Blog Post # 9

What I've Learned This Year--Mr. Joe McClung

2008-2009

After his first year of teaching, Mr. Joe McClung wrote a blog post reflecting on his adventures, accomplishments, and learnings of the year. He stated that being young and inexperienced, he didn't fully know what to expect from being an elementary school teacher in his first year. In his blog post, he discussed everything he learned that year. There were seven main things that he discussed.

1. How to read a crowd. Many teachers are so worried about what their supervisors think about the delivery of their lessons that they forget about their audience. Teachers need to check for student comprehension. He stated that in order to be effective, you have to be able to let your audience drive your instruction.

2. Be flexible. Teachers need to remember that your lessons will not always go as you plan. They won't be perfect. So, there is no need to beat yourself up if the lesson did not go in the direct direction you wanted it to.

3. Communicate. Communication is the best way to resolve any issue at work and build strong relationships with your students and co-workers.

4. Be reasonable. Do not set extreme expectations for your students. It is our job as teachers to set goals for our students, but set them within their reach. And if they fail, be there to pick them up and encourage them to try again.

5. Don't be afraid of technology. Technology can be overwhelming at times, but don't give up before you even try. No one masters it with the first attempt. The use of technology may seem difficult at first, but eventually you will get the hang of it.

6. Listen to your students. He states that you may be the only person that does listen. It's important to develop a good student teacher relationship and take interest in the lives of our students.

7. Never stop learning. Teachers need to learn and grow as professional educators. It's never too late to change your way of thinking, learning, or style.

After reading Mr. Joe McClung's first blog post, I feel the need to print out his list of things he learned after his first year of teaching. They are all great things to keep in mind during your first year of teaching because you really don't know what to expect. I know that even just thinking about what my first year of teaching will be like, I get a nervous and excited feeling. Mr. McClung's blog post definitely gave me a great insight on what it will be like. I can't wait to be able to experience teaching myself.

2011-2012
Mr. McClung received such great feedback after his first blog post that he continued on to year two, year three, and year four. In his reflective blog post after his fourth year of teaching, he stated that two underlining themes really stuck out.

1. You gotta dance with who you came to the dance with. This means that you can not worry with how your peers view you as an educator. Their perception does not matter. Follow one rule, and that is are the kids having fun? Make sure that your kids are taken care of and enjoying the class. Remember who you are really working for.

2. Challenge yourself. It's easy to fall into a routine when you are teaching the same thing year after year. You get too comfortable and become lazy which causes your lessons to suck. You should try teaching a different grade level or maybe an accelerated class. This will give you the opportunity to challenge yourself to become a better teacher.

After reading this blog post, I completely agree with Mr. McClung. It does seem that after years of teaching the same thing, it would be easy to fall into a routine. I think that it is our job as educators to be able to grab the attention of our students so that they will pay attention. In order to do that, we must keep learning fun and interesting. We must give our students motivation, spark creativity, and give them inspiration. Therefore, we can not afford to be lazy. We are there to set good examples and be role models.