A Presenter I Am Not

I get very nervous when I have to present in front of a group of my peers.  It is out of my comfort zone.  I do not like to be the center of attention.  When working in groups, I prefer to do the work and research if someone else is willing to present the information.  I'm relieved that his class is smaller so hopefully it won't make me so nervous.  I tend to speak softly and fast when presenting.  At times I feel my face getting red and can hear my voice "shaking".  I do much better speaking in front of a classroom full of young children.

Textbooks

I think it is really important for teachers to evaluate a textbook before using it in their classroom.  The teacher needs to make sure it is written at a level that is appropriate for the students.  The contents should also be at appropriate grade/age level.  For younger students, the words should be larger and there should be plenty of pictures to keep them engaged.  If a teacher expects the students to read for homework or on their own, then the book needs to be interesting to them in some way.  The teacher should also make sure that the content is correct and appropriate.  The teacher should make sure that a teachers edition is available and has ideas for projects or assignments that are engaging for the students to help support a lesson or idea.  Having more than one text book saved in a content area is always a good idea.  The teacher will be able to pull ideas from different texts.  The books will have different assignments available to help the teacher keep things interesting.  You can never have too many books.