Blog Assignment #9

The First Year Mr. McClung talks about loosing touch with his audience. I can see where a lot of teachers do this when they are starting off. While we are in our student teaching, it's lesson plans, lesson plans, lesson plans. We have to a have great lesson plans because we are trying to please our teachers. The main focus should be the students. I like how Mr. McClung pointed out that it is the student comprehension that matters the most. I think that every future teacher needs to read this next line and always keep it in mind: "NO LESSON IS EVER PERFECT. THE LESSON YOU TEACH AND THE ONE YOU PLAN ARE ALWAYS DIFFERENT." This shows that being a teacher means being flexible. Leave your OCD habits at the door. In Mr. McClung's post, he mentions communication and the importance of it with fellow teachers. Communication is a great thing to have with anybody. Like Mr. McClung said, it is not something that comes easy to everyone but it is something every one needs to have a working relationship with others. He says to be reasonable. We might think we are helping our students by setting high expectations but when they do not meet these expectations, we are hurting them. When it comes to technology, Mr. McClung says that we should not be afraid. I grew up with computers so it's hard to think of people who actually repel technology. Hopefully with time, everybody, especially teachers, will embrace technology! Another main point in this post is about listening to your students. I think this is a big deal. We expect them to listen to us and do as we say. We should listen to our students opinions. We could learn something from them! Lastly, Mr. McClung reminds us to never stop learning. I never want to stop learning. Things change everyday so we can learn new things everyday. I hope to always keep an open mind to learning new things!

The Third Year I really enjoy reading what Mr. McClung has to say. He is talking from experience and he makes it easy to relate to. In his reflection of his third year, he talks about knowing who your boss is. Teachers must never loose focus of who really matters at the end of the day and that is our students! It is easy to get wrapped up in the outside world and worry about pleasing other adults. There is no need to be. Always keep your students in mind. The post also talks about not expecting others to have the same thought as you. Mr. McClung would get excited about new presentations and ideas for the classroom and others wouldn't. I hope to never cross to the dark side like he mentioned. I have had too many teachers in my life who I feel like crossed to to the dark side. I do not want my students to ever think about me like that! Another great point I will remember from this blog is to not be afraid of being the outsider if it involves your students being benefited. I never want my students to feel like I'm neglecting them or that I don't like them. I'm glad there are teachers that want to sit with their student's at lunch and like to communicate with them. When Mr. McClung talks about not teaching the keyboard, his remarks really hit home. I get so frustrated when I ask someone to help me do something on the computer and they just take over and do it. In the end, I learned nothing from them! This was a great way to relate to education. No matter how hard sometime tries, do not do it for them. They will not learn anything! We do not want that for our students. Remember to make sure that they benefit from it even if it is a little frustrating at the time. In his last thoughts on this post, Mr. McClung talks about being "movers and shakers." He wants us to not a reach a point where we are comfortable with how we teach and stop. We need to keep moving forward and I think these are great words to live by. Keep moving forward!