| Teacher Supplies home >
Teacher Supplies Info Center > Tips for new teachers
Tips for new teachers
Click
here to see our selection of teacher supplies.
 If
you have already been a teacher’s aid, you have probably noticed
that things do not always go as planned. The perfect lesson plan
will have to be altered as you go. In other words: even the best
teachers sometimes have to “play it by ear”. The more
you get used to your students and discover what their particular
needs are—the more improved your lessons will become. But
do not be surprised if you run into a few snags right at first,
this is normal.
Sometimes the students will be more advanced than the curriculum
provided to you, and, by the same token, sometimes the students
will not be advanced enough to move forward as quickly as you plan
to. Then there is, of course, the worst case scenario: when some
of your students are advanced and will get bored with the regular
lessons, while others are less advanced and will need the class
to move more slowly in order to keep up with the rest of the class.
· Advanced students:
When your class is more advanced than you anticipated, the best
thing to do is to start off with a quick review of the material
they are already familiar with. If they are a few chapters ahead—great!
But find out where the learning should begin right away, i.e. what
areas the students are not as knowledgeable in and start there.
You may want to skip a few chapters or give the children a test
or quiz that covers material from chapters one through three, for
example, to see how well they know the material as a group. Then
move on to chapter four and begin your lessons there. Do not let
the class start out bored because they will likely get used to that
and stay bored in your class. Adjust your lesson plans accordingly.
· Slower students
If the majority of your students seem to be behind in the subject
at hand—back up a little and review the basics, the understanding
of which will move them on to the lesson you intended at first to
begin with. Realize that you may need to go back to their curriculum
from the previous year and review. Once again, give them a quiz
or test on the material, assess their understanding of the lessons
they should have absorbed the year before, and decide how quickly
to move from there. Many times you will find that the students remember
very quickly with a simple review.
· Mixed groups
The most challenging class a teacher can have is a group of students
that includes very intelligent children who are ahead of the rest
of the class, students who are behind the rest of the class, and
students who are right where they should be according to the curriculum
provided. In this case there are a few ways you can handle it. It
all depends on the flexibility of your curriculum and of your school.
The best suggestion I have is to split the children up into groups
(three, in this case). These groups will work at different levels.
For example: in reading. Have the children who are more advanced
read more complicated books—and maybe even read more books
than the others. Let the students know that if they have read more
than one book—they can choose which book to write their review
on when the time comes—if they want to write about more than
one book—offer extra credit. The reverse will be in order
for the children who are behind in their reading. If you have time
set aside for reading during class, this would be a great time to
help the slower students one-on-one. If this does not work, you
can keep the slower children after class for extra coaching or you
can also suggest tutoring to the parents at parent-teacher conferences.
Your task may be more complicated in certain other subjects. When
this is the case you must suggest or provide tutoring for the student—and
help him or her find the way that they learn best—by using
flashcards, outlines, lecture notes etc.
Discuss teaching ideas, lesson plans, classroom
strategies
and more on our teacher
forum!
Browse worksheets, projects, lessons, books,
activities and other teaching products by grade level:
Kindergarten
1st Grade
2nd Grade
3rd Grade
4th Grade
5th Grade
6th Grade
|
