Blog Post 9

For blog post 9, we read Mr. McClung's blog post, What I've Learned This Year (08'-09'). His post reviews what he has learned as a teacher throughout the course of the school year. One of the first subjects covered is how to read a crowd, which can be hard to do as a young teacher. The ability to read a crowd comes easier with experience, but as Mr. McClung states, a good teacher allows the crowd to drive his/her instruction. Mr. McClung also points out the importance of being flexible and having the ability to communicate. Being flexible is key in education because not every student is on the same learning level, nor can they execute a "perfect lesson" on a regular basis. Communication is another subject covered in the post which is very important because of the variety of people you will come in contact with daily as an instructor. Though teachers hold very high expectations for their students, we must be reasonable and remember they are only kids or "young adults." Adults all over the world seem to have a common problem with technology, that's why it is important that teachers don't be afraid of technology. Technology can be vital in the classroom, which is why it is important for the teacher of tomorrow to be familiar with it. Also covered is the importance of listening to your students, and how it can effect their learning habits in a positive way. At the end of the post Mr. McClung urges the reader to NEVER stop learning, because the more you know, the more you can teach, and as he states, we owe that to our students.
          For the second post I chose to view  What I Learned This Year(10'-11') which was Mr. McClung's third year as a teacher. As we discover in the first paragraph, this is Mr. McClung's second year at the same school, and his third year as a teacher. He then gives the reader insight on how he has had to adapt to becoming a head coach, and also teaching his first computer applications class. The first lesson he discusses from his new year is to know who your boss is. This is important in any field of work, but Mr. McClung is referring to the fact that as a teacher we need to remember why we chose this line of work, and that's for the kids. He stresses this because it is easy to lose sight of your goals when you are worried about pleasing someone, such as your boss.  He warns the reader to not expect others to be excited about change as you are in the next section. I can totally relate because I know how easy it is to have your hopes crushed because of someones lack of excitement. I believe this is important because usually the ones that will accept new ideas and adapt to new ways will make it A LOT further in life. The next topic is don't be afraid to be an outsider, which is somewhat similar to the last topic. He goes over why, as teachers, we should want to be outsider that is always inspired to learn new forms of teaching styles. Don't touch the keyboard is referring to his section that covers why we should make sure our future students get hands on learning. The reason this is important is because you want to avoid doing your students work for them, which is sometimes hard to do. Mr. McClung urges future teachers to not get comfortable in their job as a teacher. This is key because teaching, as everything else, becomes easier with practice. This can cause problems down the road because it is easy to get stuck in a daily routine, and to not challenge ourselves to develop new styles of learning. He offers advice on how to avoid getting too comfortable as a teacher, which is to accept new challenges in order to avoid becoming a LAME teacher. After reviewing his post, I now have a new respect for Mr. McClung, and better understand the tasks that lay before me on my path to becoming an instructor. I have gained priceless information that will help kickstart my career as a teacher.