I found to great online forums that teachers post about issues, ideas, concerns, and advice. The first one, which I like best, is A to Z Teacher Stuff and the other one is Teacher Focus.
A lot of the substitute and new teachers sound really scared and unsure about abilities. It seems that the majority doesn't seem to have any confidence in themselves. This has made me wonder, "Am I overconfident in my abilities?"
I did have a bit of stress when I subbed last week for the first time, but I didn't question my ability. The last class of the day did get a little bit out of hand, but I kept them from disturbing other classes and the majority of the students did finish their assignment.
I know that I have only subbed two classes so far, but when I read those forums and I can imagine those teachers and subs crying as they write. That's the way it sounds to me. Maybe this is why a bunch of them are also having problems finding jobs. School supervisors, principals, HR reps can tell one someone if confident and when one isn't. I would suspect that they want confident educators in the classrooms and will pass up those that aren't.
I have always been confident in myself even when I was taking on a new task, having to learn new skills. I got myself into situations were I had to finish a task in two under two days and I had no clue what to do. I worked in software development for five years where I was always challenged with new opportunities.
That's the way I see teaching and substituting, new opportunities. I know when I am getting in over my head and I also know what I can accomplish. Teaching will be difficult, I know that. I know that it will take a lot of work. But I also know that I can do it and that I will be great at it.
Reading those forums has helped me a lot. There is some really great information in those forums, but I can also see where my abilities and confidence is greater that a lot of other teachers. Maybe I am too new to teaching and will eventually break down, I hope not. I feel great about what I can do and I want to keep it that way.
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2 comments:
I wonder if it came down to the way you prepped before walking into your first substitute assignment(s)?
Hmm, how did you prepare yourself (i.e. texts, websites, etc.)
It certainly might be helpful to others because, I agree with you, there seem to be a lot of tears and frustrations that many new subs mention in the forums.
Actually, I didn't prepare much at all before those first two sub assignments. Although, one thing I do have is a lot of relatives that are currently teaching, including my mother, one sister, one sister-in-law, and three aunts. I also have a bunch of relatives who are retired teachers.
I have listened to them a lot, talking about their classes and issues that have come up. That has probably helped me a lot. I knew what I was getting myself into. Some of them have had problems and all were successful.
I am now reading more online about issues that might come up in the classroom and how to deal with them. Plus next month I start my masters in El Ed. I'm sure those classes will teach me lot.
The online forums are great. I think all soon to be teachers and subs should read through them to get an unbiased idea of what there jobs will be like. I know a lot of people who lie about their jobs when discussing them with family and friends and may never say how hard it can be. Then when that new person gets into that same line of work they see that it isn't all fun and games like their friend made it sound like.
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