Starting out as a new instructor
As a new instructor you need to go in and be confident, and don't get rattled when things don't go the way you think they should or the students are testing you.
Hi Kari,
I have been teaching for more than 24 years, and students are going to test you. Know your subject matter and remain professional at all times, you will be just fine.
Patricia Scales
I am a new Instructor and I just plan to do just what you have suggested Patricia, be well prepared, stay organized, demonstrate leadership skills and mostly remain professional at all times.
I was a new instructor 2 years ago. Before that I was not the kind of person that could talk to more than a couple people at a time. My first couple classes were horrific. Although I new the material and have alot of experience in the field. I still found it very difficult to lecture. I would practice what I wanted to say so much and even felt ill before each class, but over time you learn to remain calm, and make yourself available to the new students before you start class. I would say now that I have 2 years of lecturing experience that I do not have the same issues. If I get nervous at all its in the first hour of each new class, and I have learned that the students are just as nervous as I am so it makes it easier to cope with.
Hi Donald,
Always remember this to help with your nerves, you are more knowledgeable than any student in the room, and new students are typically more nervous than you.
Patricia Scales
I was a new instructor 5 years ago, I had never taught before. I was a nurse, but after moving to the US had to take a forced hiatus. For the first few modules I continually questioned myself and tried to stay ahead in the material. Over time you develop coping mechanisms that let you teach but listen as well, which can feed the preparation of a class. A text book has material to project to a student but sometime how its projected and the prep work is the keystone.
This is true, you have to focus on your skills as an instructor while incorporating your professional experience.
It is important to be organized when going in as a professor and not to show any nervousness
I think we all have been rattled as a new instructor. What I did is learn from that experience and better prepare myself for my next class.
