That first year for me was scary, a very difficult transition from the cushiony fourth year to the first year alone in the classroom. I wanted the ever constant guidance of my mentor and counselors but I was expected to deal with problems alone. As an in-service student who thought my love for pantomime, drama, music would aid me, I was incredibly self-conscientious.

I felt it was best to hold unto the framework of a lesson plan. After all, the structure made sense, it was something that I could hold unto. It was rudimentary work. Did it follow the formula I was taught of a pre-while and post? Were there transitions? After all, I was only repeating what I was taught to do.

Admittedly, this notion of what is a lesson as I was taught was my crutch. I leaned on it heavily. It came at the expense of developing my own teaching personality. But I had other things to worry about like blending in a cultural classroom that was increasingly becoming threatening to my authority as a new teacher.

Dear teachers, it would take me ten long years to realize something that I am telling you in a few paragraphs.

For someone who never had any experience coming to terms with my authority such as participating in any leadership skills or taking part in any student’s committees in High School, it was hard for me to accept my own authority as a teacher, even now.

That journey started with a 24 year old practice teacher who just wanted to have fun with her students and was crying in front of her fourth year counselor who, through my own shower of tears, told me that I was a teacher.

So on that note, write down your assets and what you believe you are good at. Look at those things that help you connect with the students. A lesson is very dynamic and much of it is personality centered. The minute I learned to enter the classroom without my lesson book in my hand was the day the students were the foreground and not the lesson. The lesson is the means but not the means to the end. Seasoned teachers would call this ’spontaneity.’ On a more profound level, I call it coming to terms with who you are as a person.

We all have to take those giant steps and small to larger risks with the activities we decide to do, and so, here we are and where we have come to be.

So, as a new teacher, you have the authority and you are in charge but in more ways than one.

Well, if you didn’t know these facts about the second testament of God’s word, don’t worry!  Just play “Just the Facts!” and you will soon be on your way to possessing a greater mind indeed.

Here’s what you do: This game is best played with a pocket chart, but you could also lay the cards you will create out on a table.  (Don’t know what a pocket chart is?  Google the term and you’ll find out.)  You will need to make a total of 21 cards.  These can be index cards or made nicely on your computer.  Three of the cards will say “New Testament”.  Nine of the cards will say the following numbers or words:

1. 27
2. 260
3. 7959
4. 181,253
5. Acts
6. Third John
7. 4
8. 1
9. 22

The 9 remaining cards will say the following:

1. Books
2. Chapters
3. Verses
4. Words
5. Longest Book
6. Shortest Book
7. Gospels
8. Historical Books
9. Letters or Epistles

Place the 3 “New Testament” cards along with the first set of 9 cards face down on your pocket chart or on a table in jumbled order.  Then place the other set of 9 cards face out so that the whole class can easily see them.  The numbers shown above in each list correspond with each other.  For example, there are 27 books in the New Testament as matched above.

Now divide your class into 2 teams.  Have one team member go first.  Explain that the cards on the pocket chart give facts about the New Testament.  The child will need to match the card he picks with one of the cards that are displayed face out.  If he makes a correct match, those 2 cards can now be set aside.  If an incorrect match is made, the pocket chart card should be returned to its original place.  However, if the child picks an “New Testament” card, their team holds that card.  No match needs to be made and the play goes to the next team.  The team that finds 2 “New Testament” cards first is the winner.

As a suggestion, if a team finds the “New Testament” cards early on in the game, you might want to continue the game by allowing each team to try and make matches.  For each match that is made, award 100 points.  The team with the most points wins.