Blog Post #9

What I've Learned This Year (2008-09)

After reading What I've Learned This Year by Mr. McClung, I realized that some good teachers still do exist. Mr. McClung is very inspirational in the teaching world to me, he shows leadership and other good morals. He made an important decision by staying positive for the year 2008-2009. While reading the post made by Mr. McClung, he highlighted seven main points in his blog. The first main point is How to Read the Crowd. Mr. McClung states that "I felt so worried about how I was being assessed by my superiors, that I lost touch with my audience when I delivered a lesson." What I got out of what he said was instead of worrying about what other people think, focus more on the students and their education. The most important aspect of teaching for Mr. McClung is checking for student comprehension. The second topic is Be Flexible because "No lesson is ever perfect. The lesson you teach and the one you plan are always different." When teaching a lesson that does not go how you planned, don't make a big deal out of it. It is the concept of learning something new. I feel that nothing happens perfectly anyways.
The third main topic is Communication. Mr. McClung said that communication is the best medicine. To me communication is the ultimate way get something across, weather it is from the internet document to an advertising commercial. Communication is the key to success. Mr. McClung "definition" to communication is the pathway to build that much desired rapport with fellow teachers. The fourth main point is Be Reasonable. Don't hold high standards for a student if it is not reasonable to pass. "Often we build our expectations to high for students and become upset when they do not meet the expectation." And I feel that he is right. I had a math teacher that though we should already know everything and not make any mistakes, well that is already setting me up for failure because I am not perfect. I could not possibly already know everything.
The fifth point is Don't be Afraid of Technology. Mr. McClung is right, technology should be our friend since the world we live in revolves around technology. Education can really be at a higher level with the right technology in play. Mr. McClung view on technology is that "technology is our friend and is essential to living in our microwave society of today." And I feel that he is right. The sixth main point is Listen to Your Students. I think that it is good to listen to your students because it makes the student feel comfortable in your prescience, I know I would. One student in Mr. McClung's class said that "I know my teacher cares about me as a person when he listens to what I say." That is so true, teachers should take more interest in a students life since how they are the ones teaching us. The last main point is Never Stop Learning. It is never too late to learn. We do work in an learning environment and I feel that it is a good thing to learn something new every day.

What I Learned This Year (2010-11)

This article is about what Mr. McClung learned in his third year of teaching. Mr. McClung has learned many new things is his years of teaching and it is good that he is taking his own advice on learning new things. The first think Mr. McClung talks about is Know Who Your Boss Is.
Mr. McClung said "If you are not careful you can become completely consume with trying to please many individuals, that sometimes your own students get left out of the picture". It is important to know that students come first because that is what education is all about, and how it is catered to the students. Also it is bad to let outside factors affect the students performance in the classroom. The second topic was Don't be Afraid to be an Outsider. In other words, don't be afraid to be yourself. I feel that it is good to bring your personality to the classroom because that show individuality, and individuality is what a teacher should want for a student.
Next is Don't touch the keyboard. Mr. Mclung said "this means that our students will struggle a little bit in the front end but it will help them excel in the end game." I would not want a teacher who did it all for me. I want a teacher like Dr. Strange who gives us a task and we figure a way to achieve it instead of babying us. Dr. Strange knows that we all have to grow up and figure things out, so I feel that he is preparing us for success. The last topic is Don't Get Comfortable. Mr. McClung feels that the biggest fear for a teacher is becoming comfortable. He said, "while routine are good in the sense they allow me to be more effective, they can also be bad because they can foster apathy." I feel that if you do the same thing over and over the exact same way, there is no room for growth and change. Change is good when it is for the better.