The Silence Before the Door
I remember standing outside the first class I ever taught, staring at the handle. It wasn’t the fear of running out of material that paralyzed me; it was the Imposter Syndrome taking over.
The fear of being judged by peers who looked like they knew what they were doing. The anxiety of a blank stare, the silence that screamed, “She has no idea what she’s doing.”
This is the hidden fear of the new teacher, and it is corrosive. It’s the Imposter Syndrome that forces you to over-prepare for 5 hours, only to use three activities, because you’re desperately searching for a safety net.
We are told to plan meticulously, but when you spend 5 hours scrambling for content, 60% of that time is wasted on materials you will ultimately discard. Why? Because students are unpredictable, and an overloaded plan is useless the second a real conversation starts.
You end up distancing yourself from the textbook just to survive, creating quick games on the fly to seem cool and be accepted, but that only reinforces the feeling of improvisation, not expertise…and students pick up on it!
I realized that the solution to my fear wasn’t more planning; it was a guaranteed methodology.
When lessons were structured for the brain, students progressed faster, held conversations quicker, and the learning was visible. That tangible success is the only thing that kills the Imposter Syndrome.
When you know your lesson plan is scientifically proven to work, you don’t need to fear the silence, the judgment, or the mistake. You are armed with a blueprint.