Into the Classroom: A Practical Guide for Starting Student Teaching

Chapter 1: Twelve Years as a Student Do Not Prepare You to Be a Teacher

Chapter 1 Twelve Years as a Student Do Not Prepare You to Be a Teacher Most adults in American society have spent at least twelve years in school observing their teachers. As a result, they often feel they understand teaching and know how to teach. Good teaching seems effortless to the casual observer and natural to children. Unfortunately, years of observation, especially through a child’s or an adolescent’s eyes, do not reveal the secrets of the profession. If observation alone created good teachers, excellent teachers would abound in our classrooms. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Pedagogy is a synonym for teaching. More accurately, pedagogy is the art and science of teaching. Most people think of teaching as neither art nor science . In fact, many people have not considered what makes a good teacher. I have heard it said that excellent teachers are born, not made, and it is true: some people are born teachers. They communicate clearly; organize concepts, facts, and examples so others can understand them; recognize students’ needs; create memorable lessons; and exude enthusiasm for learning. These natural teachers have gifts they can develop further to make them excellent educators. I am of the opinion, however, that anyone who desires to can learn to teach. This book is written to help student teachers, interns, and teacher candidates develop basic skills to become better beginning teachers. It is targeted for use during the initial weeks of practice teaching or internship, when student teachers and teacher candidates are anxious to “get off to a good start” and improve praxis rapidly. Getting started in the classroom can seem daunting. The prospect of teaching while thirty sets of adolescent eyes watch your every move is, frankly, unnerving. This was reemphasized to me at the beginning of a science methods class one afternoon early in Fall semester. After exchanging pleasantries, a prospective teacher asked me what I had planned for the day. While pulling copies of a learning styles inventory out of my briefcase, I answered, “We are going to explore learning modalities and learning styles. You will find out your 4 Before Entering the Classroom own learning style and reflect on how it might bias your teaching.” The student replied, “I have to teach Thursday! I want to know how to go about it.” In that simple exchange lays the tension. The student wanted to improve praxis immediately. I had planned to work with this cohort of teacher candidates so that at the end of the thirty-week academic year they would feel confident stepping into their own classroom the following autumn. I had not planned to teach to the urgent and real needs of this teacher candidate in her first weeks of school placement. To that end, I wrote this book. In this text, you will read about different types of learners and how to meet their needs. You will learn how to organize your thoughts into lessons or lectures. You will learn to make your classes memorable, write lesson plans, define objectives, ask questions, give demonstrations, lead discussions, use illustrations effectively, and avoid pitfalls common to novice teachers. All of these skills will help you become a more effective teacher. Consider this book an advance organizer for your teacher-preparation program. The topics covered will be talked about in greater depth in your coursework and your field placement. The chapters in the book can form a skeleton framework so you can hang the barrage of what currently seems like unrelated information from your observations in your school placement, tips from experienced teachers, journal articles, newspaper clippings, ideas from friends and parents, Web blogs, coursework, and the myriad other bits of advice in some semblance of order. The book should also help you understand the scope of the skills you will be required to know and apply in your classroom daily. I will introduce you to the vocabulary of the education profession. Education, like other disciplines, uses technical terms. By developing a common vocabulary within a discipline, people communicate more precisely with one another. Please note that I am not substituting the definitions of words for presenting teaching skills. For years, I had a sign hanging in my classroom that warns, “Naming ≠ Knowing” (Naming Does Not Equal Knowing). Knowing the vocabulary of a discipline does not guarantee an understanding of the concepts or the ability to implement its skills. Your teacher-preparation program will include far more than is in this book. It will introduce you to: the...