Blog Post #9

Mr. McClung
In Mr. McClung's blog post, What I Learned This Year 2009-2010, he shares what he has learned during that particular year of teaching school.  There were many firsts for Mr. McClung during that year.  He had to adapt in order to effectively fulfill many new tasks.  He had to change his expectations of the outcomes of his lessons because he taught material he had never taught before.  I like how he says, "I don't want my students to always look for the right answer, but instead take a different approach that requires them to think analytically and assess each situation on an individual basis."  This is my philosophy exactly.  In the case of a subject like math, I want my students to understand why and how they arrive at an answer that will most likely only have one correct answer. 

In his section, Find your School Mom, I do not know who Mr. McClung is calling a school mom.  I don't know if he means a literal mother of a student, or if he means a well-seasoned teacher that serves as a go-to type of colleague.  Regardless, I believe the more ideas and support, the better for everyone. 

In the rest of the post he makes more good points.  The ability to act crazy and silly in order to grab students' attention comes quite easily to me.  I like that he states, "Check your ego at the door." Another good point is about making sure he teaches not only what he enjoys but also the subjects that his students need to learn.  Also, his assessments need to match the depth of the material he covered. It is natural to gravitate to what we like regarding anything, but it is about making the student successful that matters most.  Mr. McClung found it helpful to give students tasks in the classroom which "requires them to be responsible and take ownership for the classroom experience."  This takes a load off of the teacher and saves precious time as menial tasks are delegated.

Mr. McClung shares how problems with administration affected his attitude in the classroom.  While he does not explain the details of the situation, I appreciate his honesty in admitting that there have been problems.  "No matter how bad things may be, as a teacher you can not let surrounding factors affect how you conduct yourself in the classroom."  This is so true.  Mr. McClung concludes this post by admitting he has flaws yet is willing to improve and move forward.

In the post, What I Learned This Year Volume 4, Mr. McClung begins with admitting that he was worried about his perception among his peers but that he got over it.  He does not pinpoint why he went through this, but I like that he just chose to get over it and refocus on his students.  I was a little surprised that he felt like he had gotten too comfortable and was not teaching well.  He felt like relying on old lessons led to routine and lack of creativity.  I am looking forward to having well written lesson plans to have from year to year.  That is the benefit of becoming an experienced teacher.  I assume that instead of writing lesson plans from scratch all of the time, I will be able to better supplement existing ones.  Only time will tell.

The main thing I learned from Mr. McClung's posts is the value of proofreading.  Honestly, I can not believe he made all four posts with so many errors.  They would have easily been noticed if he had taken the time to re-read what he had written.  I am not error-proof, however, I don't want to appear that unprofessional simply because I did not review before clicking "publish".