Blog Post #9

     In Mr. McClung’s post he talks about things he learned in his first year of teaching. It is obvious through this post that he is a very dedicated teacher who truly cares about his students and their success. Even though he teaches at a young grade level he recognizes the importance that the skills and life lessons that he teaches. In his post he talks about many different things he has learned: read the crowd, be flexible, communicate, be reasonable, don’t be afraid of technology, listen to your students, and never stop learning (all of which are his titles).
     To read the crowd means to actually pay attention to the students needs. This is something that many teachers tend to forget because of all the requirements that they must meet. They must get to a certain point in the curriculum, pass certain tests, and be ready for assessments. While all of these goals are great it makes many people lose sight of what is truly important in a classroom-learning. Students are missing out on important information because of the mandatory testing and simple memorization of answers for those tests, they cram these answers then when the test is over they forget all the information.
     Being flexible is something that many of us forget. Life changes on a day to day basis, especially when you are dealing with multiple people (students). This is true in any workplace. To walk in with an expectation of what is going to happen that day is a good idea, but if you get disappointed when something goes wrong it can screw up your whole day. Currently I work in a restaurant; it’s an environment where you cannot let people know what really gets to you. If one table bothers you or is disrespectful, etc it can ruin your whole day if you let it bother you. Sometimes you just have to take a breath, clear your mind and choose a new route.
     Communication is key for success in life in general-inside and outside the classroom. One can never be afraid to ask for help or advice. A new teacher may not know everything they need to make it through but there are teachers who have been around the block that can help out. Venting is also part of communication; if you share your problems with someone else you often feel better and may even find a solution to the problem.
     Being reasonable is another thing that is needed in life as a whole. If we expect everyone to be perfect then we will be disappointed every time. As a teacher the last thing we should want is to see our students fail and be discouraged. Everyone has their day when stuff doesn’t go their way, everyone will fail a test, forget their homework, or break a rule but if we call the student out on it and bring them down they may get discouraged and feel like they are worthless. Everyone has to fall at some point but we must be ready to pick them back up, not kick them when they are down. The same rules apply for us, when we miss a goal we cannot beat our self up but instead we need to move on and not make the same mistake.
     Technology, technology, technology….it’s a major part of the world around us, and it’s still growing. Mr. McClung makes a good point when he says many adults are terrified of technology-my mother for example. Without technology in today’s world we will never survive in the classroom and our students will quickly pass us up. We cannot be afraid to press a button, to search what we don’t know and to implement technology into the modern classroom.
     Listening to our students, we all do this right? How many times do we overlook what a student says to us because it seems unimportant? To ignore our students is to fail them. I like that the student in Mr. McClung’s class pointed this out. As a young student they already realized that if they are listened to they feel important. Students tell us so many things that could be important. They may be struggling with the lessons, they may be having problems at home, they may be trying to warn us of danger, or they may simply just need someone to care about them.
     Finally the last thing that Mr. McClung writes about is to never stop learning. We cannot afford to stop learning. If we are teaching the children of tomorrow we must continue to learn throughout the course of our life. We need to teach our children this also. School and life is not about what you can learn out of a book but about the necessities to survive In society, to be informed. Technology is constantly changing (we need to know how to use it), science is constantly in motion (new medical advances and changes in structure will change in textbooks), politics and world events change (our leadership and success as a country). When we walk across the stage and get our diplomas we still have a lot of learning left to do.

     I liked Mr. McClung’s and I have written a lot of it combined with my experiences and thoughts above. What he learned in his first year of teaching is a lot of things that are helpful inside and outside of the classroom. Also much of what Mr. McClung learned applies to both students and teachers (and in other work environments this is still applicable). Mr. McClung’s dedication to teaching and learning is inspiring to me and I believe it will be inspiring to many others who read his post. I would love to be a student in Mr. McClung's class.