Advice for new teachers
Learning strategies for competently managing a classroom
10:40 a.m., Aug. 12, 2011--The "class clown" sits in the back of the room, entertaining his audience and disrupting the class. Without saying a word, the teacher strolls up the aisle and stands a few feet behind him. When he makes another comment, she takes a step nearer and he quiets down.
“It’s a simple solution in classroom management,” stated Jane McFann, an experienced teacher at Glasgow High School as she demonstrated the technique during role playing.
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During a day-long session on Aug. 9 offered by the University of Delaware’s Alternative Routes to Certification (ARTC), McFann offered many such tips to 17 men and women preparing to teach their first classes this fall.
The ARTC program is for people in certain fields who are looking to change careers and become teachers. Individuals with college degrees in selected critical needs subjects, such as English, business, foreign language, science or math, may be hired by a public or charter school and complete their teaching certification requirements through the ARTC.
For many of the students, this was their first "training session" to prepare them to teach class in September. Over the next 12-18 months, ARTC teachers will complete five graduate-level courses to prepare them to meet Delaware Professional Teaching Standards. The curriculum is closely aligned with the Delaware New Teacher Mentoring Program and the Delaware Professional Assessment System for evaluating teacher performance.
The attendees were given a wide range of relevant practices, whether they were preparing to bring “Art on a Cart” to elementary school children or teaching chemistry to high school students.
Using role playing and other interactive techniques, attendees learned how to best arrange desks, the value and challenge of setting classroom rules, managing different personalities and how to keep students engaged throughout the day.
“Children can only be expected to pay attention to a teacher for one minute per year of age. If you try and lecture for 15 minutes to a room of 10-year-olds, they will not absorb the information,” advised McFann. To keep the kids engaged in learning, she suggests breaking into groups periodically, holding question and answer sessions, allowing the kids to move and interact.
Carrie Awadzi has been a foster parent and mentor for children, as well as a corporate trainer. She said she was looking forward to becoming a teacher and using her experience in the corporate realm as real world examples for students. Attending a job fair at UD, she spoke with Frank Livoy, the ARTC coordinator. “This is a great program. I am so glad I found out about it. I was hired at Pencader Charter High School as a business teacher and I am thrilled to have ARTC as a resource as I begin my new career.”
Livoy provided the class advice on continuing the program. “Don’t overload on courses early on. The first year of teaching is very difficult. It is exhausting and time consuming. Pace yourself. Become a reflective practitioner. That means, give yourself time to absorb what you have learned, reflect on the experience and knowledge you have gained and consider ways to apply it. “ Sage advice, no matter what field you pursue.
Article by Alison Burris