Prior to teaching a lesson I consider how confident I can actually talk about what is being discussed, and whether my background is strong enough to be able to control and lead a discussion if it happens to go more in depth than I had planned. I tend to spend a lot of time researching and talking things through in my head to be prepared, which in turn helps me to stay calm and relaxed when the lesson is underway as I have a logical roadmap of how to respond to different questions.
I also consider how I’m engaging the students. Am I just asking point-blank questions regarding the information I am presenting? If the students don’t have a strong background established for the material, it’s highly likely that they will not want to engage, and will be hesitant to raise their hands or participate without me calling people out. I have to think about who the students are, how they’ve engaged in the past, and who may not have been responding or engaging as much in the past. It’s important to remember that you have to consider not just what you are teaching and how you personally respond to that, but how you can shape it to the class you have, as each class of students can be very different. Planning stops for student-to-student discussion, or small games and activities to get kids out of their seats and involved can be more important than the way in which I present the information initially.
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