The worried Instructor
I've been teaching for over 8 months and everday I still get worried. I always, always make sure that I am prepared. From making copy's of my lesson plan, making sure my slides are in order, making sure I have the necessary writing tools. I am so prepared that sometimes I feel over prepared. I still worry that my students will not be able to grasp what I am teaching. I always allow time after class for the students to ask me questions about the lessons for that day.
One thing I do when I feel worried that the students aren't grasping the material is create a group assignment in class where at they end, each group has to present in their own words what they felt was important about a portion of the class. Not only does it help break up the class, but it helps me identify where things were not clear so that I can adress those issues before getting too far.
Another option is to have students write one to two sentences about the lecture at the end of each daily lesson. This helps you realize whether or not they are grasping the info.
Hi Joyce,
When I first started teaching and give pre-class jitters that over-preparation couldn't quell, I used a little trick an old drama class in high school taught me: channel someone else.
Not totally, of course! But I do have one friend who is particularly amazing at eye contact and talks at the perfect pace for learning. I tend to talk fast and loud when I'm nervous, so channeling this friend helped me to remain calm even though my inner self was quivering.
Your problem seems to be a little bit different than mine, but I think a shell (however fake) of self-confidence goes a long way. So do mini evaluations. Come up with a couple of categories and have your students anonymously rate you from 1-5 at the end of a string of 5 classes, i.e.: "Clarity of directions," "Understanding of material," "Pacing," etc.
