Surviving Your First Day: Tips for New Instructors

In all my time as an instructor I've had many good days and many stressful days. As is normal in the teaching profession, I'm told. I have to say though, one of the most stressful days was the first day of teaching. I've been teaching Tae Kwon Do for over 10 years for multiple schools, so I've had a few "first days". Let me tell you what I find helps me be a better instructor.

Honestly, before my first class, I was so anxious I couldn't sleep the night before. It was my first time without a supervising instructor. I was the one in charge! It was pretty scary. But guess what? It didn't go too badly at all. The classes went smoothly, and when I messed up, people were really understanding. As I gained more confidence, those nerves faded away. Here are a few things I did to help with that.

First time teachers sometimes get nervous, regardless of the topic!

Confidence

Yep, I looked in a mirror and told myself "You can do it!"

I'm kidding. What I mean by "confidence" is remembering that I had trained for this exact day for yeas. My instructor had taken the time to teach me what I needed to do in order to teach by myself. All I had to do was not mess up (too badly).

Well Dressed

I always make sure that my uniform is clean and not wrinkled. That way I look professional. I was taught that it's not just important to be good at doing the job, it's also important to look good while doing the job too.

Write (and review) the lesson plan

When I teach, I write out the lesson plan for the day. What am I going to have students do today? What will we practice? I usually take the time to sit down with my notepad and write out what it is I want to teach. I find that it helps me teach better if I know what I want to teach before I step on the mat, rather than improvising all day.

Santa doing Tae Kwon Do. Gotta be strong to climb up and down that chimney, right?

Be Santa

Ok, not literally. What I mean by "being Santa" is that I typically double check everything so that I know exactly how everything is. Santa's reading his list, and checkin' it twice... why shouldn't you?

Clean the Dojang

If I'm nervous about teaching that day, I take the time to clean the dojang again. Not only does it look nice, it feels good to work at something menial. Besides, customers, students, and co-workers appreciate a clean space to work in.

So there you go! There is the list of the things I do before teaching! Have you got any suggestions or ideas? Feel free to contact me!

Disclaimer:This site is for entertainment purposes only. All martial arts techniques and exercises should be supervised by a trained martial arts instructor in order to prevent injuries and to ensure the proper technique is utilized. The information on these pages is meant only to reinforce and supplement the instruction given at your martial arts classes. To properly understand these techniques, you need to learn them from a martial arts instructor who can provide you with an in-depth explanation of the technique, help correct your mistakes, answer your questions and detail how the technique should be utilized. In addition, all martial arts techniques and training should be used safely and responsibly.