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I apologize for whining about my current station in life, but I almost have a master's degree; in fact I'm very close to graduation, but I have yet to find a good teaching position. I know people have told me that I could do other things with my degree, but I really want to teach. I'm even willing to try to get certified in other subjects so that I can do well.
My main problem is that I didn't really get a lot of time alone in the classroom, and, like I said, during student teaching I was too nervous to actually ask anyone the questions I needed to ask. I would have rather found them on the Internet, but that was mostly a dead-end search. I don't know why my cooperating teachers didn't help me out more; maybe they thought I already thought I knew what I was doing and wouldn't take any advice. That's really a terrible assumption to make, though. I would have been most comfortable had I been given an agenda from the university detailing step-by-step what my cooperating teacher was going to cover with me. As it stands, I feel like I didn't learn much about:
Lesson planning:
English / Language Arts requires a lot of planning, sometimes two or three lessons per day, to cover all of the material and keep the kids from getting bored. Now, I've learned strategies for teaching reading and had professional development on the subject, but I've never actually had the opportunity to apply anything to the classroom. On top of that, I'm just lost. There's something about how the curriculum guide and the textbook work. I have trouble understanding what the pacing guide wants me to do. I feel like I'm supposed to create my own curriculum somehow. I think I missed a lot of things during student teaching. I showed up and shadowed the host teacher every day, though. I was just too shy to ask questions; I thought he would just tell me everything I needed to know.
Assessment building:
The few lesson planning classes I did take explained that the unit plan actually begins with the assessment. I'm just not one-hundred percent sure I know how to build assessments using the pacing guide. I wish they were written in plain English instead of a list of isolated standards, for one thing. It's not hard to write an objective, but it's sometimes hard to find activities in the textbook that meet that objective.
Classroom management:
Again, since I started student teaching without even knowing how to memorize the kids' names, we never really developed enough rapport for them to see me as a "real" teacher, I guess, and my cooperating teacher already had an established classroom management plan by the time I arrived, so I really didn't get a lot of classroom management practice. I was afraid of messing up his system, so I didn't try anything new that I was familiar with and wanted to use in my own classroom. I also didn't really know his system. Every time I inquired about it, he just told me something to the effect of "don't let them push you around."
Public speaking:
I stuttered and read my way through my lesson plans, because I didn't anticipate the amount of preparation it would take to not be nervous in front of my supervisor and cooperating teacher. I also taught out of the textbook a lot, but I didn't have the same enthusiasm and energy my cooperating teacher had, so I couldn't really get away with it like he could. Actually stopping and summarizing while reading proved to be a hard process for me. I often didn't know where to pause to check for understanding or how to accurately summarize what was being read. I understood it, but I didn't know how to explain it to the kids.
Put all of this together, and I think I may make a pretty incompetent educator, especially since I'll most likely be competing with experienced educators who don't need extra training or support. I'm just confused. Why is there such a gap for new teachers between what you are expected to know to actually work as a teacher and what they actually teach you? The people who have had success are the ones who were able to swallow their pride and admit that they don't know anything, but I've studied too hard for that. I don't want anyone to think I'm a lazy slacker who shouldn't be teaching. "Fake it until you make it" is what I've always heard. Nothing seems to be working for me when it comes to kids, though.
You are right. New teachers, especially in difficult areas, are thrown into the fire far too quickly. New grads in other areas usually start out with a position where they may work with someone who is more experienced and can mentor them.
I don't know if this is feasible or not, but, perhaps, you should take a non-teaching position in the school first. That may help you get your sea legs, so to speak.
There are literally millions of resources available on effective lesson planning and assessment. Classroom management and public speaking are tougher, because they're tired to interpersonal skills, and take a lot of trial and error and experience to gain comfortability with, for some.
There are literally millions of resources available on effective lesson planning and assessment. Classroom management and public speaking are tougher, because they're tired to interpersonal skills, and take a lot of trial and error and experience to gain comfortability with, for some.
I think my deficits are related to one another. I don't have a lot of confidence talking to the students, because I don't think they will understand my lesson plans, and I worry that my boss will think that I don't know what I'm doing. Again, I don't have a lot of confidence creating activities that are easy for the kids to go along with the objectives I want to assess, and this leads to not having confidence getting in front of the class and presenting the lesson. Also, it may lead to management problems, because bored and confused students inevitably find something else to do.
