Published: August 14, 2009 01:04 pm      

New teachers start off the year at New Albany-Floyd County

Teaching 101

Learning the rules and pacing of a new job can take some time, while causing some anxiety.

Add to that being a teacher, where students are also nervous about starting a new year.

“I felt like I was going to throw up this morning,” 25-year-old Alicia Wild said Thursday, now laughing after she successfully finished her first day of teaching at Children’s Academy of New Albany.

Wild has some extra challenges with her new position — it’s kindergarten. Not only are the children scared to start school, they don’t know any of the rules, such as asking permission before leaving the classroom.

“I think it offers more challenges, because you have to lay the ground rules for them. Not only do they not know what to expect from you in the classroom, they don’t know what to expect from the school,” Wild said. “You’re pretty much starting from scratch.”

That’s a position not even the principal is wanting to take.

“I don’t want to go in and teach that kindergarten class on the first day,” Principal Terri Boutin said. “She’ll be tired tonight.”

Boutin said out of her 23 teachers, six are new to the school. Some of those new hires do have prior experience, but Boutin said it can still take some time to learn the rhythm of how CANA works.

To help, Boutin said the staff has a lot of professional development time, where they build bonds with one another. She said teachers are encouraged to work with others who are teaching the same grade to collaborate and share ideas.

However, she said teaching kindergarten is the hardest job in the building, due to the children not having a background in how schools work.

To help give them that background, Wild spent the day teaching children how to stand in line quietly, wait until called upon, not to touch or hit others, where they are to sit and put their belongings, and more.

Saying it once doesn’t get it through either. Boutin said research shows it can take 212 times of repetition to learn something new.

“You can’t really get frustrated with them,” Wild said of having to teach and repeat to her students. “You have to be understanding and understand that they are 5-year-olds.”

And, even though she started the day nervous, it ended well.

“All in all, the kids know what’s expected of them and we had a good time doing it and we got to know each other,” she said. “I think it went very well.”

The students agreed.

“It’s fun, because we get to do fun things,” 6-year-old Justice Church said.

Ka’Dynze Powell, 5, admitted that he was scared at first to come to school, but Wild helped ease those fears.

“She is so cool,” he said.

With day one down, Wild is eager for day two.

“I’m definitely looking forward to it. I’m excited to see my kiddos again,” Wild said. “And, I probably won’t be nervous.”