School as social laboratory for children

There is a fallacy in this image though and it lies in what will be actually going in the minds of those students you will try to teach each day. The fundamental flaw in this assumption is that when you are looking out at a group of a couple dozen kids that their minds are only on you because the class is all about you and the topic at hand in your lesson plan. The truth is that the class is all about each other and the social side of any classroom setting can come to totally dominate the classroom time for the kids.



If you are preparing to become a teacher with the anticipation of leading a group of 20 or more students into the process of academic discovery, it is easy to let most of your concentration be focused on academics and on focusing that class on the school work at hand. You envision yourself in front of a big group of fascinated youngsters who are all about paying attention to what you have to say.



If you do not recognize or don’t know how to diagnose what is going on socially in your classroom, you are working at a distinct disadvantage. Kids are learning a lot at school and not all of it is what you have prepared for them to learn. The social setting in that classroom is teaching them all kinds of lessons that you have no control over. Moreover, some of those lessons may not be wholesome or socially acceptable concepts.



The society of children and teenagers can be amazingly brutal. Kids are far more harsh on each other than adults would ever imagine and the harm that can be done to the heart and soul of someone who gets singled out to be victimized can be lifelong and devastating. So it is to your advantage if you learn to recognize the signs of unhealthy social interaction and jump in and change that group behavior before it goes too far. This will take some keen powers of observation on your part, an ability to spot social exchanges happening even as you teach and the psychology to know what is going on.



The good news is that as the leadership in the class room, you can effect change in how the kids influence each other socially. Because you know that social skills are being learned all the time around you as you teach, you also have the opportunity to create activities and opportunities for discussion that can change that social behavior for the better. You can literally teach those kids to get along and to treat each other in a civil fashion and do so without alarming the kids or losing any teaching time that you need to complete your academic goals.



One great way to begin to move the kids toward positive social models is to move from the traditional "teacher talks to big class" approach to teaching to one that uses small group activity, teamwork and competition to not only make learning a lot more fun but to encourage good social development that will help the kids develop socially as well as academically.



You should not feel that by trying to teach the kids good social skills you are abandoning your core principals as an educator. If you can also teach the kids good social skills while you have them in your class, that time could turn out to be the most valuable thing you have to offer your students. And when you see those positive social values begin to change lives in your young students, you will get a unique form of pride because it was you that made it happen.

when Mom is becoming a teacher

There is an army of teachers in this country and around the world that get no pay, do not show up at a classroom and get no recognition for the work they do. But they are doing the job of teaching young minds and getting them through a year of academic work. These are the minions of home school teachers who are quietly doing the job of education of the next generation. And we have learned from studies into home schooling, they are doing a pretty good job because home schooled students often rank high in college preparation exams.



If you are considering becoming a teacher in the limited scope of home schooling your own children, the task is not as intimidating as it seems. And the potential benefits to your children are great. Public schools are notorious for taking bright young minds and snuffing out that fire for learning that they were born with.



The reason this happens is simple. Public schools are mandated to teach a very large body of kids so because of the volume of kids they must pass through each grade, the emphasis much be on discipline and order and the priority for high quality academics has to slide so that every child can get through.



That is why the focused and specialized environment of a home school situation is perfect for a bright mind such as your child has because you can customize your curriculum to fit your child and to accelerate as fast as they show an aptitude to go. You don't have to put a big emphasis on being in their seat when the bell rings and being in school uniform down to their underwear. There are no bells in home school and they can come to school in their underwear if they want to. As long as they learn, that is the emphasis in a home school environment.



When you set out to becoming a home school teacher, you have a huge amount of flexibility in how you structure the learning environment. If you have a room you can set aside as the "classroom", that is a nice set up because you and your child know that when you go into that room, learning will happen here. But because the goal in that room is to complete one step along the way to finishing a curriculum, your young student knows that class will be over when they achieve their goals, not when the bell rings and that encourages productivity and focus.



