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Generally, those who haven't taught before are scared out of their wits. What they should be feeling is scared out of their wits, so this is good.

Entering teaching as a profession is like nothing else. You've spent your entire life around teachers, watching them, judging them, speculating on how you'd handle different situations. When you are in front a classroom for the first time, things flip around in more ways than one.

The most difficult reversal is often unexpected. If you've become a teacher, chances are you did okay in school, kind of liked it, and surrounded yourself with other students who felt the same way. Sure, there were kids who didn't buy into the whole game, but you could essentially ignore them and do your own thing. Now that you're in front of the classroom, however, everything is reversed. You love the students who buy into your program -- they make things go smoothly. Quickly, though, it's the other students who command your attention -- kids who don't like school, don't do their work, and generally distract from what you're trying to accomplish. They're now front and center in your world, and the non-squeaky-wheeled-goody-goodies like you were become background to the challenging students that are now front-and-center in your day.

How you deal with this challenge is a crucial test of whether you can ever be a successful teacher. My second grade teacher used to put masking tape on your mouth if you talked out of turn. Although she (and I) turned out to be okay, I can't recommend this approach.