Blog Post #9

What I've Learned this Year (2008-2009)
This post is about Mr. McClung's first year of teaching and what he has learned. Going in to teaching he did not know everything to expect but throughout his first year he learned a lot. The first thing he discusses is the importance of reading the crowd. As teachers we do not need to be consumed with our teaching as being about us or those above us. We need to stay focused on making lessons about the students and helping them learn because that is the main goal. I completely agree with this idea. Teachers tend to get wrapped up in required material and impressing those people above them rather than making their lessons in regards to the true audience, the students. Some other points he brings up are the need to be flexible as well as reasonable. Lessons and activities aren't always going to go as perfectly planned, but that doesn't mean they are not successful. It is all about working to fix the mistakes and always improving. We also must be reasonable in our expectations of students. Sometimes we tend to set the bar too high and it can be discouraging for a student if they fall short. We must be an encouragement for our students in helping them to succeed.

Communication is also a key tool when working with coworkers as well as students. I completely agree that this is a vital tool as a Educator. We must learn how to effectively communicate if we want to be successful. He goes on to list the last few things as don't be afraid of technology, listen to your students, and never stop learning. Technology is something that we as Educators need to know how to effectively use if we want to engage our students and be apart of the new generation. This can help us tremendously in the classroom. Listening to a child is very important. Children want someone to listen and show interest in them. This builds a relationship of respect which assists in your success as an Educator. Learning is something we as Educators should never stop doing. There are new methods and resources that we can discover everyday. In order to do the best job we must strive to be the best by continuing to learn. Overall, his post was great and I really enjoyed reading about his first year. It gave me some great insight in what to expect and helped me to learn and grow as a future teacher. These are some things that I will keep in mind for when I have a classroom of my own.

What I Learned This Year (2010-2011)
This post is about his third year teaching. He starts off by saying that we need to stay focused on pleasing the students rather than the adults. The kids are the reason we became teachers in the first place and we need to remember that. This is an idea than he discusses in his first post as well. The repeat of this shows the importance of this and how it is something we need to make sure to focus on. Just as others we tend to get caught up in the idea of making everyone else happy when the students happiness should be where we center our attention. Excitement for his job and new ideas and resources is something that is a part of Joe's personality. He is optimistic and tries to make the most of every new opportunity. This year he realized that there are always going to be those who have lost their passion and excitement for their job, but that is not something you should let effect you. Optimism is something that is contiguous and I feel that this is something kids notice. They are going to be a lot more interested and excited about the lesson and classwork if the teacher is as well.

Next, he says that it is okay to be an outsider. He would rather hang out and get to know his kids and have their approval rather than impressing his fellow coworkers. In his mind, being different is a good thing and is something that he takes pride in. Another thing is that we should never take over the student's work and do it for them. We should encourage and guide them, but they must master the skill on their own. If we do it for them they will never learn how to do it right. Lastly, he says we do not need to become comfortable as teachers. We always need to be pushing ourselves out of the normal routine to learn and take on more. Our careers need to be moving forward and not stagnant if we want to continue to be successful. I would agree with him that teaching is not a comfortable career and it challenges you. If we want our children to be challenged in their learning process and to continue trying new things we as Educators need to as well.
Both posts were great and I really enjoyed reading about what he learned his first year as well as his third. His blog is one that would be a very helpful addition to my PLN.