Preparing for Teaching
Prepare Your Brain

You have a new job. A very, very important and exciting job. You need to take some time preparing for teaching.

I know you’re thinking, “I’ve been preparing for 4 years!” I don’t want to prepare any more; “I want to do!”

One of the biggest mistakes I see first year teachers make is to go into the classroom without a plan.

In preparing for teaching, you have to prepare yourself for some social situations that you didn’t have to deal with before. You will have to think about what you wear to the grocery store, what you drink at dinner, and what language you use at the mall. If you teach near your school, you will run into students from time to time. Be ready for it.

I will never forget when I first started teaching and was just going to quick run to the store to grab something on Saturday morning. I put on some really nice sweatpants, a ripped up T-shirt from college and flip-flops to wear to the store. I wasn’t in the door of the market two minutes when I heard, “Teacher! There's my teacher! Hi!” I was mortified. There was a student and her mom. I looked like a schlub, felt like a schlub and wanted to run. From then on I decided that sweatpants were for home.

In preparing, you also need to be ready to make decisions that you might not be used to. Decisions on what to do when parents hate you, what to do when children don’t listen, and what do to when you don’t agree with a school policy. Your mind needs to “play through” scenarios from all angles when you’re teaching.

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