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Feb. 12th, 2026 06:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gremdarkIn twenty minutes, I'm signing on to an interview prep webinar for the alternative teaching certification program I'm pursuing. Hopefully it'll give me good things to work towards ahead of my interview next week.
I keep reading up on what program alumni say its major cons are. Luckily all of them so far seem to be the obvious pitfalls of getting your certification in one summer instead of over a few years of university and student teaching. I badly want to get a proper degree long-term, but, well, I can't afford to take on more student debt at present, and with my fiance's job on the rocks due to his bosses' ongoing divorce, we could really use a second, more stable salary in this household. I hope that my previous experiences will help with the lesson planning side, and the more substitute teaching I do, the more practice I'll get with classroom management. If I actually get in to the program, I'll have a mentor during my first few years. That ought to help.
In the meantime, I'm reading a lot of library books about classroom management and related disciplines. If anyone has any beloved parenting or teaching books with useful perspectives on establishing routines and setting meaningful consequences, I'd appreciate recs!
I keep reading up on what program alumni say its major cons are. Luckily all of them so far seem to be the obvious pitfalls of getting your certification in one summer instead of over a few years of university and student teaching. I badly want to get a proper degree long-term, but, well, I can't afford to take on more student debt at present, and with my fiance's job on the rocks due to his bosses' ongoing divorce, we could really use a second, more stable salary in this household. I hope that my previous experiences will help with the lesson planning side, and the more substitute teaching I do, the more practice I'll get with classroom management. If I actually get in to the program, I'll have a mentor during my first few years. That ought to help.
In the meantime, I'm reading a lot of library books about classroom management and related disciplines. If anyone has any beloved parenting or teaching books with useful perspectives on establishing routines and setting meaningful consequences, I'd appreciate recs!
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Date: 2026-02-13 03:10 am (UTC)Good attention getters will really help you. One that I made up that I like a lot to gradually calm kids down (this is definitely for younger students) is to being "(do x) if you can hear me" and start playful, then gradually wind it down. Something like this:
"Stomp your feet if you can hear me"
"Hoot like an owl if you can hear me"
"Wiggle your nose like a bunny if you can hear me"
"Put your finger on your chin if you can hear me"
"Go stand behind your chair if you can hear me"
"Sit down if you can hear me"
Can be lengthened or shortened as you need for the class, and it's fun to change up what you have the kids do. Also, kids who can't hear you or haven't tuned in will notice kids around them starting to do these weird things, and end up focused on you.
It worked great for me at least!