Blog Post #13 What did I leave out?

What Can I Learn From First Time Teachers?

In this Blog you will locate two sources that can be used for gaining knowledge on first time teachers experince or resources that can be used in teaching. You can use a website link or video that express the ideas or feelings of being a new teacher. Your blog should explain the source and mention what you learned from it.

First Time Teacher Brittney Clay Interview

In this Video Interview, Mrs. Brittney Clay talks about what to expect during her first year teaching and what she has done to prepare for the first day of school. Mrs. Clay mentioned how her first impression of teaching was “what have I got myself into”. She then mentions that she was really excited but nervous. She then talks about how she was blessed to have the teacher before her who left a lot of school supplies and things she could use in her classroom. One thing she herself had to do was go out and purchase things to help her classroom look educational and student friendly. The first thing she said was important to her was getting to know her student and the parents. One thing she did that I thought was beneficial for her was try to hold an event with an open house setting where students and parents could come in and see the class room and meet her before the first day of school. What I learned from Mrs. Clay was that time and time management is very important. She teaches on the elementary level and she said she has to always look at the clock and remember when the students are suppose to be at lunch, recess, etc. Her final statement was one I thought was very important. Mrs. Clay states that her long-term goal for her first year was to help her students learn to be learners. She wants by the end of the year to have made a difference in her student lives and have helped them advance to the next grade and continue to learn.

Scholastic.com

 Scholastics.com is a great source for first time teachers. After exploring the site I found many ways it could be great for a new teacher as well as a teacher who are looking for new ideas. The site has detailed lesson plans from grades Pre-K-12. It has tabs for; resources and tools, strategies and ideas, student activities as well as books and authors. Inside each tab you have a range of options to choose from. From Math, History, to English, every subject had lessons and things that could be done at all levels of learning. One thing I found very interesting was the reading under the stars challenge. This is a challenge in which teachers could log in their class and track each students reading progress of how many minutes they are reading. When I was on the site the last total minutes read by the world was at 180,587,159. One thing I learned from this site is that there are many ways to teach a lesson and there are resources out there to help first time teachers. As a future educator this site will be very useful and I think it is a great tool for any teacher.