I have been examining myself as a teacher and how my classroom is ran, I have came to realize I am knowledgeable about the topic of early childhood education and early childhood development due to earning my degrees but applying them to real life situations I am not sure how to do that. There is specifically one teacher at my current place of employment that is the model teacher for me, her teaching methods, classroom management and classroom set up is exactly how I want to see myself and my classroom but i do not know how to get there, at the moment I am not a full time teacher i am only part time the classroom I work in is not my classroom so I cannot make a lot of decisions. Anyway so I know the type of teacher I want to be, the teaching methods I believe in, and the classroom management skills and the set up I want but How do I apply it! I wish I could do student teaching through the process of earning my degree's but sadly i am doing it online and they do not offer that, so I am trying to figure out how to take my brain knowledge and apply it to the classroom. if any one had advice it would be greatly appreciated!

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So, you work at the center part time, but not as a teacher?

If so, maybe you could offer to volunteer in your favorite teachers class for an hour two several mornings per week. That's the busiest time of day, so you'd get a lot of hands-on learning time.

Plus, you flatter the teacher (always nice to make friends) when you ask her to mentor you, and I would think would impress the bosses when you offer to volunteer your time.

I did this once many, many years ago when I wanted to try a different field ( I was a bank teller). I walked into a travel agency and offered to volunteer my time answering phones (around my other job) if they'd teach me the business. They ended up hiring me, I hated it, and never did become a travel agent. It was a great experience with no real risk.

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Great way to learn from those you admire! What teacher wouldn't want help in her room? Good luck!

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I have to agree with pp that watching different teachers is the best way to become a good teacher. I also recommend watching a teacher who you see as not as good. It helps to see bad practices too so you know what not to do.

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Yes all of the above. It's great if you could volunteer for different teachers. Being exposed to different styles and techniques can help you observe how things are done which helps out a lot. Church preschools and head start preschools would probably really enjoy some help and may be willing to allow it .

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Thank you for the feedback! I want to ask her to mentor me but I am afraid that might be awkward. at the moment I am a part time teacher so I go in the afternoons I am only there four hours a day, Mostly the academic main learning is over with in the mornings. So I do centers, play outside, music and movement and we do bible story of course all of this is meaningful play! I am not sure what my bosses would say If I ask to volunteer under this persons classroom in the mornings,I think it would help me become more comfortable with things since I am a newbie This is only my third week, I am still trying to get comfortable with everything. Thanks again for the feedback!

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The only problem that I could see happening is that they may not allow you actually "helping" because of labor laws. You being an employee and being there to help for free might be considered "off the clock" which is against OSHA regulations however if you approach it as you simply want to observe her class then it might be better received.

I would first approach the teacher that you like and ask her if she would feel comfortable with coming some mornings to observe the way she teaches. Let her know that you really like her methods and that you would like to watch her so that you could see how you could be interacting with the children for yourself. Let her know that you are looking for ideas. I'd ask her first because she might feel nervous or uncomfortable having someone watching her so if she says no then there's no reason to ask your supervisor. If she says yes then you can ask your supervisor and say that you simply want to observe her class. I would approach it by saying that you'd prefer if you could observe her class specifically because her method appeals to you the most but you would like to know if it would be okay to leave the option open to observe other classrooms as well since each teacher brings her own techniques and you would like as much exposure as you can get. If you keep it to a minimum like once or twice a week for a short period of time (30 min-1 hr) I think it will be less "threatening" to your supervisor and the teacher(s). I would also offer to make sure that you will schedule the date, time and length by running it through the teacher and your supervisor first to make sure that it doesn't inconvenience anyone. Hopefully if you address all of these with them first it'll seem like you already thought this through and will be better received.

I just wanted to add that I think it's great that you are taking a proactive approach to learning new techniques. Hopefully they'll see it as a win/win situation for everyone. Your supervisor will have a proactive employee that is eager, willing and trained to better herself, the teacher you will be observing will have an extra set of eyes and you will get some FREE training

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Start one step at a time. Find one thing you admire about this teacher and work to add it to your "bag of tricks" - I sometimes pretend to be the other person until the technique comes naturally to me. When that thing is second-nature, pick something else to add...

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