I've enjoyed reading the responses to this query. Guess it's called a thread.
Yeah, it does get easier with each year, unless you change schools and have
to adjust to a new "school culture", room situation and have different budget
constraints, which happened to me this year. You accumulate lesson plans and
have samples to show the students which makes it easier to present lessons.
You know which lessons tend to be more successful, which lessons the students
enjoy. But you're always trying new things, making adjustments and learning
as you go. That includes classroom management. I've been teaching for 6 years
and am still learning, adjusting and fine-tuning. I once heard a new
(part-time) teacher say that teaching art was easy. Then I ran into her
crying in the art department office, totally dejected one day. Teaching art
is a very difficult endeavor and we put up with a lot, but we do it because
we love it.
Dennis in Stockton, CA
