Blog Post 9

What I’ve Learned This Year (2008-2009)

In the first blog post, Mr. McClung gave his reflection of his first year of teaching. He listed several things that he had learned through his first year. The first point he made was that he learned how to read the crowd. McClung stated that when he first started teaching he was too worried about pleasing his superiors that he lost his students while teaching. McClung says that the delivery of the lesson is not what matters, what’s important is if the students get it or not. McClung states that it is important to be flexible. Things are not always going to go as planned in the lesson plan, but it is important that the teacher knows how to move on with the lesson even when mistakes and sudden problems occur. McClung makes a point that it is important to communicate in the work place. When something is going wrong, or if a problem arises with a fellow teacher, it is important to confront them with the situation and talk it through. McClung encourages teachers to be responsible. I love the statement that McClung makes “Our job as teachers is to simply pick them up after they fail, dust them off, and encourage them to try again.” He also points out that we should not be afraid to use technology. Technology is our friend and it is there to make the job easier. McClung states that it is very important that a teacher listens to their students. It is important that the teachers really get to know the students that they are teaching and listen to what they have to say. Students should feel like they can come to the teacher when they need help. Lastly, McClung states that teachers should never stop learning. Teachers should continue to learn and adapt their teaching style to what works best with students even after they enter the classroom. I think Mr. McClung made great points in his post that all teachers can learn from. I really learned a lot by reading Mr. McClung’s blog post.


What I Learned This Year (2009-2010)

In Mr. McClung’s second post, he again gave a reflection of what he learned throughout the year. He also again had the same type of post and listed different points about what he learned. The first thing he said was that it is important to adapt. He said that it is important to never get too comfortable and that change is good. The next point he made was about the path least travelled. In this section he talked about teachers not using their opinions in the classroom but to let students be independent thinkers. The third point he made he said was the most important: find your school mom. What he meant by this was to find someone who could take you in and show you the ropes, so to speak. The next thing he talked about was that teachers should check their egos at the door. It is not important how good you think you are, what’s important is how well the students are learning. It is not our job to feel smart, but to give students the best opportunity to succeed. The next piece of advice he gave was to not be a control freak. He says that it is okay to want to be in control because a teacher should have control over their classroom. But, teachers can’t control every little thing that goes on. The next thing he talks about is to not lose sight of what is important. Mr. McClung talks about his problems with his school’s administration and how it was affecting him. But, he says that focusing on the problems was hurting his students because he wasn’t completely concentrated on them. The last thing he said was that it’s what you learn after you know it all that matters. What he meant by this was that, even though we might know a lot, we will still always have a long way to go before we know it all. I really liked this post and I feel like I learned a lot from what Mr. McClung had to say.