Blog Assignment 9

Mr. McClung’s Life Lessons For Teaching   
For our blog assignment 9 we were required to read two out of three of Mr. McClung’s blog post. His blogs are based on what he has learned from that year of teaching. I decided to read his first blog from 2009 and his third blog from 2011. I was really impressed with both of the blogs I read. He made some very interesting discoveries about himself and his students.
Year 1         
 In his first blog from the school year 2008-2009 he is writing as a young inexperienced teacher. He made many discoveries in this school year. There was a total of seven things that he really came away with from his first year. One of the biggest to me was learning to be flexible. With me currently being a K2 teacher I have learned this to be my personal Golden Rule. The mood and environment of your classroom does not only depend on your mood that day. The mood of your classroom is going to depend on your students mood and what is going on in their life. This can determine what all you can accomplish in a day. Another factor in being flexible is sometimes your students may not catch on to a lesson as quickly as you expected them to. When students do not catch on to something as quickly as you had hope sometime you have to revise your plan. Mr. McClung made the following statement and it is one I think all teachers should live by, “ No lesson is ever perfect.The lesson you teach and the one you plan are always different.” Students sometimes need flexibility and do not need to feel so pressured. As a teacher though sometimes we put too much stress on our self to stick to the plan.
     Another point that really stuck out to me was be reasonable.  Especially, when we are new teachers we want our students to be the best. They will be the best in your eyes because they are your students. In some cases we focus so much on schedule and wanting to prove our worth as well as our students’ that we expect to much from them. It has always been said that we are our own worst critic. Sometimes a student needs to know that you are on their team. It can be really disappointing when you have a student that does not do as well as you thought because they are kids and they can have rough times in their lives.We should set standards for our students but we should always be there supporting them and pushing them forward even if they do not always meet those standards.
    Listening to your students and communication go hand in hand. We do not always know our students situation and they may not always tell us. We can as teachers learn to listen and to respect what our teachers say. Sometime school can be the only safe place in a student’s life. If this is the case then as teachers we need to continue to make them feel as if they are safe. Communication between students and teachers forms respect for one another and allows us to understand what one another is trying to accomplish.
Year 3    
 In Mr. McClung’s blog post for the school year 2010-2011 he really encounters many new experiences one that teaches him many new lessons. My favorite thing that he gained from this school year was do not get too comfortable. As a teacher you want to constantly challenge yourself. As teachers we need to be the “movers and shakers” as McClung states. We have to get out of our comfy pajamas and try something new. Teachers are there to teach as well as motivate their students. We can not encourage and motivate the young people of today if we are not willing to keep doing and learning new things yourself.
     The other big point that I really got

from this blog was one that he got from another teacher. She had learned a piece of advice that she now passed on to McClung. The advice is, “don’t touch the keyboard”.The point of this advice is that in her previous job you never wanted to take over the task or keyboard while you were training a new employee. As teachers we can not take over a task when a student has difficulties; in taking over the task the student is not learning. Sometimes a student may struggle with an assignment our job is to find another way to explain in to the student in order for them to understand it as well as allow them the practice they need to master the skill.
    I was so impressed with Mr. McClung’s blogs. He has really taken the time to reflect on his year of teaching and to take what he learns to better himself as an educator. We are facing new challenges and experiences daily it is up to us to decide what we learn from them. As a teacher we need to be able to walk away from any experience learning something.