In this post Mr. McClung gave to me what was great advice, on what he learned during his first year of teaching! He was young, inexperienced, and did not know what to expect. Mr. McClung's first point was, how to read the crowd, it was here that he explained that at first he was too worried about what his superiors thought of him. By doing so, Mr. McClung said that he lost touch with his audience when delivering his lesson. He made a statement in this section that I agree with completely, "In order to be effective you have to be able to let your audience drive your instruction".
Mr. McClung's next point was BE FLEXIBLE! In this section of his post he explains how NO ONE and NO lesson plan is just absolutely perfect. We as teachers can try our best, and beat our self up over every mistake, but at the end of the day it still will not be perfect. Mr. McClung said, "When things go wrong simply work with it, and try to better the situation....and make sure you do it with a smile on your face!". What a positive guy! We have all had/have that teacher who HAS to have EVERY little thing absolutely perfect, but this guy UNDERSTANDS things go wrong and NO ONE is perfect! Oh what I would do to have a teacher as positive as him.
Another part of Mr. McClung's blog was Communicate and Be Reasonable. I agree COMPLETELY when he says that communication is the best medicine. There are not many problems in life that can be solved without communication. As for being reasonable, Mr. McClung states that teachers have very high standards for their students, BUT as teachers you do not need to set them too high. Mr. McClung explains, "They are not perfect and neither are we," he also says, " Our job as teachers is to simply pick them up after they fail, dust them off, and encourage them to try again." EVERY teacher needs to live by this. I am not saying baby your students, but there is a line between being rude and scolding for mistakes. Again, NO ONE IS PERFECT. Students of ALL ages need POSITIVE teachers. Where there is a positive environment, the students are willing to try harder.
Mr. McClung talks about the older generation being scared of technology, but then he explains it just takes time to learn. You are not going to learn everything your first try, but you should not be afraid. Technology is a huge, and growing part in our society today!
He also explains just how important it is to listen to your students. Mr. McClung states, "In order to build the respect that we all seek in a student teacher relationship, it is important to take interest in the lives of our students." Growing up in school I can remember EVERY single teacher who genuinely cared. They were the ones who listened, who sympathized, and who helped. Those were the classes I did best in, not the classes were the teacher put an assignment on the board and walked away. I believe every teacher should care about their student and his or her success.
Mr. McClung's last point was Never Stop Learning! He explains how we owe it to our students to soak up as much as we can. It is never too late to change our way of thinking, learning, and style.
I am SO glad I chose to read this blog. What terrific advice from just a first year teacher! Mr. McClung seems to be such a fantastic, positive, and understanding teacher. I wish more educators were like him, and I only hope I can be at least half the teacher he is.
What I've Learned This Year (volume 4)
In Mr. McClung's forth year of teaching he has learned two main things. First he began to "commit a junior high like sin" and worry about what his peers think of him, and by doing so this effected his mood. It sadly took him half of the year to realize this. Mr. McClung realized he needed to stick with what has gotten this far; which was "are the kids having fun". As long as he sticks to this, remember who he really works for, then he says he should never divert down the wrong path.
Another main thing Mr.McClung learned was to challenge himself He realized he was relying on old lesson plans and getting repetitive. Let's be honest, we all have/had that teacher who does the same thing EVERY year and no one enjoys that! He began to get too comfortable and lazy with his lessons, and students want a teacher that is going to break out new material and make learning interesting! Mr. McClung has an opportunity to teach a different subject this year, and he plans to take this as a chance to get out of his funk and challenge himself.
Years later, and it sounds to me like Mr. McClung still has that wonderful drive in him! I am so very thankful for his blog, and his wonderful advice inside it!
Thorough. Thoughtful. Interesting.
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