Hi Meghan,
Welcome to the profession. You really had a trial by fire since you had to cover 5 hrs of instruction. Sounds like you did a good job with it and now are ready to expand your professional expertise and offer high quality instruction to your students in an effective and efficient manner.
Gary
I was just recently hired as a new teacher, and though I know the information very well, I am the same age as, if not younger, than most of my students. Also, my first class took place halfway through the semester as I was hired as a replacement, and to make matters worse it was a 5 hour class. Talk about trial by fire. That first day I struggled to stretch the information I had to provide, and I have learned a LOT from having that as my first teaching experience. Though I still struggle sometimes to make five hours dynamic and interesting, I am constantly learning, reviewing, and adding information to try and improve what I have to offer.
Hi Joseph,
Great example of why planning is needed. I think all of us instructors have been there and done that. You are right about how 10 seconds can last forever.
Gary
I can relate to this completely. However, my first experience in teaching was not 3hr. it was only 1 1/2 hrs. but equally confusing and embarrasing. One thing I never wanted my students to know is that I was a new instructor, fresh and new to the game. They seem to take advantage of you when they know this. I was, however, able to recover nicely.