It is also a myth that home schooling will become expensive. In fact, you can virtually set up a perfectly valid year long curriculum for very little cost. By logging into the public school's system, you can find the curriculum for the grade your child is in school and what must be learned to finish that grade. In many cases, local public schools and many private schools have programs to help you get started so that your child follows a similar educational path that is going on down the street in the public schools. This is an advantage to you and the school because should you decide to send your child back to public school the next year, they are not out of step with the program.



Materials can often be had for very little expense as well. Many times a textbook that is being used for a particular subject will come out with a new edition. When that happens, you can pick up copies of the previous edition, now out of date to the public schools, for very little cost and often for free. The topics in the text book are just as valid in the previous edition so you can conduct full year of classes using that textbook and not face any serious cost investment at all.



By looking for ways to take advantage of public facilities like the computers at the public library and of programs offered by churches, public schools and other institutions to help home school teachers like you be successful, you can set up a program at home that will help your child succeed as a student in this educational setting. It will be an adventure for you. And you will see a new appreciation come in to your child's eyes when he or she suddenly realizes that mom is still mom but she is also an outstanding teacher as well.

how to go into world of teaching jobs

In every college in the country, there are ambitious and starry eyed youngsters who are preparing for a career in teaching. At some point that army of graduates will hit the streets to find jobs in the field of teaching. What is not often taught in colleges are the real world skills of how to actually find and land a good teaching job right out of school. And while there is always a need for good teachers, the new graduate should develop some skills in finding the kind of teaching job that they always dreamed of so even from that first engagement, their career in teaching gets off on the right foot.



There is a lot you can do even before graduation day to get your job search moving and to make yourself desirable as a teacher so when school administrators get flooded with applications from newly graduated teachers, you stand out as the one they want to call in for an interview. One thing you can do at any time during you academic career is to intern as a teaching assistant and volunteer to teach in underprivileged schools.



You can teach just a few hours a day and work it around your academic work. By taking on the working world of teaching even before you have your degree, you will be able to present yourself to employers post graduation as someone who has real world experience in the classroom and "knows the ropes" of getting through an academic year with real live students. That is tremendously valuable to a school administrator with a spot to fill because it reduces the concern that a new graduate who has never faced a classroom full of restless children might wash out when the reality of what teaching is really like.



Another way to get a jump start on the market before students flood the schools for jobs is to start your search early in your last semester of school. Schools know by February or March if they will have jobs to fill for the next academic year. So if you begin your search for a teaching position in March or April, you can often land an interview or even secure a position for the fall long before many of your contemporaries in school begin their hunt for their first teaching job.



Becoming proactive like this always gives you the advantage in finding the job you really want rather than just "any job" in the teaching profession. Spend some time narrowing down exactly what kind of teaching position you want and at what level you feel your personality and teaching style will benefit students the most. You may do much better with young children than with teenagers or you may wish to focus on high schoolers because they are more intellectually equipped to grasp the subject matter with you. By knowing well in advance where you want to teach, you can target those kinds of positions in your job search and improve your chances of finding that perfect teaching job.



You should make the phrase "leave no stone unturned" your motto for hunting up the teaching jobs that are open in your community. First of all, be very proactive in your search. Just because you are graduating, even with honors, with your teaching degree, that doesn’t mean the schools will seek you out with jobs. So you take the search to them before someone else does. And in doing so it will be you that gets the premium teaching positions rather than have to take "what's left" after the good teaching positions are snatched up by more aggressive graduates.



There are lots of ways you can flush out those teaching jobs. Check the HR or employment offices at the schools you would like to be a part of and keep an eye on their employment bullion boards. Use the internet wisely, watch the newspaper and even get in touch with placement agencies who are known for placing new teachers.



But above all, network, network, network. Use every contact you have and forge new relationships to get the inside scoop on jobs before they even become public. Networking is the number one best way to find great teaching positions so you should use it extensively to find a position to get your teaching career off on a great start toward a great future of success in the field of teaching.