Hi Travis,
Absolutely! Preparation is key. I can tell you are a well prepared instructor.
Patricia
Hi Joan,
You are right! Before long it is a piece of cake. The more you do it, the better you become.
Patricia
Hi Kamarah,
Nicely stated. You must prepare and be ready. Show time is not the time to be doing the lesson for the very first time. Students can tell when you are unprepared.
Patricia
Over-prepare, practice, and have a plan B. Personally, I get nervous about new situations and I find that preparing reduces my anxiety and boosts my confidence. Moreover, by practicing I have worked out the “kinks†and I feel confident that I can present the material. Practice is the time to mess up so you can fix it before “show timeâ€.
I agree with Travis. It's all about the repition of preparation. And...I remind myself that each consecutive time I teach the subject matter, it will get easier.
Prepare, prepare, and prepare some more. The more I am prepared and the more knowledgeable I am at what I am going to teach, how I will teach it; the more at ease I feel in my classroom. Knowing what I will be teaching and running through it in my head allows me to work out most of the bugs before I step in front of the students.
Prepare, prepare, prepare for class. Do not try to wing it the first day of class. Ensure that every minute is accounted for. Use the first class to set expectations of the students and for yourself the instructor. Organization is the best way to overcome pfe-class anxiety.
i have found that the "ice breakers" i use for the students to get to know one another and relax, have really helped me to relax as well. wow, who knew? :P
Sometimes the first day with a new class make me nervous. Although I have thought the subject matter several times, it makes me nervous because I don't know how receptive the students will be of how I present the material.
On the first day, I introduce myself, by giving the students a background of my experience. I use taking attendance as an ice breaker. When I call each students name, I ask them a question so that I can use this information to remember their name. That way I have something familiar to associate with that person. They see this as fun and we all get to know each other.
Hi Karen,
An instructor has to prepare outside of school time. The preparation time decreases as you become more seasoned and as you teach the same course repeatedly, but preparation never goes away being in education.
Patricia
Hi Denise,
It is always good whenever you can make topics applicable to the real world. Students enjoy hearing stories about what they can expect and things that have happened. Use real-world stories every opportunity you can.
Patricia
As a new educator, I agree, that prepardeness is the key. I make sure that all my chapters are read a few days ahead, and make any notes to the side that I would like to tell the class, for instance, linking the discussion to a possible real-world scenario, etc. It gets the class talking about their experiences and knowledge. That helps make the uneasiness disappear.
Great points to make. Thanks!
I am a new instructor and I learned very quickly that in order to be successful in the classroom is to be prepared. Most of the students are just as nervous and anxious. I let them know a little bit of my knowledge and how it relates to what they will be learning. I have also learned that their is a lot of prep time that needs to be done in order to be organized and prepared.
Preparation is the key to confidence. I've also found humor to be pretty helpful too.
Hi Christine,
Absolutely! If you are asking them to do it, you BETTER know how to do it, otherwise all your credibility will be lost, if the student determines you do not know how to do it.
Patricia
Hi Claudia,
Nervousness shows that you really care. Prepare well, and the nervousness will go away once you warmup.
Patricia
Being prepared is the key to having a great start. When the instructor realizes that the students have more anxiety than they have, they come to grips that it is easier to calm the students' fears, which in turn helps their own( one hand watches the other).
Maybe by visiting the area where you are going to be instructing. Reviewing over the materials. Making sure you have all your "ducks in a row". It's normal to be nervous, even if it's not the first time instructing!
I agree! Practice is everything especially if you are showing a skill. You have to show confidence. My students need to see that I know how to do the skill that I am asking them to do.
Practice, practice, practice.
