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As an early career teacher, it is important to properly prepare yourself for the kind of classes you’ll teach and to set goals for what kind of teacher you want to be. Preparation is the most important factor in becoming a successful teacher. As you progress in your career as a teacher the need for preparation will gradually decrease as your confidence and adaptability develop. As a novice teacher, creating lesson plans and back-up lesson plans, knowing common troubleshooting solutions, familiarity with guidelines for teaching different groups, and adaptability are crucial skills for a successful teaching career. For teaching a new class of students, starting from the first day, it is important to prepare a strategy to build rapport with your students, create a comprehensive lesson plan for your course and conceive back-up activities for unforeseen circumstances. As a novice teacher, the more pre-planning you complete, the better prepared you will be for new situations. The ability to adapt is grown first from preparation and then experience. For example, understanding the guidelines for teaching to different groups is essential information that you can utilize to suit the needs of your classroom. Knowing which activities are better suited for specific age groups is a key factor in engaging your class with lesson materials, building rapport, and creating an ideal teaching environment. For example, singing and dancing activities might be better suited for younger learners rather than high school students. As an early career teacher, the more you prepare for your students, the better the teacher you’ll be and a better experience your students will have. No matter how much a novice or even seasoned teacher prepares for their classes, one must also be aware that things can and will go wrong. When a situation arises, knowing common troubleshooting solutions will contribute to your success in resolving an issue. For example, prior knowledge of strategies to mitigate antagonistic behavior from students can be useful when such a case arises. Above all, when things go wrong it is important to know your own limitations and to constantly self-evaluate. Understand when a situation is out of your depth and be humble enough to ask for help when you need it. Don't let your ego hinder your progress as a teacher, because constructive criticism is an extremely effective method towards improving yourself. Acknowledging and adapting from criticism from your students will not only further your growth, but it will also strengthen your relationship with your students. If you show respect for your students' opinions and concerns, they, in turn, will respect both you and your authority as a teacher. In the classroom, things can and will go wrong, but it's important to learn from these experiences and be humbled by them. Lastly, at the start of your career as a teacher, it is important to set goals and figure out what kind of teacher you would like to be. Having a set of goals will allow you better to self-evaluate your performance and your progress towards your outcome goals. Having a path will also stabilize you during periods of hardship and self-doubt. For example, perhaps you have a goal of teaching high school students in Thailand. What skills and experience are necessary for achieving this goal? Establishing such a list and checking off mini-goals when you acquire these items will not only increase your confidence as a teacher, but it will also give you a sense of purpose as you work towards a tangible goal. Self-doubt will likely occur in higher degrees early in your career as a teacher but having a set of goals will help mitigate such issues and provide a framework in which you can evaluate and improve yourself. The better prepared you are for each class as an early career teacher, the better teacher you will become. Both plans and back-up plans are important to prepare as you cultivate your adaptability within a classroom setting. Understand that things will go wrong and know common troubleshooting options and guidelines for teaching different groups to be best prepared when these situations arise. Never stop self-evaluating and take constructive criticism from both your students and fellow teachers. Finally, you’re not expected to know everything. it is good to know your limitations and know when to ask for help.
