Sunday, November 13, 2011

Blog Post # 9

Mr. McClung school teacher



Mr. McClung
I chose to read and comment on Mr. McClung's first two years because I wanted to stay in order just to see where he went from being a rookie to someone who's seen the ropes. My impression that I get from him is that he is a driven person that truly cares about improving young people's learning experience.

At the end of his first year he has up at the beginning of his summary "Stay Positive". So simple but why can't we remember to practice that? He then talks about how he went from standing up in front of a group and his approach being about him in charge to going with the flow more or less. Be flexible. If you have a plan in your head and it comes out different don't try to steer it back to what you originally wanted. It's coming out that way for a reason so improvise and go with it. Nobody is perfect and if a bar is set too high for either you or your class then the end product of the class will ultimately fail. Communicate with your peers and your students. Feedback from that communication will make your students better and yourself. Better those around you and don't be afraid of new ways to convey what you are teaching. Utilize technology and embrace methods outside of the box. If we stop learning then you hinder your ability to provide and optimal learning environment for your class. Don't be that teacher!

The summary from the close of his second year in Arkansas really displays his growth as an educator. His progress points are more matured and in depth compared to his first year. They don't seem as obvious, meaning there was some serious digging that he had to do internally to seek what he did to make himself better in his profession. He had to adapt his approach because he taught an older group of kids his second year. The mentality of which he had to use was more mature and is methods needed to match the student. There was a higher demand to think outside the box to keep his lessons from becoming stagnent. He also realized that he didn't want his kids to be giving an exact answer that was expected. Instead he wanted to promote individuality and free thinking. Letting the students give an answer in their own opinion, not making things up, to express what they came away from a topic from their point of view. He also allowed himself to be taken under the wing of a more experienced co worker. Setting pride aside and finding a comfort from what McClung referred to as "school mom" to help bounce issues that he was having off of to help him get back on track. The best advice that I came away with from either of these readings can apply to any profession out there is to CHECK YOUR EGO AT THE DOOR! I personally hated every teacher I ever had that seemed to get off on proving me wrong in a class because they had an arrogant nature. Nobody is going to want to listen to someone like that. Students are like a shopping cart when you first walk into the store because it's empty. As you check off the items on the list going up and down the isle the cart begins to fill up. By the time you get to the check out line there is a full cart and it is ready to be unloaded for those goods to be put to their particular use. Don't betray the trust that your students have in you because each one of those individuals have a promising ability to be unveiled someday.

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