Kids will test you. That’s just how it is. Be yourself and be honest, but let them know you are in charge, but have their best interests at heart and will listen to them. Here are some things that may help you out:

Day one and two should be spent clearly outlining your discipline policy, classroom procedures and grading policy. Students need to know what you expect of them up front.

Many teachers have asked the students to help in creating classroom rules and consequences, as they are more likely to adhere to things they have a say in. You would be surprised how the students cover things you would like to address. Make a list of items you feel are most important and add those to the list the students come up with. Keep your rules positive (for example: Use appropriate language over Don’t cuss).

Be firm, but fair. You are not a student’s friend, but their teacher and advocate. Be friendly and approachable, but let them know you are not a buddy. You will discipline when needed. We are just like parents and as much as we would like to be the ‘friend’, we cannot be that all the time.

Be consistant. Don’t do things half of the time and do not threaten to do things you will not do. Kids want to know where the line is. If it moves all the time you will find the kids will be unsure of how to behave.

Do not embarass kids in front of their classmates. What you may consider a harmless joke or comment may actually be very upsetting. You can joke around at times, but be aware of the personalities of your students individually and as a class.

Most of all make the class interactive and fun. Hands-on projects and activities keep kids engaged and are beneficial for a variety of learning styles.

Teaching science is FUN! If you don’t have fun at least two times a week, you’re not doing it right.

Do crazy demos, and do labs. If you need demonstrations to do, there are billions of them. I was a first year teacher last year and I did about 60. And I’ve got another 30 to add on this year.

If you’re teaching chemistry or physics, this really helped me:

When kids do problems I give them white boards (1 per student, or 1 per group) and some dry erase markers to have at their desks. They LOVE them. And consequently, they LOVE doing math problems.

To get cheap whiteboards just go to Lowe’s or Home Depot and buy a 4×8 foot tile board (also called marker board) and then have them cut it into 1 foot squares. The markers are trickier, I’m going to try having my students buy them for a dollar. I think most kids will be ok with shelling out a buck.

Oh, one other thing that gave me like 10-15 good tangible ideas (not be consistent and blah blah blah useless crap that only makes sense when it’s too late) I went to a weekend conference for MSTA. You go to a different presentation every hour for like 6-8 hours on Friday/Saturday. I learned SO much. And it was nice being in a posh hotel room for free.

Expect the Creationists to challenge anything that doesn’t agree with their mythology, and refuse to accept the clearest proof that they could be wrong and everything wasn’t specially created as is in 6 days about 6000 years ago, and then restarted after a global flood 4000 years ago. Any attempt to not fully support their dogma as an equal explanation to hundreds of years of intensive scientific work will likely bring the wrath of their church, which will attempt to eliminate as much of the offending science as possible and replace it with their particular religion by any and every means at their disposal.

It would be akin to numerology being taught in place of statistics in mathematics or astrology taught in place of astronomy, but you know how the superstitious folks try to “prove” their beliefs and force them on the world.

Coming from a young teacher like myself, you can expect the first week of school to be great (because the kids are scared). But after week one, expect girls to call you a “bit**” to your face and other students to say “make me” when you tell them to do something. Your first year is not going to be great, but you live and you learn.

My advice: Be mean and enforce your rules from day one. Don’t let the students scare you or intimidate you. And always be consistent with your punishments. Don’t let anybody slide.

I tell my students on day one, “I won’t let you go to the restroom, so pee in your pants. I won’t let you go to the nurse, so don’t ask. And I won’t let you go to your locker.” And I am consistent from then on. No matter what the excuse is, I do not let any kid go. They think I’m mean, but they respect me. I’m 5’2″ 105 pounds and in my 20’s. If I can get respect, LOL, then you can!!!

Read

Harry Wong: First Days of School

and

Fred Jones: Tools for Teaching

Dress professionally, set clear expectations, stay calm, overplan, be consistent.

The advice so far seems good.

I’ve found that giving pupils lots of different tasks (not always practical) helps keep their attention.

Make sure the instructions are clear and understood.

If you are losing the pupils’ attention, you can always set fire to something. Just remember to do it in a properly controlled manner (the pupils won’t realise it is).

Kids are horrible. Three years ago, my school got two new teachers. The first was male. He was young and attractive and half the girls threw themselves at him. He would tell us to do a task and the kids would refuse until they liked what he was saying.

They other was a chorus teacher. She said she was excited to start working wit us. A boy said give it two weeks. Two weeks later, she had a breakdown.

Lesson- don’t let your kids walk all over you. Don’t be surprised if they are absolute jerks. But try to be nice.

i’ll be a junior in high school… so i hope this helps.

everyone hate when the teacher just stands in front the room and makes you take notes

prepare them well for test… and dont give pop quizes… its not fair.

try not to give them too much homework (of course lol)

try to connect with the students…. find out what they like to do, connect with them almost as “friends”

Don’t make yourself seam better than them just b/c you the “treacher”

make them laugh…. be relaxed and have the room have a layed back atmosphere

also let them have a say on big projects… listen to their ideas

GOOD LUCK!

Just be your self, be str8 forward with them, serious but not too much, and just have fun with it..oh and dont let them get your nerves! uh expect alot of outspokenness 🙂