1.) How to find the perfect grade to work with
Trying to be a future educator while being in high school is pretty tough, especially when trying to figure out what age group you want to teach. Personally I don't have a lot of experience with young children because I don't have little ones around me everyday, but I figured "why not try kindergarten, I do like playing with little kids. One thing I surely didn't take in consideration was the difference between playing with the kids and actually having to teach them something and have them focus for a long period of time. Probably my biggest challenge throughout the year, knowing a fun way to keep my kindergarten students focused through a lesson.
2.) Contribute to the classroom as much as possible
The only way to learn something is by actually doing it. Teaching works the same way, if us teachers do not try to teach new stuff then we will never know if it actually is effective or not. Not contributing to the class can cause you to miss out on a lot of great things that the students are able to do and think about.
3.) Set the thought that you're also another teacher
Some of your students will know that you are not entirely a teacher but a student yourself; most of them,if not all, should see you as an another teacher. I felt like the fact that my students knew I was a high school student gave them the idea that I wasn't going to be as strict as their teacher, so sometimes they tried to find a way to take advantage of that. Children are brilliant!
4.) Ask multiple teachers for advice
Don't feel limited to only be able to rely on your assigned mentor teacher. The more opinions you get, the better. Not every teacher has the same teaching method, even if teaching the same subject.
5.) Control emotions in front of students
Young children tend to ask many questions and sometimes they can be questions you don't want to answer. Also stress can affect you and you're students and can result in a horrible day where absolutely nothing will get done.
6.) Children are living recording machines
Everything said by the teacher will be repeated, be careful!
7.) How to reach out to all types of learning styles
Every child learns in different ways and at different pace. Part of being a great teacher is being able to incorporate all the learning styles into the same lesson in order to help every student master the topics being discussed. A good way to achieve this is by creating multiple activities for the same lesson and therefore reaching out to the need of every student.
8.) State requirements for every grade
It is crazy to see the list of test kindergarten students have to take in order to advance into the next level. I was amazed to witness the process in which my mentor teacher prepared her students for a test it was almost as if I was seeing my high school teachers teach me.
9.) Have good communicating skills
Besides having to communicate with the children through lesson plans, a teacher also has to know how to correctly communicate with colleagues and all the school staff. The way one communicates can be the determinant of the outcome to a situation.
10.) Teaching is not as easy as it seems
Before I experienced it myself, it had never gone through my mind how challenging it is to be a teacher. Most of the time it is not because of the students, it is mainly because all the regulations the state requires the teachers to follow. Teachers are not given the opportunity to actually teach their class as they desire. But one thing I do know, being able to make an impact on a child's life is all that counts!
http://www.loveteachblog.com/2013/05/the-top-ten-things-i-wish-id-known-as.html
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