New Teachers: The Best Practices for Tackling Your First Day Teaching (176 hits)
Starting a new career as a teacher can be both rewarding and challenging. You’ll be helping to shape the minds of your students, so it’s important that you prepare yourself to handle the responsibility. Following these practices will help you manage your first day as a teacher more easily.
Be Friendly, but Remain Professional
You want to establish a good rapport with your students, but it’s also important to remain professional and enforce your role as an authority figure. You should take the time to get to know each of your students while establishing ground rules and expectations. The language that you use should be appropriate and conducive to classroom learning without using a lot of slang or any profanity. Emphasizing the importance of mutual respect will also likely make your students want to take you more seriously as a professional.
Use Teacher Manuals
There are manuals that provide detailed instructions for new teachers and are great to use to supplement your existing knowledge and training. Some classroom management materials cover topics like the characteristics of being an effective teacher and the importance of developing routines. Certain manuals also come with DVDs and eLearning options. Studying these materials in advance will better prepare you to handle your first day as a teacher.
Confront Misbehaving Students Outside the Classroom
If you have a student whose being particularly disruptive or engaging in bullying behaviors, it may be in everyone’s best interest to ask the student to step outside the class so that you can talk to him or her. As The Washington Post states, confronting misbehaving students in front of their classmates can escalate the situation. A student will likely be more inclined to listen to you if you confront him or her individually and remain calm in your demeanor.
Don’t Show up Late to Class
Being tardy, especially on your first day, will set a bad example for your students. You’ll likely be taken less seriously as an instructor if you show up to class late. To avoid being tardy, make sure that you allow yourself enough time to get to class and take care of any obligations that might make you late well enough in advance. It might be a good idea to take a thorough tour of the school grounds before the first day so that you can learn the fastest routes to take to class.
You’ll be more successful as a new teacher if you have everything in order on your first day. Getting off to a good start will help you progress forward in a more positive way.
