What do you feel insecure about? Is it your lesson plans? Not at all! That was all written out and rehearsed! Is it the daily schedule? It's not that either! That was fully discussed with the principal! In fact, you even walked through the routes to the playground, the lunchroom, and the restrooms.
Is it the possible discipline problems? That's it exactly! At this point, you might not have the slightest idea what you will do if a student throws a paper airplane, if a student tries to amuse the class, or if a student shows more interest in squealing on a neighbor than in listening to you. If that's not enough, you feel threatened by the teachers in the adjacent rooms who might talk about how noisy your class is, by the parents who might find out that your class is disorderly, or by the administrator who could walk past your door any minute.
But why do you feel so insecure? Didn't you spend four diligent years reading textbooks, reading journal articles, and writing term papers on how to handle discipline problems?
Take a close look at the components of your job, and you will see an important difference. The lesson plans were rehearsed. The daily schedule was rehearsed. The handling of discipline problems was not.
Musicians, actors, dancers, and other performing artists have problems with stage fright, but not nearly to the same extent as the teacher facing an unfamiliar group of children. What do you suppose the difference is? The difference is probably that performing artists practice their act, pretending that they are facing an audience. You practiced your lesson plans and your daily trips to other parts of the building. But did you practice handling any of the incidents of misbehavior which might arise?
Very few teachers ever practice classroom management except in front of an actual classroom. But this could be done in several ways:
Practice with other adults.
Ask other teachers or education students to pose as students in your class. If you wish to go into detail, you could assign individual roles: "Charlie, you throw a paper wad at the trash can. Chad, you interrupt the lesson with a dirty joke. Karen, you raise your hand in the middle of
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