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PEACE OF MIND TO CALM PEDAGOGICAL NERVES Written By: Rachel Stern

Editors Note: Rachel Stern interviewed Mrs. Candee Brodsky, a Spanish teacher at Atholton High School in Columbia, Maryland. Mrs. Brodsky received her Bachelor s degree in Spanish !ducation at "ouglass College #now Rutgers $niversity% and then began teaching Spanish to grades &'() in *air+a,, -irginia. A+ter teaching there +or three years, she moved to Howard County, Maryland, where she taught !S. +or / years at Howard Community College. 0here, she taught adult learners beginning level !nglish. *inally, Mrs. Brodsky ended up trans+erring to Howard County 1ublic Schools, where she has passionately taught high school Spanish +or )2 years. Although she does not have a Masters degree, she has a Masters e3uivalent, which means that she has enough credits past her Bachelors degree to count as a Masters degree but they aren t speciali4ed in any one certain area. Mrs. Brodsky spoke about her background in+ormation, her advice +or +uture teachers, and how to gain new ideas and material +or a classroom.

Jittery? Nervous? Shaking in your new black slacks and brightly colored cardigan? Sounds like were on the same plate. As the anxiety about being alone in the classroom with a bunch of impressionable children builds it becomes clear that for as many years of educational schooling weve all had there arent many things that can prepare you for the reality of teaching. As a new teacher there are so many things to consider while preparing for your first year alone in the classroom. !f course its natural to wonder what your students will be like how they will interact with each other and how successful they will be throughout the year. "owever there are also may other things outside of the individual students that are important to consider when entering your first years of being a teacher. #o get the scoop on what new teachers need to succeed $ talked on the phone with %andee &rodsky a high school Spanish teacher from %olumbia 'aryland. H ! can I "e # $t $%cce$$&%l in the cla$$r #' $ asked 'rs. &rodsky about her experience as a teacher and what advice she

would give future teachers and she was very excited to share her expertise and wisdom with me. (irst she said that the best way to be successful is to be passionate about what you do and to be open to working with colleagues to learn from their experiences and to share ideas. She stressed the importance of working well with your colleagues but also the importance of having an in house support system. Another thing that 'rs. &rodsky discussed was that on the first day on the )ob many first time teachers encounter unexpected challenges. As a student teacher you have your mentor teacher to go to for advice and help but when you have your own classroom no one is there to help you. She mentioned that in other professions there is somebody that you can ask *uestions of but in a classroom its hard to ask *uestions at the exact time that things come up. #his being said the first day on the )ob you have to develop the ability to be an expert in your field and a professional at the same time. 'rs. &rodsky commented that +(or elementary school teachers being an expert in your field actually means knowing a bunch of different areas very well as opposed to high school teachers who are more speciali,ed and know much more about one sub)ect in particular.What $h %l( "e in )lace n the &ir$t (ay' Along with that 'rs. &rodsky also talked to me about other things that need to be in place when you start out as a teacher. #hese things include mastering content classroom management administrative skills and the ability to work with all kinds of kids. .ith younger children you can develop different relationships and respect but with high school students it is harder to establish a productive class atmosphere. .ith high school students you have to figure out the balance between times when its okay to laugh smile )oke and be comfortable with the +get down to business- times in the classroom.

/nsuring that enough time is spent on these more serious aspects will help you as a teacher to get the production that you want from your students. #his ability is something that a brand new teacher doesnt always have in their +bag of tricks- because student0 teaching experience is very limited so there is a lot of +on the )ob training- that happens in your first few years of teaching. What i$ ne & the # $t i#) rtant thin*$ t c n$i(er !hen y % $tart %t' 'rs. &rodsky talked about the importance of personality in the classroom. +1ersonality is important to make your experience teaching as individuali,ed as possible - she said. !ftentimes when you work in a school that has a good sense of collegiality other teachers will offer you their lesson plans if they had a great lesson that worked really well in their classroom. "owever )ust because this lesson worked great for them it doesnt mean that it will work well in your classroom too. 'rs. &rodsky shared a story about a fellow teacher who had some great learning centers that she wanted to share with 'rs. &rodskys Spanish class. .hen the lesson plan was being implemented though 'rs. &rodsky reali,ed that but the other teacher might run a more cra,y and chaotic classroom than she does so the idea for the awesome learning centers that the other teacher gave to 'rs. &rodsky werent really as suitable for her specific classroom. #his is something to keep in mind when trading lesson plans with colleagues. H ! can I "e$t %tili+e #y c ! r,er$ an( c llea*%e$' (inally $ asked 'rs. &rodsky about how to gain new ideas and new material for your classroom. She mentioned that in the first few years many new teachers spend a lot of time perfecting lesson plans and writing new ones. She emphasi,ed that it is good to work in an environment that is collegial and collaborative so that you can try to avoid

spending a ridiculous amount of hours grading papers organi,ing activities decorating and making plans. 2se any resources that are available out there dont consider yourself an island or an expert because people are usually very eager and willing to help if you make it known that you value their assistance and input. $t makes you feel a lot less overwhelmed if you seek out support and admit to the fact that youre still learning and have lots to learn. %olleagues will be willing to help you out with anything even day0to0 day challenges that you meet with your own class. 2ltimately you have to determine how you want to deal with them and use your own personality to help determine how to deal with challenges but having a good in0house support system will help you make these decisions more confidently and easily. Another piece of advice that 'rs. &rodsky gave me was that +if you have opportunities to go to regional conferences geared towards your level you should go to them because they are really helpful.- /ven small workshops that work on ideas for how to incorporate technology in the classroom how to handle all the paperwork youre given and how to manage your classroom are all helpful in your first few years of teaching or even your later years of teaching. She said that she recently went to a conference about incorporating technology into the classroom and it was a really great learning experience for her3 #here is so much to consider when starting a new classroom and beginning a career in education. $t all is very daunting and overwhelming to say the least. 2nderstanding how to be the most successful in the classroom what should be in place on the first day of school what the most important things are as a new teacher and how to best utili,e colleagues and coworkers are all essential things that 'rs. &rodsky shared

with me in our discussion. 4uckily with 'rs. &rodskys expert advice taking that giant leap will be )ust a little bit safer.

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