Do Teachers Get Nervous?
One of my favorite students of all time, who has kept in touch via e-mail all summer, asked me recently if teachers get nervous before the first day of school. Are all those new faces and the promise of an entire year with them intimidating or scary? Part of the reason I thought it was an especially good question is because it was one that has never been asked of me before. And even after I replied to the e-mail, I was thinking about all the aspects of my job that might make people nervous.
Teachers have to present information in front of groups every day. This is interesting because I once read a study that said dying was the second most common fear in America. You know what was number one? Public speaking. I find it interesting that many people would rather die than do what I do every weekday from mid-August to early June. It's not the speaking in public that causes most teachers to get jittery in the week before school starts. It's the responsibility for so many people.
I feel pressure to offer a class that meets the needs of most of the students. (I say "most" because there is no way to reach every one.) This means that I take responsibility not only for the information but also for the way in which it is presented. Couple that with the fact that there is no way one person can control thirty others without their permission, and you have the makings of a job that most people wouldn't want and couldn't do. Some naive folks believe that if you just follow a solid lesson plan, you will always get positive results, regardless of who the audience is or what sort of person you are as a teacher. My experience indicates that teaching is more of an art than a science. There is so much about a classroom that you can't control, that it is almost impossible for a successful teacher to describe how s/he does it. Effective teaching can't be gelled down to a series of steps--like a recipe--that anyone can follow...and that's the reason I might get "nervous" sometimes.
A part of me always looks forward to going back to school in the fall, and I have done it for so long now that I can't imagine doing anything else.
Here we go again!
Teachers have to present information in front of groups every day. This is interesting because I once read a study that said dying was the second most common fear in America. You know what was number one? Public speaking. I find it interesting that many people would rather die than do what I do every weekday from mid-August to early June. It's not the speaking in public that causes most teachers to get jittery in the week before school starts. It's the responsibility for so many people.
I feel pressure to offer a class that meets the needs of most of the students. (I say "most" because there is no way to reach every one.) This means that I take responsibility not only for the information but also for the way in which it is presented. Couple that with the fact that there is no way one person can control thirty others without their permission, and you have the makings of a job that most people wouldn't want and couldn't do. Some naive folks believe that if you just follow a solid lesson plan, you will always get positive results, regardless of who the audience is or what sort of person you are as a teacher. My experience indicates that teaching is more of an art than a science. There is so much about a classroom that you can't control, that it is almost impossible for a successful teacher to describe how s/he does it. Effective teaching can't be gelled down to a series of steps--like a recipe--that anyone can follow...and that's the reason I might get "nervous" sometimes.
A part of me always looks forward to going back to school in the fall, and I have done it for so long now that I can't imagine doing anything else.
Here we go again!
posted by MRT at 4:04 PM
1 Comments:
It's nice to know that at least one of us looks forward to the first day of school. I don't exactly dread the beginning of the school year; I just don't feel exited over the prospect of endless mounds of homework, but I do like having something to do with my time. I'm going to Clearfield now, instead of Layton, so I've got a total friend count of zero (not counting the Fairfield buddies). That adds to the lack of excitement too I suppose. Anyways, until next time . . .
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