how important is for a teacher to follow a prearranged plan?
96370
It is not important to follow a plan in the day-to-day teaching of the class.  However, certain things need to be taught in order for the class to be accredited.\n\nI have had wonderful teachers that had no structure to their classes, other than an outline of which chapters we were going to be tested on.  We covered the material we had to, then we were allowed to ask questions about anything else regarding the class.
332720
Dress conservatively.  Be prepared to talk about your philosophy of education, your love of children, your commitment.  Elementary teachers need patience, humor, understanding, the ability to handle a ton of paperwork, organization, creativity.  I would prepare a portfolio of lesson plan ideas, even if you are a new teacher.  I would use a lot of graphics and make it pretty.  You could do an overall packet, including a letter of expressing interest in the job, your resume, letters of recommendation, grade transcripts, sample lesson plans, and your credential.  Put it all together in a notebook.  Find out as much as you can about the school before you go to interview.  What is the make-up of the student body, etc. Watch the body language and vocabulary of the interviewer.  Use the same verbs, nouns and adjectives as the interviewer, as these are important to the inviewer.  Be honest with yourself as to whether you really like the administrators, school, etc.  If you don't, find another school.  Good luck. Teaching elementary school can be one of the most fulfillingng jobs there is.
55941
i am a retired teacher.ive learned aside from all this new fancy dan approaches best why to teach it is the way you gotit.remember its not important how much you cover but how well you cover what you do cover.also augment every lesson with a project or visual aid      hands on     pertenant to the subject being taught.with this methology you can teach any subject or grade level this basic methology will make you a great teacher.
803072
If you don't have good administrative backup... well, it's like trying to bail water out of a boat whose leaks aren't being repaired.  There is simply no way that you can maintain order if the administration doesn't do the things necessary to keep order.\n\nI find that older kids (junior high) respect an adult who is fair but firm.  This sounds strange, but it's true, and I've seen it time after time.  You have to smile, explain the rules, and explain that you are the perfect judge, jury and executioner -- then stick to your guns.  If you're fair (they're big on fair) and keep order w/o yelling and screaming and stuff, then kids assume that you care about them.  \n\nIt think that people are pre-destined to certain grades / ages / specialties by virtue of personality.  I'd never confuse a group of K-3 teachers with a group of high school teachers -- you'd know which was which even before they started talking about teaching, right?  \n\nI'm thinking that you need to find out where you belong (great life advice!) and then learn to be the best at what you do.
76445
Be prepared w/ your lessons, expect the unexpected, and have contingency plan. If you truly care about children you will do well. Don't let the kids know you're unsure, they can smell fear.
304873
What is important for the students to learn and why.\n\nMost schools (districts, etc.) have a published philosophy that teachers are expected to abide by. Your philosophy may not be exactly the same, but if it's too divergent, it may be hard to work there. The more you agree with the school's philosophy, the easier it will be to do things their way.
1161462
I am a Teacher and a Student.  I know that doing homework is very important to preview and review important information, as well as practice skills that are being learned in class.  As far as following directions, take the following as an example I used on a text I gave my class: For each of the following True/False statements, circle the opposite answer.  Most of my students did not read the entire directions and failed the test.
585667
Try to get your staff to be the trainers for in-service days.  Use "short and Sweet" follow-ups to training during staff meetings.  We've had various days with several opportunities available and allowed staff to choose their own path, then having them join a focus group based on what they learned to discuss how they used teh information in classrooms 3-4 weeks later.  The same way we check and spiral our students' learning, we need to do the same with teachers.
