I was a nervous student teacher too, also on the nice side.
The niceness continued with my first year of teaching, and
when I tried to toughen up, it was too late.

As for "looking" nice, I don't think this is something you can
change. You can change how you handle situations, though, if
that is what he means. Try to be firm with the students. This
is hard because it's not something you learn while in college.
Student teaching, the first year of teaching, and I'm sure the
years following consist of a lot of trial and error.

Be fair/consistent as well (this is also hard), but it's
necessary to establish authority.

Try not to be nervous. The students can sense it and often
will take advantage of it. If you are ever nervous about the
material itself, remember: You know more than the students do.

And from personal experience, I can tell you that you will
probably become more comfortable with the students in time.
You won't be nervous in front of them, anymore. It just
happens one day, and it's like "Wow, why was I so scared in
the beginning?"

Good luck. :)

On 9/17/09, New Student Teacher........ wrote:
> Hi everyone! I started my student teaching a few weeks ago.
> I had an observation period and now I am teaching 2 classes.
> I never thought I would get so nervous in front of the
> students but I do, unfortunately. I feel very inadequate and
> the fact that I was placed with a very popular teacher makes
> the situation worse for me. I feel like the students won't
> like me as much and then I get nervous. My cooperating
> teacher is great but at times he talks to me about my
> performance in front of the students and he looks very
> frustrated. He told me that he thought I was already losing
> some students because I look too nice. How can I fix this?
> How can I look less nice and have more authority?

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