Thursday, September 26, 2013

Advice to a Kindergarten Teacher

Kindergarten I recently got an email from someone asking what advice I would give to a new kindergarten teacher and thought I would write it as a post instead of an individual email. I made a list of things as I thought of them and not in the order of importance.

1. Take your multivitamin to stay healthy.

2. Exercise regularly. This will help you have the stamina and endurance to keep up with the little ones.

3. Dress comfortably but professionally.

4. Enjoy learning along with them through their eyes. Remember that learning can be fun!

5. Remember that what you say and how you act can have a big impact on these students.

6. Encourage them to spread their wings and try new things.

7. Teach them that following directions is very important in order to be able to learn new things.

8. Help them find their learning style. Some may do better with listening and others may need to see it visually. Some may do better by actually doing it.

9. Invite speakers in to tell about what they do for a living: firemen, policemen, lunchroom ladies, garbage men etc.

10. Remember that there is more to life than worksheets!

11. Incorporate lots of activity in with the learning. I know some teachers who taught math skills while doing exercises at the same time.

12. Have the students use all of their five senses whenever possible.

13. Give them lots of opportunities to try different things.

14. Let them make choices whenever possible such choosing 1 out of 2 or 3 activities.

15. Teach students to respect each other. It’s never too early to learn this.

16. Keep in touch with parents on a regular basis and say positive things as much as possible.

17. Don’t judge parents too harshly on what the students says or does. Usually the truth is not what it seems. Do investigation before making judgments.

18. Be sincere and show the students that you care.

19. It’s okay if the student is mad at you. They have enough friends and need you as a teacher.

20. Remember that there will be some bad days but usually the good days outweigh the bad ones. When you see the student grasp a concept and get excited about learning, it makes it all worth it!

What advice would you add? Please share!

Image: 'hands'

http://www.flickr.com/photos/73645804@N00/535439394

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