I did it! I have officially completed my first week of full take-over. I won’t lie, it wasn’t easy. Especially with the added stress of edTPA and other class assignments, staying focused and giving 110% during full take-over can be a challenge. Here are some tips and tricks to get you through the rough start of full take-over!
- PLANNING AHEAD: I cannot stress enough how important it is to PLAN. Every Friday, I stay after school to plan everything I am going to teach the next week in order to ensure that I am fully prepared. This includes reading through books, preparing materials such as having worksheets printed ahead of time, etc. It definitely feels like a lot at first, but it’s worth it to have everything ready to go when you arrive to school Monday morning. It also makes for more successful lessons when you have thought about critical thinking questions, points for clarification, and other important parts of a lesson ahead of time. Getting in the habit of preparing everything in advance will be beneficial in the long run for both you and your students.
- Ask questions!: Even though you are taking over every responsibility, both planning and teaching, it’s sometimes easy to forget that we are STUDENT teachers, and in our placements to learn and soak up as much information as possible! This is still true during full take-over, and I have found it so helpful to continue asking my cooperating teacher questions during full take-over. This is the last time we will have a mentor in the classroom with us, so asking questions about planning, pacing, instruction, classroom management and anything else you are struggling with can still be assisted by your coop!
- Breath and Reflect: During take-over, you are going to teach so many amazing lessons, and some lessons that are total flops. It is all part of the learning experience, and it’s crucial to your survival that you realize this and learn from it. If your lesson doesn’t go the way as planned, it’s an important skill as an educator to reflect on what went well, and what went wrong in order to make changes for next time. Constant reflection will help you to obtain the most out of this learning experience! And taking a deep breath when things don’t go perfectly 🙂