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Hi! My name is Gloria Rodriguez. I am currently a junior at The University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley. I am pursuing a career in elementary education concentrating in special education. I am very nervous about being unexperienced or not being prepared when I get a job in this career field. I was wondering if there was any advice fellow students or current teachers could give. Something you would have liked to have known before you started your career in teaching. Thank you!
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Hi Gloria! I am currently also a junior at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley focusing on ESL. Although I have the same worries about not having enough experience or not being fully prepared especially due to online learning, I think it can be really beneficial to talk with some of your teachers from elementary and get to hear their experiences. I have interviewed some of my previous teachers and found it really helpful to hear about their journey and got some comfort knowing that we all share the same worries once we start! I also follow some elementary teachers on Instagram where they post lesson and activity tips/ideas as well as provide advice! Hope this helps!
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Hi Gloria, I am a third year elementary education major at Wartburg College with endorsements in ESL and Reading. One piece of advice I can give you is to get as much 'in-classroom' experiences as you can. Here at Wartburg we have a certain amount of field experience hours to be complete before actually going in to student teaching our fourth year. In that field experience, I have gotten so many opportunities to try out lessons, collaborate with teachers, and work one on one with students to get a real feel for what it is like to teach and if it is something I want to continue to do. I also highly recommend getting into the extra curriculur of tutoring. That has helped me personally to build connections with students and get comfortable teaching material in any setting.
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Hello Gloria! I have been a paraprofessional in a special education class and am currently pursuing my teaching degree. I was privileged to have worked with many amazing special education teachers. I have seen how having a lot of visuals, routines, and rewards set in place make for effective and happy classroom environments. There are many resources for creating routines and downloading visuals (PECS). You can also search social media for special education teachers. many of them make free lesson plans, classroom management PECS, and other preparation materials. Good luck!
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Hi Gloria,
As a pre-service teacher, my peers and I are presenting over various ways for teachers to be less hard on themselves in the first few years of teaching. First and foremost, don’t try to do everything. You will be overwhelmed and more likely to leave the profession. “Pick your battles” and don’t waste time and energy on ones that you simply just want to. Second, have a mentor teacher your first year. Having an experienced teacher working along with you will be beneficial and a way for you to bounce ideas off someone else. Third, separate personal and work life. Leave your work at school so that you can focus on yourself when you are home. That being said, don’t never do anything at home, but limit what you do. One tip I heard is to give yourself one song in the car on your drive home, and then don’t think about school or what you didn’t do. Lastly, I think the most important one, at least for me anyway, is to remember why you are there. There will be things that you forget to do, but will everything work out, yes. Don’t stress over little things that ultimately solve themselves or don’t matter in the end. Being a first-year teacher will be hard, but also think and answer the question: why am I here?
If you have any additional tips, please feel free to share back as well,
Chandler Njus
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Gloria,
Hi Gloria,
I am also a pre-service teacher and have some of the same worries and doubts. So know you are not alone. One thing that has been helping me is that my peers and I are presenting over various ways for teachers to be less hard on themselves in the first few years of teaching. One of the biggest things we have talked about is not trying to do everything in your first year. You will already be overwhelmed so pick your battles and prioritize your time and energy with the things that are most important. Another very important we talking about is remembering why you are there. Things won't go exactly how you want and things may slip your mind but they will work themselves out. Again don't stress over the little things, they will resolve themselves eventually. Another tip we have learned about is finding a mentor teacher whether they are in your building or just someone in your district, find someone who is teaching a similar group of students to you and meet with them on regular basis to talk about the good and the bad. But also just have them there if you have any questions. They have been in your shoes at some point and know what it is like and are usually more than willing to help!
you are going to be an amazing teacher!
Best,
Emma Huisman
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Hello, my name is Nikita Hatley, and I'm a student at Henderson State University, where I am an elementary education major. I learned many new things regarding the tips and advice on how to become a new teacher, which gave me a lot of insight into what I want to do when I graduate. The one question that I have is what kind of advice I can give students that are becoming teachers that are having a hard time trying to figure out how to interact with the students and their parents when it comes to giving out their lesson plan on what I'll be teaching for that module.
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Hello, my name is Lori and I am currenty a senior attending Henderson State University specializing in Elementary Education k-6 degree. I will do my interniship starting January 2022 and will graduate in May of 2022. I like the question you posed. There was a lot of good advise given, but I reading all that I think it also depends on your classroom. Some years it'll be easier for you, while others will be a test of your commitment of being a teacher. LOL What do you think are important topics we could ask questions about?
