Blog Post # 9

Mr. McClung's Year 4 of What He Learned This Year

First of all I like the whole idea of what he is doing. Mr. McClung summarizes what he has learned as a teacher on his blog at the end of every school year. This is a great way to self-reflect, and to also communicate with other teachers about teaching.

This post in-particular was done at the end of his 4th year of being a teacher. He says he struggled a lot during the year trying to define himself as a teacher. He was very worried of what his peers thought of him, which is something he never previously cared about. He then came to realize that he couldn't change himself for the benefit of his peers, and as long as his students are enjoying themselves and learning that's all that matters. I think this is a good example of why reflecting on himself as a teacher is a good idea. Maybe he wouldn't have been able to come to that conclusion had he not taken the time to think about it.

Mr. McClung also said that he was getting too comfortable as a teacher, and he wasn't being very creative with his lesson plans. He was depending on older lesson plans. In his words, "I was not teaching well." He was given the opportunity to teach a whole new subject. With that opportunity was the chance to start fresh with new ideas. He wants his students to enjoy coming to his class and if he does the same things over and over he will not achieve that goal. He made a good point here that teachers shouldn't get too comfortable when teaching. They should always be looking for new and exciting ideas to keep the students intrigued.

Mr. McClung's Year 1 of What He Learned This Year

Now, I'm going to summarize what Mr. McClung said about his 1st year of teaching. He says that he realized that you can't just teach the content without thinking of student comprehension. A lot of teachers get caught up worrying about their superiors they forget about their actual audience, the students. He says that in order to be effective you have to let your audience drive the instruction.

It is important to be flexible and go with the flow. Do not beat yourself up over a failed lesson plan. Things aren't going to always go as planned. Be willing to work through it and improvise. Communication is also a needed in order to have good relationships with your fellow co-workers and your students.

Do not overreact if students fail to meet your expectations. They sometimes do and sometimes don't it's our job to be there to help when they do not. Use technology to your advantage and do not be afraid of it. It is also important to listen to your students and to know them. The most important point of all, in my opinion, is to never stop learning. We as educators should grow and learn in order to be successful. I completely agree with this of course how could anyone not?