938269
When I went to college studying math education, I minored in psychology.  Then I did graduate work in Guidance.  My first teaching job was in a very small high school were I taught math and also served as a counselor.  I quickly realized that I was not mature enough to be a counselor and that teaching math was the career for me.   I have had several opportunities to return to counseling, but I couldn't see leaving the math classroom.\n     The point is, these two jobs require radically different personalities and skills in working with students.  I would hope that things like amount of homework to be graded would not influence such an important decision.  \n      What should  you really consider?  Do you love your chosen subject?  Are you comfortable in front of a class?  How do you feel about the administrative responsiblities that are associated with the guidance position?  Do you have special skills that make you successful in working one on one with students who are experiencing problems?  These are the kinds of questions that you should consider when making  these life changing decisions.
540417
Well, here I go with an oldtime comparison.  Back in the 60's when I was in high school, none of our teachers prepared us for test.  We were expected to read the assignments, study the homework and be expected to know all the material.  I went to a pretty good high school and that's just the way it was.  Now, not having any lectures doesn't make a lot of sense to me.  This teacher seem to be collecting a paycheck and not doing the job required.  Being a retired high school teacher I would advise you to talk to the teacher first and if you don't receive a satisfactory explaination of why she is giving the test under these conditions go the counselor and explain the situation and advise your other classmates to do the same.  I would also let your parents know what is going on and let them call the school and ask to sit in the class for a day to observe this teacher.  I also had an open classroom where parents were allowed to come in and sit anytime they wanted.  This keeps a teacher on his toes, the students on their best behavior and lots of learning to be had.  This teacher is there to disseminate information that is suppose to be important and beneficial for you to learn.  If she is not doing the job she should be told what is expected of her and if she can't do that she should be terminated.  You do have the responsibility though to know what is in the textbook even if your teacher doesn't go over the material.  Since this is high school and not college, you should get some type of guidance or lecture in the classroom.  Maybe she thinks she is preparing you for college though.  Is this an AP or honors class?
1003988
First, ignore the snide idiot above.  You are a teacher, not a student.\n\n\nGood teachers: \n• have a sense of purpose; \n• have expectations of success for all students; \n• tolerate ambiguity; \n• demonstrate a willingness to adapt and change to meet student needs; \n• are comfortable with not knowing; \n• reflect on their work; \n• learn from a variety of models; \n• enjoy their work and their students. \n\n\nGood teachers have a sense of purpose. \nStudents are in school for a reason.  This might be to pass the exam, or to get a good job.  A good teacher knows what their students need and makes lessons plans with aims and objectives that fill that need. You can't be good in a generic sense; you have to be good for something.\n\nGood teachers have expectations of success for all students. \nA good teacher will have expectations about what happens in their classroom, based on the goals they are trying to achieve. If you want to prepare your students for employment, you expect punctuality and good attendance. If you teach an exam preparation class, you spend time explaining the format of the test and helping students to improve their test-taking skills. And if you want your students to become better, more involved readers, you allow time for reading and provide access to books. A good teacher knows what the students need and tells the students what they expect from them during class time.\n\nGood teachers know how to live with ambiguity. \nOne of the greatest challenges of teaching stems from the lack of immediate, accurate feedback. The student who walks out of your classroom tonight shaking his head and muttering under his breath about algebra may burst into class tomorrow proclaiming his triumph over math, and thanking you for the previous lesson. There is no way to predict precisely what the long-term results of our work will be. But if we have a sense of purpose informing our choice of strategies and materials, and we try to cultivate expectations of success for all our students, we will be less likely to dwell on that unpredictability, choosing instead to focus on what we can control, and trusting that thoughtful preparation makes good outcomes more likely than bad ones. \n\nGood teachers adapt and change to meet student needs. \nCan we really claim to have taught if no one learned? If none of our students ever pick up a book outside of the classroom, have we really taught them to be better readers? We don't always think about these issues, but they are at the heart of effective teaching. A great lesson plan and a great lesson are two entirely different things; it's nice when one follows the other, but we all know that it doesn't always work out that way. We