We only have two more weeks left of our dreams and goals series! We hope you’ve enjoyed this start to the New Year with us!
This week we are talking with Beth Steckel. Beth is an assistant director at a preschool in Columbus, Ohio. After she graduated college she took a job at a preschool right away, then moved to Honduras and taught 2nd grade. “That’s not how it typically goes for most people. I got pretty lucky.” She says about jumping into teaching.
When Beth moved back to the States she began teaching at preschools in L.A. After deciding to return to Ohio, she worked at COSI as an Outreach Educator for COSI on wheels. She traveled to different schools every other week and hosted assemblies for up to 500 students at a time. While talking about working with COSI she says, “It was a lot of fun! I was like a cheerleader for science.”
Here are five tips Beth gave us for working with kids:
- The more experience you can get the better.
When it comes to working with kids it’s easy to gain experience at a young age. Babysit! When you maintain a good relationship with the parents you babysit for, you can use them as a reference when looking for a job. Noone will trust you if don’t have experience, even if you have a degree.
- Really enjoy kids.
Some people like the idea of working with kids because they’re cute. Even though they are adorable, you have to realize they are going to have good and bad days. Depending on their age, they haven’t developed self-control yet and are going to be unlovable at times. The good news is they are so quick to love and be sweet once they’re grumpy moments are over.
- Communication is important.
Parents want to know how their children are doing in class, but you have a short time to relay information. Written notes are a great way to keep in contact with them. Make sure when you connect with parents you do it in a respectful and tactful way. This will build trust in you as a caregiver.
- Be willing to invest a lot of yourself into your job.
The best teachers are the ones that bring personal interest to their class. For example, there is a teacher in my school that loves to travel. Because of this passion, she teaches her class about a different country every week. The kids and parents love it. Realize too, that there will be times when you will have to invest your own time or money into your classroom. You may find yourself working on your room on a Saturday morning, or even the whole weekend at time. Investing shows you care!
- Be childlike and have fun!
Kids want to have fun. They are drawn to toys and objects that look fun. They are not going to pick up a chapter book and read it, they want something appealing that is colorful with pictures. It’s the same thing with teachers! Children love being around adults who are fun!
Have you given any more thought to your dreams and goals for the year? What are they? We would love to hear them! Share them here by commenting on this blog, or on Twitter or Facebook.
Have a good week ladies!
