s too personal’ and move on. Remember that you are their teacher, not their cool friend. If the class is starting to misbehave, get some advice from other teachers and revise your classroom management. That’s the great thing about teaching. You can start over tomorrow!
3. CONSISTENCY
When you are a new teacher you don’t know what your response will be in certain situations until they happen. Kids do things you would never imagine anyone doing. If you aren’t sure how to handle a situation,
tell the student you need to think about the
appropriate consequence. Then talk it over
with another teacher and get some advice. When you make a rule, make sure you apply the consequences fairly. If a student breaks that rule they know what will happen. What kids prize most of all in a teacher is fairness. Don’t show favouritism. You can’t learn to become a great teacher in one year. On-the-job experience is required! Just know that your second year will be much, much better and you can build on what worked for you in year one. Good luck!