As I reflect on my experience so far with student teaching, one thing that has thrown me for a loop was my confidence in front of my students in the classroom. Coming from a family of teachers, I always assumed that I would be a natural at it, an absolute rockstar. My first day in the room I was thrust in front of the kids with absolutely no idea what to do. I totally blanked. The lesson turned out to be a complete disaster.
Once I realized that my issue was regarding content, I put some steps into place to help me with my confidence. My cooperating teacher was also paramount in me getting over my fear of failure. He urged me to remember that I was college educated, and that due to my age I had advanced knowledge on the world, especially when it came to Social Studies. He said just remember that you always know more than the kids. He also said if I ever needed help, he would be there to help me; be it clarification or an issue with classroom management.
As time has passed, I have become more and more confident every day. My cooperating teacher seems to feel that my confidence level changes depending on how comfortable I am with the material. The more and more I brush up on the curriculum, the more confident I become. I constantly find myself looking at the History Channel website, Wikipedia, and other websites made by different educators across the country. It allows me to come up with interesting facts about the subjects my students are studying, especially things that aren’t technically in the curriculum. For example, even though we briefly talk about Renaissance Art and have a lesson on the Scientific Revolution, I always mention the anecdote about the house arrest and punishment of Galileo for his heliocentric theory that was banned by the Catholic Church.
My supervisor has also noted a huge increase in my confidence. From the first observation to the second, she said my confidence has gone through the roof. She said I was totally in control of my classroom, and that I actually look like a teacher. She said that the kids seem to respect me and that their total demeanor towards me has changed. I absolutely agree, and I feel that it will also get better the more and more I teach.