In situations where the curriculum is provided in the textbook, such as foreign language classes, I do okay, because I at least have confidence that the kids will understand what I'm trying to teach them. I also have built-in ways to differentiate instruction. With English / Language Arts, though, it's a whole different story. You have to modify the lessons so much from what is in the textbook that the end result is something completely different. I have trouble making these changes and have even more trouble presenting them. If I already have a good idea of what exactly I'm supposed to teach the students, including which specific interactive activities to do with them, though, I have more confidence, and when I have more confidence, my presentation skills seem passable.
I apologize for whining about my current station in life, but I almost have a master's degree; in fact I'm very close to graduation, but I have yet to find a good teaching position. I know people have told me that I could do other things with my degree, but I really want to teach. I'm even willing to try to get certified in other subjects so that I can do well.
My main problem is that I didn't really get a lot of time alone in the classroom, and, like I said, during student teaching I was too nervous to actually ask anyone the questions I needed to ask. I would have rather found them on the Internet, but that was mostly a dead-end search. I don't know why my cooperating teachers didn't help me out more; maybe they thought I already thought I knew what I was doing and wouldn't take any advice. That's really a terrible assumption to make, though. I would have been most comfortable had I been given an agenda from the university detailing step-by-step what my cooperating teacher was going to cover with me. As it stands, I feel like I didn't learn much about:
Lesson planning:
English / Language Arts requires a lot of planning, sometimes two or three lessons per day, to cover all of the material and keep the kids from getting bored. Now, I've learned strategies for teaching reading and had professional development on the subject, but I've never actually had the opportunity to apply anything to the classroom. On top of that, I'm just lost. There's something about how the curriculum guide and the textbook work. I have trouble understanding what the pacing guide wants me to do. I feel like I'm supposed to create my own curriculum somehow. I think I missed a lot of things during student teaching. I showed up and shadowed the host teacher every day, though. I was just too shy to ask questions; I thought he would just tell me everything I needed to know.
Assessment building:
The few lesson planning classes I did take explained that the unit plan actually begins with the assessment. I'm just not one-hundred percent sure I know how to build assessments using the pacing guide. I wish they were written in plain English instead of a list of isolated standards, for one thing. It's not hard to write an objective, but it's sometimes hard to find activities in the textbook that meet that objective.
Classroom management:
Again, since I started student teaching without even knowing how to memorize the kids' names, we never really developed enough rapport for them to see me as a "real" teacher, I guess, and my cooperating teacher already had an established classroom management plan by the time I arrived, so I really didn't get a lot of classroom management practice. I was afraid of messing up his system, so I didn't try anything new that I was familiar with and wanted to use in my own classroom. I also didn't really know his system. Every time I inquired about it, he just told me something to the effect of "don't let them push you around."
Public speaking:
I stuttered and read my way through my lesson plans, because I didn't anticipate the amount of preparation it would take to not be nervous in front of my supervisor and cooperating teacher. I also taught out of the textbook a lot, but I didn't have the same enthusiasm and energy my cooperating teacher had, so I couldn't really get away with it like he could. Actually stopping and summarizing while reading proved to be a hard process for me. I often didn't know where to pause to check for understanding or how to accurately summarize what was being read. I understood it, but I didn't know how to explain it to the kids.
Put all of this together, and I think I may make a pretty incompetent educator, especially since I'll most likely be competing with experienced educators who don't need extra training or support. I'm just confused. Why is there such a gap for new teachers between what you are expected to know to actually work as a teacher and what they actually teach you? The people who have had success are the ones who were able to swallow their pride and admit that they don't know anything, but I've studied too hard for that. I don't want anyone to think I'm a lazy slacker who shouldn't be teaching. "Fake it until you make it" is what I've always heard. Nothing seems to be working for me when it comes to kids, though.
Here is my advice:
Lesson planning and assessment building: Take a year off and just develop tons and tons of lesson plans. Chances are you will be able to use 90% of what you write during that year when someone hires you.
Classroom Management: If someone hires you as a full-time teacher, you will be viewed as a real teacher and will have all the disciplinary measures for you to use.
If you were too nervous to ask for help, too shy to take initiative and not responsible enough to let anyone know you were lost, what makes you think you have any business being in front of a class of students??
