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Answers:
Your nerves will settle down quickly. The first time I taught, I was do nervous that I mispelled "flower" on the board. I was nervous the first few times I taught, but you pretty quickly get over that. Mistakes are not the end of the world; in fact, you learn through making mistakes. Take time to reflect after you teach on what went well, and what didn't go well...Why or why not? I don't know what level you will be teaching at, but I did my practicum in a grade 6/7 class, and they were actually pretty respectful of me. If you act relaxed and like you're in control, they will think that you are in charge. It's really hard when you are learning to teach to focus on what the students are doing and how they are responding. This will come with time. For your first lesson, just get through it. Hopefully you have a great sponsor teacher (or master teacher, as I think they call it there), who will be supportive and won't leave you alone with the class the first time you teach, but even if your teacher does, don't sweat it.
Also, don't be afraid to tell students that you don't know if they ask you a question you don't know the answer to. Tell them that you will find out and get back to them.
I teach French Immersion (I'm in Canada) and students ask me very specialized vocabulary questions all the time. If I don't know the word, I say so. I then model using the dictionary, and together we find the answer. I don't lose their respect by not knowing. Remember, the best thing that you can teach them is how to find out for themselves.
My classroom management tips:
-wait-time (this means that if the class starts getting out of hand, just stop talking until they are all listening. You can say thank you to those who are listening. The students will tell the students who aren't listening to pay attention. Wait time also means to wait a few seconds after asking a question before expecting an answer. This gives the students time to think.)
-humor...kids who are misbehaving tend to respond very well to humor. If you catch a student not paying attention...say (with a very sweet voice) something like "Well, hello Johnny, how nice to see you. And how are you doing today?" If everyone is playing with their erasers while your are talking, you could say something like: "I have a serious announcement to make. Our erasers have contracted a grave illness, and if you touch them you will become gravely ill. Nobody touch your erasers until I say that it is safe". Sounds silly, but it works. You can always ask them to put their rulers away until they are needed. I wouldn't use the last one with very young students...they might actually think they will catch something. This type of humor may not work so well with high schoolers, but you can figure out other ways of using humor.
-make sure the students know your expectations. Do they raise their hands if they want to ask a question, or can they just yell it out? What are the rules about going to the bathroom. If you are dealing with grade 5 and above, only one student should go to the bathroom at a time (the students will have little get-togethers in the bathroom).
-Make sure they always have something to do. If they are done their work, they should work on homework or other activities. Very young children can colour or read. Some students enjoy helping others who need help.
I hope you have a great practicum! Good luck!
Try not to be their friend, but their teacher. So many student teachers try to be friends with students, because they connect with them because they were in the students shoes not too long ago themselves.
Having them like you is good. But, having them respect you is more important. When the teacher tries to be a friend, the students end up running the class room.
Remember that.
I got through my first class (18 years ago) by planning everything to the extreme! I planned what I would say, where I would stand, etc. I had about 6 A4 pages of notes for a one and a half hour lesson! I ended up not following most of it, but it was there more as a safety-net in case anything went wrong.
I kept that up for about a month or so, until all my nerves had gone.
Relax! If it's a typical student-teaching assignment you'll just be observing the class for a few weeks anyway. The teacher may give you a period a day after a few days, but fear not. You're first week will be a breeze.
Just make sure you dress professionally, and use proper hygiene. One mistake of forgetting deodorant, for example, and for the next four months your the smelly teacher...
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