A brand new teacher seeking advice...?

I have just graduated from college with my BA in Education. I have a job at a good school and I will be teaching first grade. So this is my first time, I am so nervous. I feel so overwhelmed. Are there any seasoned teachers out there with some advice that would calm my nerves or prepare me for whats ahead???A brand new teacher seeking advice...?
Remember that you are the teacher, not their pal. Be ready with a huge amount of activity, more than you think will get you through the day. Some of your pupils will be seeing and hearing their first teacher. Up to now they may have been the center of the world as it relates to their home. Now they must learn to adjust to school. Teachers, classmates, rules and all the other stuff that goes with the experience. Some will be shocked that behavior that was ok at home is not acceptable in school. And keep in mind that all the kids are at different levels of learning, some are ready and some are not. That is the product of the system here in the USA. We use age but it is most imprecise. Keep a good eye out for someone else in the school that seems empathetic and one to whom you can go for wisdom and advice. Even someone to listen to your complaints and woes. Your success may not be measured in a fair way, the true success comes along much later when you no longer have these kids. So a little for starters.





Retired from college teaching, including teacher training at a university. Forty years in the profession. Good LuckA brand new teacher seeking advice...?
Hopefully you have observed good teachers teaching.


Learn their names at once!


First make a list of rules that you want kept, i.e. line up quietly, giving each other space.


Start with the basics: counting to 10, and identifying the letters of the alphabet. Your teacher's manual should have lots of suggestions. Some publishers have additional materials for teachers to use that a school might not buy.





Make yourself a card saying, ';I am a good teacher and getting better everyday.'; Put it where you will see it. Look in the mirror, and into your own eyes, and repeat it with meaning as many times a day as possible. The more often, the quicker it will work. You are teaching yourself to believe it.
Make it clear to yourself what you'd like to help the students accomplish every day. Keep those objectives small. Doing that will allow you to count what you have accomplished, and it keeps you going. You may not be able to do everything, but you can do something.





I make lists on the board of what I want to happen in each hour. It's as much for me as for the students.





I still need to do this, and I've been teaching 27 years. It's easy to lose the forest for the trees sometimes. But when the light goes on for the first time for one of your students, you just may want to cry, you will be that happy.





And hey, I teach adults. But the teaching is often the same. Point you and them in a direction and take them there.





Good luck to you. It is a good thing that you are doing.





There was a joke about a successful business person and a teacher. The first one says ';I make three million a year. What do you make?'; The second one says ';I make able people.'; The original is better, but remember that on your down days. You help to make good, able people.
What will calm your nerves is being as prepared as possible for the first day. Contact some local teachers in your area and ask for help on what to expect from the kids, AND, you have the chance to steal some discipline-handling ideas/procedures. Why re-invent the wheel when you can borrow great ideas from others? Most teachers are happy to share what they do with other teachers.





If you are prepared down to the minute on that first day, have the rules/consequences set up, know what procedures you want done in the class, and know what you're going to teach/how you're going to teach it, you'll be just fine.





When you're prepared, on that first day, your ';teacher instinct,'; as they call it, kicks in and the nerves subside. I was terrified my first day of teaching, but, I had a list of things I wanted to accomplish laid out in front of me and I focused my attention on that list - taking away my feeling of nervousness.





Your best bet is to get prepared yourself, and then call some colleagues and introduce yourself. Ask for advise - you might even invite one over to your classroom, provide some lunch/snacks, and run through your whole day's plan. The seasoned teacher can then provide you with tips and suggestions.





Good luck - I promise, the nerves disappear quickly!
I'm right there with you...graduating next Saturday. Only I don't have the job yet...





One thing I have learned is: even more important than lessons (and they are VERY important..lol) is procedures. Have them for EVERYTHING...lining up, who takes the trash cans out to the hall, who collects papers, etc. Be sure to have fun and don't take yourself too seriously. Realize that you WILL make mistakes...lots of them. learn to laugh at yourself.





I am far from a seasoned teacher...but during my student teaching...I learned how important those things are.





good luck!
Just be a cool teacher, the kids will love you and that will make you less nervous.