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Hi! I'm Gracie and I am a senior at Wright State University. This time really is scary! When you don't know what to expect, your mind can run crazy. This is a very good question that I am also trying to figure out. From what I have heard from other first year teachers, you can expect a little bit of crazy! My goal is to embrace the crazy and know that nothing is going to be perfect. I hope all goes well for you in your future classroom!
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Hi Gloria!
I am currently a senior at Wright State University. In just 6 short weeks I will begin my full-time student teaching. I am anxious yet excited at the same time. I think it is completely normal to feel unprepared. Every person I know who is in education wants the absolute best for their students. This can make being an educator even more challenging! My advice to you is to be as present as possible in all of your field experiences. Although my classes at Wright State have been helpful, I have learned the most about being a teacher from actually being in the classroom. I know you will be successful and I wish you the best!
Allie Corwin
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Hi Gloria!
I am in my final year at Wright State University in Elementary Education. This final year of student teaching has taught me so much. What I've learned is to enjoy the time spent in the classroom. Every day I'm with the students reminds me why I'm putting myself through it. Science lessons are a great way to have fun in the classroom and bring joy to planning! NSTA even has lessons for us to try. I would suggest finding things that already have plans to lessen your stress. Have fun!
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Hello,
I am in my final year of student teaching at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. In this year, I have learned a lot in becoming a teacher and authority figure in the classroom. I have learned that it is most definitely okay to discipline in the classroom; the students will still love and care for you. It is your responsibility as an educator to make sure that the students feel safe, respected, cared for, and listened to. The students need to feel important and they also need to know their boundaries in the classroom. I have learned a lot in this past year in my classroom management skills and it is constantly a skill that educators are building on.
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Hello Gloria! I am a student as well so I will share the things I have done that have made me feel more confident in my abilities as an educator. I find that getting in the field as much as possible has been the most helpful. You could take a thousand classes, but nothing is quite the same or as effective as seeing or doing it in person. Try to observe classrooms if you can. I would start by asking your old teachers if you could come observe them. While you are there take note of what they do that the students respond to the best. Try to get in field experience working with students. If your college program does not provide opportunities for you to teach students, again I would reach out to my old teachers and ask if I could come guest teach in their classroom sometimes. You could also try tutoring students, or working at an educational summer camp. The key thing is doing anything that can get you in a classroom to observe or teaching kids.
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Gloria, I am a pre-service teacher in Ohio at Wright State University. Over the past five years, I have been studying Elementary Education and I have been have grown so much. One of the most important things that I have learned is to be confident even when you are not because you have thirty little humans who are relying on you and trusting that you are the expert in the room. As soon as you start to lose your confidence, your credibility declines. You are their mentor and most kids will see you as an amazing person, so roll with it. There are not many things that you can do that would diminish that in their eyes.
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Hi Gloria!
I am junior Elementary Education major at Francis Marion University in South Carolina. Currently, I've had the opportunity to observe and teach lessons in two different elementary schools in my city. While I have learned so much through my education courses, I believe that the most valuable learning I will have is in the physical classroom with students. Experiencing what a typical school day looks like has prepared for what my future classroom could be. I have a minimum number of observation hours I need to complete, but I will likely surpass well beyond that by the end of the semester. I want to continue to learn from my cooperating teacher as much as I can. I recommend that you spend as much time in the classroom as possible! My observations have helped me understand that teachers do not always have the entire school day figured out, but they know where their students need to be. Each day is just another step towards their end goal. If you have similar observations as me, you will learn so much and feel much better prepared by graduation!
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Hey Gloria! I am currently a Senior elementary eduaction major at Francis Marion University in South Carolina! I honestly for the longest was so unsure of what I wanted to be when I 'grew' up. Freshman year of college I still was back and forth. Here I am, 5 years later an elementary education major! I truly enjoy learning all the new things going from school to school. In at FMU, we are required 50 hours in the classroom for one class teaching 2 lessons and 50 hours in another class teaching a whole SLO Unit. I am currently about to start my SLO unit in two weeks and I am so excited to learn more about how I can better myself as a teacher. Advice that I'd give is breath. Times can get stressful, but in the long run it will all be worth it. Having a group of friends that are in the education program with you will be a blessing. I have truly been blessed with the best group to go through the program with! Create a relationship with students and staff at your schools where you are placed throughout, in the long run that will help you as well! I have been in the classroom for over 100 hours already and I still sometimes feel like I am not ready. It will all work out and if you put your heart into it you will do great! I wish you the best of luck!!
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Hey Gloria, I too am currently pursing a major in Interdisciplnary Studies in a concentration in Special Education. I too feel the same ways you do at times, but when I think about it we choose this career because we feel passionate about it. My advice to you is too take a deep breath and calm down. Everything will be fine. Believe me once we get inside our classroom everything will be worth it.
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