Classroom Management Article

New Practitioners Forum: Making the Transition from Student to Teacher

Although this article is specifically for pharmaceutical students becoming professors or teaching a college course, the information it provides it still very practical to any soon to be teacher/first time teachers. The article gives many scenarios that will come up during teaching and provides some suggestions on handling the issue or going about handling the issue. The first item the author discusses is the biggest jump from student to teacher. It is a completely different occupation and one that I didn’t realize how much of a conscious effort it would take. There is a lot more reflecting when being a teacher than when being a student. Reflecting is a major must in the next topic of time management. One of the scenarios presented was a workshop where not everyone got around to each venue. A solution proposed was to reflect on why the students didn’t have enough time and what would work better next time. The problem is still that the students didn’t finish so a study guide was given to students about the venues they were not able to observe. As a first year teacher, and most likely throughout my career, I am going to find this will happen when presenting new labs, lectures, or worksheets. I will definitely write down the time it took and reflect what needs to change or if more time is needed. Unlike the workshop, I can have my students finish the next day but I may have to write the study guide anyways so that way we don’t fall to far behind. I have learned that being flexible requires that maybe an extra day is needed and as long as the students are getting the most out of it that is better than moving on and leaving some students in the dark. One way to keep the students out of the dark is to make sure you engage them in the lesson. Students are different and therefore learn differently as well. Trying to accommodate all learning styles is hard but worth it in the end. If the students know you are trying to accommodate them they will be more apt to pay attention. Another way to keep their attention is learning their names and actively asking questions and calling on your students. Calling on your students is a good way to cut down on side chatting because they don’t want to look like the fool that has no idea what is going on. Another way to deal with disruptive behavior is to talk with the student(s) after class. This works extremely well in my 8^th grade classroom. However, if the whole class needs redirecting a brief 30 second talk about focusing and coming back from a task is a great reminder.

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