AN INTRODUCTION TO PRO/CLASS PRACTICES

On my first day as a high school teacher, an older adult whom I did not rec-
ognize (he probably was not that old, but I was only 28) came into my class-
room and yelled, “Why are students out of their seats?” He was referring to
three students who were walking toward my desk to hand in assignments
they had just completed. As quickly as he had entered, he left the room.
The unexpected visitor turned out to be the school’s principal.
Later, when I learned who he was, my stomach started to knot. I had
waited a long time for this opportunity and now I was worried that I would
be fired on my first day. It turned out that my transgression of school rules
(students were not permitted out of their seats during instruction) was not
considered that serious. The principal, who was in the middle of respond-
ing to an emergency in the building at the time he passed by my room, did
not refer to the incident when we were formally introduced. Although I re-
mained unnerved, my job was safe.
Student teachers and beginning teachers are often obsessed with the
problem of classroom control. They feel they are being judged, not only
by the way students perform, but also by the way they behave. Many fear
they are one casual observation or parental complaint away from unem-
ployment.
In most cases the fear is unreasonable. I tell student teachers in our pro-
gram, “If we did not think you could student teach, we would not have let
you.” Similarly, if school administrators do not think a “beginner” has the
ability to become a good teacher, they do not hire him or her. Most reason-
able people do not expect anyone to be an expert on their first day. If they
wanted an expert, they would have hired someone with experience.

BOOK

II

PRO/CLASS PRACTICES

Planning

Relationships

Organization

Community

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