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I am a preservice teacher super excited about actually getting in the classroom. I was wondering if you guys had any tips about being a first year teacher in a science classroom? Thank in advance.

Hi Kati, I know how you feel. I am a pre service teacher and I am excited that I will be in the classroom soon. I was teaching for 15 years before deciding to do a graduate programme and I think that being prepared and arming yourself with as much information and activities that would make a lesson interesting would be the best way to go. Every classroom change as kids never remain the same even if you get the same class at a different grade, the own worldview and experience will evolve and as teachers I think that we need to always be prepared. Hope this helps.

I am also a preservice teacher and would love to hear more advice from experienced teachers.

Hi, I am also a pre-service teacher and I love it. I would like to hear different tips and strategies I can use for my future classroom.

I am a preservice teacher, but all of my professors have been in the schools for atlas ten years. The best advice they have given me, for when I do lessons in the classroom, is to plan for extra time. Teacher's should incorporate time that allows students to engage in unstructured learning. This allows them to share and respect each other's ideas, as well spark an intrinsic motivation that can't be cultivated through teacher structured instruction. I hope everyone can find time in lesson for students to explore their thoughts with others. Thanks for the prompt!

I am currently a student teacher and would also love to hear any advice. So far my Cooperating Teacher has shown me a whole lot about classroom management. She made sure from the very beginning of the year that the expectations and procedures were very clear for the students. Now even when a sub is there the students know exactly what to do at every point of the day! It is awesome!

Hello Kati, I'm currently a student-teacher, but I've had a lot of exposure and teaching experiences that made me really want to comment on your post. Prior to this certification that I'm working on, I taught at the elementary level for 3 years, and ESL to adult learners for 4 years. I don't think anyone can provide 100% fool-proof lost of tips and advice that would guarantee an easy-sailing teaching experience. Everyone's experience will be different, and although there are those general rules of thumb that we learn during our teaching qualifications, you will find out that once you're in the classroom, everything changes and you start constructing your own advice based on your own school, students, and environment. What I do think is necessary for every new teacher to remember, myself included, is that it takes about 5 years before we decide if teaching is what we actually want, or if we made a mistake and need a path change. During these 5, we learn more about ourselves than about anything else. As you develop your classroom management plan, your preferred teaching approaches and strategies, and your relationships with peers and the community, you will see that no advice can be completely accurate and applicable to every teacher. I'm sure you know the general rules-of-thumb, but what I would happily share with you are some resources that I religiously refer to, and I hope they will be as helpful to you as they have been to me. http://www.edutopia.org http://www.stem4teachers.org/stem-for-teachers/ https://www.teachingchannel.org/ http://myteachsource.ascd.org/Default.aspx Wishing you the best of luck! Mia