As a 3rd year teacher, I have learned that the students, early on, are just as nervous as I am! I think that when I show my vulnerability but sharing things about me to them, it helps to ease the tension. I make sure to apologize if I make a mistake and the children are very forgiving. Because I teach two of the same classes in one day, I often make adjustments to my 2nd class of the day from the lessons learned from the first class of the day. The lesson mentioned being able to make connections with the students by learning their names. I must admit that when I worked corporately, I was HORRIBLE with remembering names. When I first started in the classroom, I thought there was NO WAY I was going to remember 140 student's names. Surprisingly, I do!
