One week in and im overwhelmed!!

Join Teachers.Net

Chatboards

Recent Groups

Student Teaching

MEMBERS

4 Members

+ Join Group

Pinned Posts

ALLAll Teachers

Teachers.Net LIVE CHAT Support group - Tues eve!

Featured Jobs

Full-timeMontessori Teacher

Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada

TemporaryTeachers, rural schools

Peace River North School District

Full-timeHead Teacher: 2nd/3rd Grades – Mills College Children’s School

Mills College

Teaching Jobs on Teachers.Net

Featured Job special only $39!

https://teachers.net/jobs

Become a Teachers.Net sponsor!

Student Teaching Chatboard

One week in and im overwhelmed!!

by Lisa

Sep 11, 2010

Hello everyone,

I am entering my second week of student teaching and i am really considering giving up! i knew that this experience would be hard, but i dont think i understood how difficult teaching would be. I have been preparing to student teach for two years but had not had any actual experience in the classroom until now. I am currently teaching one 8th grade U.S. history class and two 7th grade World history classes. Considering I am not too familiar with ancient world history, i am not that confident about teaching the subject, to add to that i was told that the students in my class were advanced students. What i was wondering is, has anyone out there thought that they were not able to teach a certain subject? and if so what did you do to prepare to teach a subject you were not familiar with? or how did you prepare to teach advanced students?

Comment

(7)

report post

view previous comments

Leah Don't quit. It will get better, but if will require LOTS of effort. You have been given excellent advice. You can do it!!!

Sep 12, 2010

report post

Zodea Talk this over with your cooperating teacher. Tell them you are feeling overwhelmed and ask them for advice. Ask them if you can use their lesson plans for a couple of the classes for the next couple of weeks. When I did student teaching it was a slow process before I took over the class.

At first the teacher would teach the first class o...See More

Sep 12, 2010

report post

lisa I actually took over the class from day one. My Cooperating teacher told me that this was best since the students will know me and acknowledge me as their teacher from the first day. I am using alot of their material since their history department has the same materials and teach the same units at the same time. Some teachers change it up once in a...See MoreI actually took over the class from day one. My Cooperating teacher told me that this was best since the students will know me and acknowledge me as their teacher from the first day. I am using alot of their material since their history department has the same materials and teach the same units at the same time. Some teachers change it up once in a while but for the most part every teacher in the department is working with the same materials. At first i was excited to take over the class from the first day, but now i feel like i should of been gradually introduced into taking over the class. But i think its too late to change things. Right now what i am trying to do is to study as much as i can about what im teaching and figuring out different strategies to teach my advanced students.

I also wanted to share how in the credential program they never really teach you how to deal with those small things like figuring out what to do with new kids, late work, absent students and their work, anwsering questions that i have no clue about! its just all a bit overwhealming but im trying to hold on. Thank you guys for all the advice and im really hoping that this gets somewhat more easier for me.

On 9/12/10, Zodea wrote: > Talk this over with your cooperating teacher. Tell them you > are feeling overwhelmed and ask them for advice. Ask them if > you can use their lesson plans for a couple of the classes for > the next couple of weeks. When I did student teaching it was a > slow process before I took over the class. > > At first the teacher would teach the first class of the day > then I would use the same material and teach it to the other > classes. Is this a possibility? You get the experience of > teaching but don't have all the responsibility on day one. > > You also don't have to teach all the classes every day. You > could focus on one at a time and use the teachers already > prepared materials for the other classes. Yes by the end of > your student teaching experience you should be able to do it all. > > I would also ask your supervisor from the college if this is > the way things should be going. Does your schedule say you are > to take complete control of the classroom after just one week? > I think I had 3-4 weeks into student teaching before I > completely took over. Plus I did not teach till the end. My > last two weeks were spent observing different classrooms and > different teachers in subject areas that I could possibly teach > some day. > > One last thought... beg, borrow and steal any materials you can > get from any teacher in that school that teaches any subject > you might get in the future. I spent two days with the copy > machine going through files and getting many wonderful > materials for lessons. I still use some of them today! > > Good Luck! > > Zodea

Sep 12, 2010

report post

Science Teacher Holy Moly, Lisa, no wonder you are so stressed out. Your cooperating teacher is insane. Of course you need a chance to sit back and watch how a classroom operates. The kids can get to know you later, it's really no biggie if you've been around since day one, they will accept your authority

But, you are where you are so no sense thinking ab...See More

Sep 12, 2010

report post

MM It's too, too early to feel this way and it is not new. I had to teach a subject I had never studied my first time out because it was under the umbrella of subjects in our area. You'll do it. Remember it the first time out, you'll learn so much from even the most stressful experiences and it will make a difference to you down the road in other prac...See More

Sep 25, 2010

report post