Blog Post 9

Mr. McClung's World

Mr. McClung writes a blog post at the end of each school year to tell what he has learned. He has written a reflection about his fourth year teaching in "What I Learned This Year-Volume 4." Surprisingly, Mr. McClung didn't learn as much this year as he thought he did. Reading Mr. McClung's fourth year reflection has reassured me that I shouldn't worry about what other teachers think of me. I should put the majority of my focus and concerns to my students and make sure they are taken care of and enjouing class. Also, when teachers get too comfortable they become lazy and their lesson plans start to "suck". I agree with Mr. McClung on all of these points, because I've had teachers who repeated the same lesson plans each year. This requires no work from teachers, and students become bored. Also, students will know what to expect from teachers from the first day of class until the last day of class .

The second post I read by Mr. McClung was What I've Learned This Year (2008-2009). In this post, he talks about what he has learned after his first year of teaching. Mr. McClung list several things that he learned in his first year of teaching. First, he says he learned "How to Read the Crowd." He says "he was so worried about how he was being assessed by his superior, that he lost touch with his audience when delivering lessons." Second, "Be Flexible", "No lesson is ever perfect. "The lesson you teach and the one you plan are always different." "Communicate" is the third thing he talks about. "Communicating is the best way to resolve any issue in the work place." Next, "Be Reasonable", teachers often build their expectations too high for students and become upset when they do not meet expectations. The fifth thing he talks about is "Don't be Afraid of Technology." "Technology is our friend and is essential to living in our microwave society." You cannot expect to master technology on the first attempt, it takes practice. Sixth, "Listen to Your Students" it is important to take interest in their lives, some teachers do not know enough about the students they are teaching. "Lastly...Never Stop Learning", its never too late and you are never too old to learn new things. Mr. McClung has given me some comforting insite on teaching. I enjoyed reading his blog's, I know these tips will be very helpful when I become a teacher.