Blog Post 9

For this assignment, we were to read Mr. McClung's blog At the Teacher's Desk, specifically his posts "What I learned this year" from various school years.

In 2009, Mr. McClung's messages that hit closest to home with me were be flexible, stay positive, and listen to your students. We have all started dreaming up these elaborate perfect lesson plans in our classes that we can't wait to implement in our own classrooms once we become teachers. We have grand plans that they will go exactly as we imagine them. The reality is that we will likely have several disasters. It is important to realize that lesson plans will have to be changed from year to year and class to class. Not every student or group of students learn the same, and the classroom dynamics are always going to be different. We need to remember when things flop, to stay positive and not get discouraged because everyone fails occasionally. The final thing to remember is to focus on doing things effectively and making sure you are meeting your job requirements for your principals and administrators, but never forget to make sure you are listening to your students. We cannot be successful teachers if we become so involved in trying to make everything perfect and pleasing for our administrators and let our students suffer.

In 2010, Mr. McClung reminds us that we need to be ready to adapt our styles and preferences to make sure we are doing a good job. We might get comfortable in a certain niche and prefer teaching 3rd grade science or 10th grade American Literature, but there are times when we might be asked to move from our comfort zone to teach something we have never done before and don't really know how to approach. We need to be constantly assessing what we are doing to see if there is a better way to teach it. He also says it is helpful to find someone who has been at the school for a while particularly when you are very new somewhere and latch on to them as a valuable resource. If they take you under their wing it can make your transition considerably easier.

In 2011 you can see that Mr. McClung is really blossoming where he has been planted and developing more wisdom. His advice this year is not to be afraid of being an outsider. It is better to keep to yourself than to get involved in drama in the teachers' lounge. It is important to remain true to yourself so that you can be true to your students. He also tells how important it is for us to guide our students in the right direction, but that we need to remember they aren't learning anything when we get frustrated and end up taking over the reigns.

All in all, I think I will make my own sort of tradition like this one - a year in review at the end of the school year. I think it would be great to keep track of what I have learned each year, and it might prove helpful to future teachers to see how I developed my teaching philosophy as I went along. I really think this was an interesting assignment.