Your first teaching job is both exciting and scary. You will have some great days and some will be more challenging. Like children, we learn from our experiences. There are many tips for new teachers. Here are ours:
Be prepared and organized.
This means having materials ready for whole group and small group activities as well as for centers. It also means being prepared for accidents like spills, accidents and colds. This means keeping sanitation and safety in mind: washing hands and arms on arrival and throughout the day; cleaning and disinfection of dining tables; keep tissues and gloves handy; locking away poisons and anything it says out of reach of children.
Establish a regular routine and schedule.
Whole group meetings should be short. Remember that children have different attention spans and learn through play and active engagement. Read every day. Limit transitions. Balance active and quiet time, as well as time spent with children and adults. Classroom management is often a challenge for new teachers. Many disciplinary situations can be remedied by examining your schedule and environment to prevent problems before they arise. While it’s important to have a consistent routine, it’s also important to be flexible. If the children are not interested or acting, change the plans. Develop a partnership with your assistant. It can make your job easier or harder. Discuss your role and theirs, as well as expectations for each part of the plan at the beginning of the year. Deal with problems when they are small, don’t keep them inside and grumble.
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Be an explorer.
See things as fresh and new. Children will lift your enthusiasm. Broaden your interests.
Ask open-ended questions (I wonder what happens when…how do you do/do it?). Respect the child’s ideas, feelings and thoughts. Have fun. You chose this profession for a reason. Enjoy every day. Don’t worry if things don’t go according to plan. Reflect and learn from your experiences.
Get to know each child as a unique personality.
Every child is different and special. The best way to teach children is to first understand them. Children need to know that you value and appreciate them, which is the message they get when you spend time with them, observe them, and learn about them as people. Find out what makes each child tick. What are their interests, temperaments and learning styles? What motivates them? How do they learn best?
What skills and talents do they have?
Which are their challenges?
special circumstances affect them?
With this knowledge, you can teach children in a way that uses their strengths and builds their confidence and competence.
Become an avid and regular watcher.
Observation is probably a teacher’s best tool. Learn how to be an objective observer right from the start. By actually looking at what the kids are doing and saying you’re building relationships. You will learn what children are developmentally capable of, how they approach problem solving, how they spend their time, how they communicate with others and what they learn. For teachers, observation serves a number of vital purposes, including being able to track the growth and development of all your children, deciding whether to change or modify the environment, and determining whether your curriculum needs to be adjusted to better serve the children. The better observer you become, the more skilled teacher you become.
Keep your sense of humor close.
Teaching is serious work; probably nothing more important. But it’s also a fun job. You want to never lose sight of the joy of being with young children. When your child does something fun, share their joy. Laughing at funny rhymes makes phonemic awareness more fun and engaging. Celebrating the humor in a storybook like Agatha’s Feather Bed: Not Just Another Wild Goose Story (Carmen Agra Deedy) or a song like “I Know the Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly” makes the experience more memorable. It’s easy to obsess over problems and worry about things you wish you could do differently. However, humor brings much-needed perspective. If you can keep your sense of humor, you’ll be a much happier teacher—and probably a better one.
Be yourself.
Just as every child has their own personality, so do educators. As you get to know how each child learns and experiments, let each child get to know you. Also let them know who you are. Opportunities to build positive relationships will benefit children socially and emotionally. It serves as a model for the relationships you would like them to build with each other.
Experiment.
Young children explore and experiment, and so should you. Try new ideas you may have. As you get to know the children, your planning of activities and areas of interest will change. Go ahead and always ask yourself, “Is this developmentally appropriate? What do I want to achieve with this planning/doing? Carefully choose the materials and manipulation aids that you provide to the children. Always keep in mind that these materials should always be: A, functional and usable; B, relating to your studies and the purpose of the game; C, purposefully implemented to help children achieve goals and objectives. Looking For the Best Playschool In Delhi
Reflect.
Engaging in self-reflection always leads to improvement. When you try something, ask yourself, “What worked about this? what no? Why? What could I have done differently?” Don’t worry if something doesn’t work out the way you originally planned. Learning by doing is very effective, and when you think about it, you give yourself an opportunity to improve.
Be patient.
It takes time to settle into a new program or school. Allow yourself time to adjust to your surroundings and to the colleagues, children and parents with whom you will interact on a daily basis.
