As future educators, with very little experience in the classroom, what is ya'lls biggest fear entering your first year of teaching. People tell me that I don't look a day over 16. They say i still look like i'm in highschool. My fear is that kids are going to see me as a young person, whom is close to their age, and therefore i'm worried that i won't get their respect. I'm worried that i won't be able to mangage the classroom due to the lack of respect.

What is ya'lls biggest fears?

My biggest fear is that I don't know enough- I'm not an expert in history. I sometimes think the students will know more than I do.

I guess I, and all of you, should keep in mind that its ok not to have all the answers. I know I will learn world history, for example, so much more thoroughly when I have to prepare to teach it.

I am also kind of worried about respect- but I think the best way to earn respect from students is to respect them.

My biggest fear is being observed by my peers while I'm teaching. I don't know if this will make sense, but I feel more comfortable when it's just me in front of the children, instead of someone else there my age or older than me. I don't like being observed and seeing the person writing things down because I won't know if it's good or bad until the lesson is over. I'm just scared that I'll freeze upand forget what I'm doing. I guess that's my biggest fear.

Trying to not be their friend but their teacher is going to be hard, especially in my first year or two. I think it's ok to be their teacher friend, if you know what I mean. I want to be there for my students if they need someone to talk to. I had a couple teachers in high school that I talked to about personal problems, but that was it. They were still my teachers. I think that it's going to be hard to make that adjustment, but I know that we're all going to have to do it, especially those of us going into a high school setting.

I've also had fears about lack of respect in the classroom. I think back to some of my highschool days and it's ridiculous what teachers had to go through. Some of that fear has been relieved since I've been interning over at Avery High. The kids over there are awesome, and I just hope I end up with students as cool and respectful as they are. Like Anna said though, establishing the line between friend and teacher won't be easy. I think staying on the teacher side so that you can be their friend in the long run is the way to go.

I dread going into the classroom. I will be teaching mostly computer classes ... technology changes so fast, that I am afraid that the students will already know more than I do. In high school, I practically taught the computer class, because my teacher had not kept up with the fast-pace. When I begin teaching, I am very, very afraid that there will be several students like me trying to teach the class just as I did in school. I love computers and new technology, so hopefully I can stay ahead and take additional courses to help me along the way! ) Good luck to everyone else!!

I have the same fear as you do Brandon. Being short has its disadvantages. I get the question all the time from children: How old are you? and when i tell them i am 20....they don't understand that. Everytime i go home to my home church, the kids compare how much they have grown. I hope that my students do not do the same...

My fear is completely different from everyone else's. Since I will be a music teacher, I will have to compete with the previous program. There will be performance goals that I have to meet, and qualitative goals set by the teacher in the position before me. If there was no position or program before me, there is a large possibility that I will not be able to generate a successful program. I also have the added pressure that if I am not successful, my program will be cut. That is a double loss in my position. Not only will I not have a job, but my students will not ave music in their schools. in my intro to teaching music class we have discussed making music programs appear more like academic programs, and it is a difficult job to do, to maintain, and to accel.

While some of you fear that you will not be respected because of your age, one of my insecurities is similar - but on the opposite end of the spectrum. I'm coming into this profession at such an older age. In my mind, your age is on your side. I feel like I have a greater learning curve because alot of what's current is no longer part of my everyday knowledge; politics is more interesting to me than it used to be.

I agree with Deborah that respect for our students will greatly increase the possibility of respect from them. When I think of my teachers, age nor gender ever had anything to do with whether or not I liked them. An interest, respect and curiosity about what I thought had everything to do with how comfortable I felt in their class.

I fear a conservative learning environment with a rigid, narrow-minded supervisor micro-managing my every step. These are fears, if I didn't think I could find a good fit, I wouldn't continue on this path.

I have another fear that i have come in contact with this semester through my internship. My fear is that i will have a mentor teacher that encourages me to cut corners. My teacher that i was working with this semester is a first year teacher and i feel like she is being influenced by the other teachers in the school in a horrible way.
I hope that i can keep what ASU has taught me and what i think i have become the past 3 years

Well....i guess my biggest fear is that i might be to "friendly" with my students and they won't know where the line is drawn between a friend and a teacher...especially in a PE class where there is a chance for more personal interaction and socializing...

I would have to say that my greatest fear is that I will fail my students. I’m afraid that I will be just like all the other teachers that have made my students feel inferior, or stupid, or worse that I give up on them. I’m going to teach special education, if I get my way, it will be in a high school. These students will come to me with so many problems with confidence and scholastic ability, and I’m afraid that I won’t be able to do anything to help.