how do you teach?

I am an early childhood educator (20 years ago) who recently got certified to teach k-5 in the state where I live. I got an emergency job on the fly just before the school year started. <br><br>They gave me a laptop and a textbook and that is it. no training. no mentor. no orientation. no guidance. I tried to reach out to other teachers but it’s a community that is cliquey and not very welcoming. <br><br>so I’m on Chambers trying to get some feedback. <br><br>Here is the issue I am having: I can’t get the kids to behave. I can’t get them to follow directions. I can’t get them to focus, especially when I am speaking. I start doing a lesson and 1/3 of the kids will just do their own thing while I am trying to teach. I have to fight to get them to focus on me. <br><br>the other issue I have is that I don’t know how to write a lesson plan. I have the book that I am supposed to use, and it sets out what I am supposed to teach that day, but I don’t know what the kids are expected to do. How do I get them to participate in a lesson? How do I get them to engage with the material?<br><br>for instance, in science, I am supposed to have them learn about weather. I’m supposed to have them look at pictures of clouds and have them identify if they are cumulus, stratus, or cirrus. I don’t know how to get them to do that. I just show them the pictures off my laptop and then move on to the next one. I don’t know how to get them to engage with the material. <br><br>I also don’t know how to get them to do the work that the book says they’re supposed to do. I give them a worksheet that they are supposed to print the names of the clouds next to the pictures. They just sit there and stare at me. I have to go around the room to every single one of them and show them how to do it. <br><br>I’m having trouble with reading and math but I think I’m figuring that out. But science and social studies, I’m lost. Can anyone tell me how to teach these subjects?