Tips for New Teachers

1) Be respectful of childrens ideas, feelings and thought: always consider their ideas and use their ideas
as a learning tool for yourself. Childrens ideas and thought can teach you how they prefer to learn. You
can incorporate these learning habits in everyday activities to achieve a better outcome. Ex: Sarah
expresses to you that she really likes horses, so on another day during the lesson plan you incorporate
horses. It could be by simply reading a story about horses or just even having a picture up on the easel
to have a small open discussion about horses with the class.
2) Be a passionate, consistent observer: Observations are very important in understanding what children
are capable of doing developmentally, how they approach solving problems, how they spend their time,
how they interact with others, and what they are learning. It is not only an important tool for the
teacher to learn about each child individually, it should be done consistently using a variety of tools to
keep track of each childs skills, passions and downfalls. The better the observer, the more skilled you
will become as a teacher. Ex: Sam likes to draw pictures of dogs. You could then ask him about dogs and
guide him to some books or media that involves learning about dogs and different breeds.
3) Be yourself: Just like every child has their own personalities, so do teachers. It is important for the
children to know who you are as a person. Building a positive, trusting relationship with the class will
also benefit them socially and emotionally.
4) Reflect on your lessons and how they are implemented: Not everything goes as planned, but if you
think of it as a learning tool to better yourself as a teacher you are already a better teacher for thinking
this way. Ask yourself, why? What could I have done different? But do not dwell on the past, move
forward and learn from your bloopers (remember they are not mistakes)
5) Be patient: being a new teacher will put a target on your back for the children to poke at. Allow
yourself time to adjust and learn the children as individuals. They may test your patients, but always
remember you are the educator and if they step over the line it is your job to react and teach them an
appropriate way of handling a situation with new people. Ex: If Billy comes up to you and says I dont
like you in my class you could say Im sorry you feel that way Billy, but I would really like to get to
know you better and maybe we can be friends then.
6) Connect with the families: Stay in touch with the parents as they drop off and pick up to keep you and
them updated on new issues or accomplishments. Ex: if a parent tells you that Jamie rode a 2 wheeler
for the first time, you can bring up riding bikes during an open discussion and see who else was
successful in this. The little things like this will keep the children interested and feeling special. Send out
a newsletter frequently to keep parents updated on what is being taught in class. Include tips and ideas
of how they can continue education outside of class as well.
7) Know that every second of the day cannot be planned: Kids are unpredictable, so do not feel badly if
you have to change your plans to accommodate the needs of the children that day. Ex: Its a Monday
after a long weekend and the children are extra fidgety and lacking focus. Take a break from whatever it
is youre doing have the students get up and do some simple stretches or some jumping with them. Tell
them to get all their wiggles out before you have them sit back down and continue the lesson.

8) Asking for help is not a bad thing: Maybe youre having a tough time with a student, or feel like your
lesson plan is lacking something, whatever it may be it is always good to ask the opinions of other
teachers. Different people look at things in different ways and sometimes it is helpful to add a new
perspective into things. Teachers can always be learning from each other. Ex: A student is consistently
causing trouble, getting out of his chair, and being disruptive in class. You feel as if you have tried
everything and time outs and discipline is just not working. Maybe another teacher will give you the idea
of making him your helper to hand things out so he has that time out of his seat without being
disruptive.
9) Make your classroom into a community: Every student should be an interactive member of the
classroom, participating not only in lessons but daily clean up and jobs. Students who are a little older
can even take part in making guidelines for the class to follow. Ex: As a teacher you can assign monitors
to different jobs (handing things out, line leader, cleanup crew). This allows students to be a part of their
classroom and gain a responsibility.
10) Enjoy your free time: Some days being a teacher can be stressful, just be aware of that and
remember not to overload yourself when you have a small break during the day. If you need a few
minutes to yourself while the class is gone, you are allowed to take them. EX: When the students are on
lunch remember it is also your lunch! Youre not going to be a better teacher because you skipped
eating and worked on lesson plans instead. Eat lunch, youll need your energy!
11)Organization is important: It can be difficult to keep your own things organized, now add on twenty
students! Having a place for everything and your own method of organization will help to keep you less
stressed and not feel overwhelmed. Ex. Instead of having students just hand in homework to you while
you try to find an empty spot somewhere on your desk for it, have a designated basket for completed
homework. Its a simple enough thing and will keep less papers all around for you to possibly misplace.
12) Be prepared for a day youre not there: You are bound to get sick or have an important meeting or
something and have to miss a day of school. Instead of worrying about what your students are doing
have a substitute binder already in your classroom with worksheets and simple lesson plans someone
can do, itll not only keep you at ease but the substitute will most likely be grateful for it. Ex: You just
found out you have strep and with a clear conscious you call into work and let them know you wont be
in and ask someone to give the message to the sub that there is a red binder with a lessons already it in
your first desk drawer. The next day you go into class with no questions of what they spent their time
working on.
13.) Allow children to learn through play: People tend to underestimate the importance of play, children
do a lot of learning while playing however. Through play children develop cognitive, social, and motor
skills by doing things such as having conversations about games they are playing, using their imagination
or figuring the best way to get across the monkey bars.
14.) Use cultural connections in the classroom: You will most likely find that some students will be of
cultures different than your own. It will be helpful for creating a comforting environment for them if you
make some connections to their cultures. This can be very simple to do, some suggestions could be read
a book about something specific to their culture, teach the class words in their language, or have
students bring something from home to share with everyone.

15.) Try various teaching techniques: Often teacher get stuck in on way of doing things even if it has not
necessarily been successful. It is important to try different teaching techniques to determine which
things may working better with different classrooms you may work with. In many cases you may need to
teach children in the same class the material in different ways because each child has a different way of
learning.
16.) Research and learn new things: Always take the opportunity to learn new things. If you are
preparing to teach a new topic research it first, make sure you are completely competent in the area.
Also it can be helpful to take advantage of any opportunity that may be presented to learn something
new about teaching.
17.) Clearly define expectations of students and parents: It is not fair to assume the children know what
your expectations of them. If the expectations are presented to them in a way they understand they are
more likely to meet them and it will make things easier for you as well because you will not be
frustrated with student not doing as you would expect them to.
18.) Observe other teachers: Teachers do not always take advantage of learning from others teachers. It
can be helpful just to watch how a veteran teacher may manage their classroom as it may allow you to
assess why some things you have tried may not have been successful. Even observing other new
teachers can be helpful as you will have different ways of doing things and you can work together to
determine which methods work best.