1. Be relaxed and ready.
- Leave your room set up and ready for the first activities you've planned for the next day. You'll sleep better knowing that things are in place, and should you find you need extra supplies-you'll have time to pick them up or borrow them. Choose another experienced staff member as a mentor and end each week with a staff recap of what worked and what didn't.
2. Be flexible.
- You'll plan the day one way - but with young children things usually change quickly, or a new teaching moment happens unexpectedly! Maybe a new child joined the group and its a great time to talk with everyone about how to be a friend. Expect changes and do what the veterans do; have a back up plan.
3. Spend time building a relationship with each child.
- Young children who feel good about themselves and connected to the adults who care for them will be more likely to cooperate... And when misbehavior happens, you'll be able to more quickly understand why and guide the children back on track. With young children, punishment is not appropriate so make each mis-step an opportunity to help a child learn the right way to behave and how to fix the mistake.
4. Take joy in your children's natural energy.
- Don't try to fight it! Many teachers new to early childhood expect children to sit and listen. Encourage and inspire children to actively learn, ask questions, and move, move, move. When you have reasonable expectations about sitting and moving, you also have fewer behavior problems.
5. Share what happens in the room with parents.
- When parents see how learning happens, it helps them trust you with their child. If they want to volunteer, ask them to help create displays of children's artwork or write a parent newsletter. Then they'll really appreciate how hard you work!
Inspired by: Rigsbee, Cindi. 2008. Teaching Secrets: Five Tips for the New Teacher. Teacher Magazine. Online: http://www.teachermagazine.org/tm/articles/2008/07/28/43tln_rigsbee.h19.html?print=1 (Retrieved August 11, 2008).
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