Blog Assignment 9

The first post that I read was “What I’ve Learned This Year” and it was posted on May 27, 2009. The post begins with Mr. McClung describing his first year as an elementary school teacher. He says that since the beginning of his first semester he has grown and matured and decided to share what he had learned in his first year of teaching. The first section of the blog is entitled “How to Read the Crowd”. In this section, Mr. McClung described how he was so worried about being judged by his superiors that he lost touch with his students. He stated that many teachers do not make their lessons “student centered”. The point of being an educator is teaching the students and student comprehension. We are not teaching our superiors. The next section is “Being Flexible”.  The main point that Mr. McClung makes is “no lesson is ever perfect. The lesson you teach and the one you plan are always different”.  Being flexible is an important aspect for me to learn. I am an extremely organized and well-planned student and if things do not go according to my schedule I become frantic. This will be the hardest point of being an educator for me. The following section is “Communicate”. Mr. McClung says the best medicine is communication and the best way to resolve any issue is by talking about it. I will not have any problems with communication. I am the type of person to confront issues first hand. I do not like drama or arguments. Being a good communicator has paid off for me. The next section is “Be Reasonable”. We must learn to help students instead of bringing them down. Some students will meet our expectations, while others will not. Educators cannot get upset when this happens. I am so glad he brought this subject up. Many of my past teachers fall into this category. Teachers often push students to the limit with tests, paper, quizzes; whatever they think is beneficial for their class. I am extremely hard on myself when my grades fail, but I do not take  multiple-choice tests well. Many teachers, especially college teachers, have a few tests and a final for the overall grade. Guess what! 9 times out of 10 all of these tests are multiple choice! Not good for me as a student and I know many others like me. Teachers become disappointed and evil when students do not do well in their class. I believe that if the majority of the class if failing your tests, then apparently you are not doing something right. Teachers must learn to change with their students and lift them up when they fail. They need encouragement, not disappointment. The following section is “Don’t be Afraid of Technology”. He says to “jump in head first” with technology. My goodness! We have drove head first into technology this semester in EDM 310. I am so thankful for this class! I learned so much about computers and new technology, and I cannot wait to begin teaching with my new skills! The next section is “Listen to Your Students”. Here, Mr. McClung says that teachers build respect for students when they have a relationship with them. This is also true. Being a student, if a teacher does not care to know my name and face, then I do not care about what they have to say during class. Might seem like a bad idea considering they are the ones testing me and I have to pass their class to graduate; but, honestly, this is the truth. Why would I want to come to class and listen to someone who does not want to listen to me? The final section for this post is “Never Stop Learning”. He says that we are working in a learning environment, so why not soak up as much as we can. One of my favorite teachers from high school told me once “education is that one thing nobody can take from you”. At first, I did not have a clue what she was talking about, but now, being in the real world, I know exactly what she means. Why would anyone want to stop learning? There is so much to know and see, by shutting down your brain after graduating you are only hindering yourself.

The next blog post that I read was “What I Learned This Year” and it was posted on June 23, 2011. This post starts off with all of his new experiences for the year, such as being a head coach, coaching cross country, being the computer applications teacher, and the first time for teaching at a school for longer than a year. The beginning section of this blog is “Know Who Your Boss Is”. This section is much like the section “How to Read the Crowd” from an older post. In this section, the main point is our decision making process should always be student centered and not centered on pleasing adults. He makes the point that we often get consumed with trying to please others, leaving the students out, when our main job as teachers is educating students. This is an important lesson for everyone, not just teachers. I know many people who are more worried about pleasing and making others happy than their own happiness. We must consider ourselves and our students before we begin making others happy. Students are our main focus and we, as educators, must not lose sight of this. The second section is “Don’t Expect Others to be as Excited About Change as You Are”. This section focuses on not letting others bring your positive and excited attitude down. I have been around many “Debbie downers” and they often influence my attitude. If negative people surround me, I will often pick up their negative attitude. I must work on this. If I am having a bad day, I do not want the people around me to have a bad day, as well, especially my students. The next section is “Don’t be Afraid to be an Outsider”. This section is about Mr. McClung being ok as the “outsider”. He says that he would rather eat and have personal relationships with his students than having relationships with his other adults in the school. I am not sure where I stand with this section. I will probably be like Mr. McClung because I want to connect with my students and help them as much as I can; therefore, I will be the “outsider”, hanging out with my students in my classroom. The succeeding section is “Don’t Touch The Keyboard”. This section talks about letting the students do their tasks instead of us doing it for them. Teachers must allow the students to struggle in the beginning because this is how they learn. If we are constantly doing the task for them, then they will never learn. The final section is “Don’t Get Comfortable”. Mr. McClung makes the statement, “Teaching itself is a very comfortable job that offers security…and often times comfort and security does not create an atmosphere that highly motivates individuals”. This is an interesting point, in that, I never realized that being “comfortable” creates a less motivated person, but truthfully, when we get comfortable with something our work beings to slack. Interesting point.

I am glad that we had to read these posts. I think they are very helpful for new teachers and even older teachers