I apologize for whining about my current station in life, but I almost have a master's degree; in fact I'm very close to graduation, but I have yet to find a good teaching position. I know people have told me that I could do other things with my degree, but I really want to teach. I'm even willing to try to get certified in other subjects so that I can do well.
You may have mentioned this in another thread, but I'm not one to go digging. Your teaching certification will be for which subject(s) and grade levels?
Where have you been looking for a "good" teaching position? Are you willing and able to relocate?
If you were too nervous to ask for help, too shy to take initiative and not responsible enough to let anyone know you were lost, what makes you think you have any business being in front of a class of students??
I was intimidated by my situation and didn't really know what else to do. What was I supposed to do, admit that I was lost and risk being kicked out of the program? It wasn't fair that I didn't know how to do those things, but the teachers expected me to know them, so I thought it was best just to try to fake it as well as I could and ask as many appropriate questions as possible in hopes of finding the answers I really I thought I needed.
I know I'm lacking certain skills that good teachers need, but my school experience and student teaching might have given me a bit more than I think they did, and maybe all I'm lacking is better organization and presentation skills and a little confidence. I really think I could do this if I could just get organized. I do okay with the adult learners that I teach out of a special textbook that has activities and exercises already planned out for me. My main problem, the way I see it, is just being new and inexperienced. People aren't born knowing how to organize lessons, present activities, and manage a classroom, after all.
Besides, I've taken so many courses, watched so many videos, learned so many things, if I knew how to apply what I've learned, I'm pretty sure I would be a great teacher. I think most of my negative attitude was coming from substitute teaching, and, since subs don't have the power that regular teachers have, it isn't fair for me to judge my teaching ability off of that. I've also subbed for really good classes, and they were a joy to work with. Now, I was responsible for the behavior of neither one, but I think that at least proves that I can maintain the atmosphere that was already established, so I'm not really a failure.
I was intimidated by my situation and didn't really know what else to do. What was I supposed to do, admit that I was lost and risk being kicked out of the program? It wasn't fair that I didn't know how to do those things, but the teachers expected me to know them, so I thought it was best just to try to fake it as well as I could and ask as many appropriate questions as possible in hopes of finding the answers I really I thought I needed.
I know I'm lacking certain skills that good teachers need, but my school experience and student teaching might have given me a bit more than I think they did, and maybe all I'm lacking is better organization and presentation skills and a little confidence. I really think I could do this if I could just get organized. I do okay with the adult learners that I teach out of a special textbook that has activities and exercises already planned out for me. My main problem, the way I see it, is just being new and inexperienced. People aren't born knowing how to organize lessons, present activities, and manage a classroom, after all.
Besides, I've taken so many courses, watched so many videos, learned so many things, if I knew how to apply what I've learned, I'm pretty sure I would be a great teacher. I think most of my negative attitude was coming from substitute teaching, and, since subs don't have the power that regular teachers have, it isn't fair for me to judge my teaching ability off of that. I've also subbed for really good classes, and they were a joy to work with. Now, I was responsible for the behavior of neither one, but I think that at least proves that I can maintain the atmosphere that was already established, so I'm not really a failure.
You have a lot of time and money invested in pursuing a teaching position so I wouldn't give up on it. Your issue is you can't stop overthinking every aspect of teaching and it is making you more and more insecure. Substitute teaching is not helping you gain experience. I have a suggestion that might help you before you give up on a teaching career. I think you should get a job as an instructional assistant or teaching aide. This would give you time to spend time in multiple classrooms, observe different teaching styles, get comfortable around students and not have to worry about being responsible for classroom management or teaching classes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by inged
Here is my advice:
Lesson planning and assessment building: Take a year off and just develop tons and tons of lesson plans. Chances are you will be able to use 90% of what you write during that year when someone hires you.
Classroom Management: If someone hires you as a full-time teacher, you will be viewed as a real teacher and will have all the disciplinary measures for you to use.
I think you should stop trying to give advice.
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On top of that, I'm just lost. There's something about how the curriculum guide and the textbook work. I have trouble understanding what the pacing guide wants me to do. I feel like I'm supposed to create my own curriculum somehow. I think I missed a lot of things during student teaching. I showed up and shadowed the host teacher every day, though. I was just too shy to ask questions; I thought he would just tell me everything I needed to know. 