teach so that students will learn, and when learning doesn't happen, we need to be willing to devise new strategies, think in new ways, and generally do anything possible to revive the learning process. It's wonderful to have a good methodology, but it's better to have students engaged in good learning. \n\nGood teachers are reflective. \nThis may be the only infallible, absolute characteristic of all good teachers, because without it, none of the other traits we've discussed can fully mature. Good teachers routinely think about and reflect on their classes, their students, their methods, and their materials. They compare and contrast, draw parallels and distinctions, review, remove and restore. Failing to observe what happens in our classes on a daily basis disconnects us from the teaching and learning process, because it's impossible to create connectivity if you've disconnected yourself. \n\nGood teachers are comfortable with not knowing. \nIf we reflect honestly and thoughtfully on what happens in our classes, we will often find dilemmas we cannot immediately resolve, questions we cannot answer. Our teaching benefits if we can live for a little while with a question, think and observe, and let an answer de
481017
Having taught in all three types, the best answer I can give is...I don't know.  \n\nIn my experiences, as long as you're teaching the basic goals/objectives (which would essentially be the same anywhere), how you get it done generally isn't an issue unless you happen to have a principal that demands things a certain way (only run across one like that before).  I've been able to do all kinds of things in all three types of settings.\n\nAdministrative support seems totally dependent on the people in those positions, not what type of school it is.  I have had a horrible and an amazing principal in public school, and can say the same either from personal experience or in talking to others about the other two types.\n\nAs far as funding, I live in the St. Louis area now, and spent most of my life in Kansas City, MIssouri, so in speaking from those places, private schools made much less, while public and charter schools were close to the same, although districts and/or schools did have differences.  You will likely find that rural schools pay much less if you look in that direction.  \n\nI can't really say my time in charter schools was my favorite.  It seemed that many students came to them after they had been big discipline problems at their other schools and wanted to try a different school, although the problems usually carried over.  Public schools can be frustrating at times, because there are many hoops to jump through at times, especially when it comes to standardized testing, some thing private school s(at least around me) aren't required to do).  \n\nI'm not sure if this is much of an answer, but I hope I at least pointed out a few things from the view of where I am anyway.  Asking around can be a great thing, as teachers will generally tell you the straight truth about the place they work.  My best advice would be to find a school that you find yourself comfortable in, both in your teachers, and your principal.  You will always find enough teachers that you can get along with great at any school, but the principal can be more difficult.  If you click with that person, you should have it made as long as you do well at your teaching.  Best of luck on your career!
117
It's really according to what you are looking for. Certain teachers specialize in acoustic vs. electric (for example). Your best bet is to place a request on a service such as Click For Lessons that will show you several teacher bios and let you decide for yourself.
230647
I teach in NC so I do relate my lessons to the NC Standard Course of Study.  To prove this I write the standard numbers in my plan book beside the content area.  Also, our principal takes up plan books during summer to review them to ensure that we are teaching the standards.
607994
This is a subjective question with too many variables that we're not priivy to. A generic answer would be, no one is never too late to teach elementary school. The only prerequisites for a goood teacher arethat you be caring, creative, and patient.
231807
I teach a spelling rule every week.  That's where the spelling list comes from.  Some kids just get it and use it when writing.  Other kids memorize the list for that week only but still misspell the words in their paragraphs.  Other kids just don't care.  I know of teachers that don't emphasize the teaching of spelling and not because they don't want to but because they have lots of other subjects to teach.  We are given a pacing chart that says what needs to be covered each trimester.  I always plan out so that I don't fall behind and I take into consideration quizzes and chapter tests.  I have found the days given to teach and the lessons that must be covered are exactly the same.  Which means that if we come across a concept that the kids are not understanding and I take a couple more days to teach than the time I had originally allotted we fall behind the pacing chart.  We need to make up that time somewhere in our schedule and unfortunately there are some things in our lesson plans that have to go.
146305
Being a teacher myself....I would want to see why it is important, who should do it, who should you respect, how you show respect, and how if you show me respect, I'll show you respect!!  Hope this helps.