“What I’ve Learned This Year” By: Mr. McClung
This post about Mr. McClung’s first year of teaching was really inspiring. I felt that everything he had to say made so much sense and his response to his own thoughts about teaching are extremely helpful. He starts off by saying that reading the crowd is one of the first things he has learned from being a teacher. Basically, we don’t need to focus on ourselves. Don’t worry about doing the lesson plan perfect because the superiors are watching. We need to focus on the students and make sure they are actually learning. He then talks about being flexible and being able to communicate. These two thoughts, in my opinion, are two of the most important ideas. Throughout high-school, I played sports and if it weren’t for my teachers being flexible and able to communicate with me I would’ve failed majority of my classes. I missed many classes due to away games and my teachers were always willing to work with me to keep me on top of my assignments. Being responsible was another thing Mr. McClung talked about. If a teacher isn’t responsible he or she really shouldn’t be teaching. Our job as educators is to never let the student get down on themselves for not doing well; this is being responsible. After responsibility comes technology. He says we shouldn’t be afraid of technology. I am so thankful to be taking this class because this class alone has taken me out of my comfort zone with technology and introduced me to so many amazing things. I agree that no one should be afraid of technology and everyone needs to realize it is here to make our lives so much easier if we would let it. Another great point brought up my Mr. McClung is to always listen to your students. This is so important because if the students realize you don’t care, why should they care? I had a few classes in high-school like this and to this day I regret not caring. I had teachers that would just give everyone As and I was ok with that because as long as the teacher didn’t care, I didn’t care. Finally he talks about how important it is to never quit learning. Once teachers accomplish their goal of becoming a teacher, many believe their learning process is over and it’s now time to teach. Wrong. Teachers should always be willing to learn while they teach. I really enjoyed what Mr. McClung had to say and I agree with him 100%.
Hi Kristin,
ReplyDeleteYou did such a great job with your summary/response post. I will be linking this to a few of your classmates posts so they can use your work as a measure of quality because of three things.
1.) You took time to digest what he said, and you thought about what was most meaningful to you.
2.) You connected his points with circumstances in your own life.
3.) You said you agreed, and you gave examples and reasons why you do. (It would have been just as acceptable to disagree so long as you do so with logical reasons as to why).
One way you could make this post even better is by discussing how the lessons in this video will affect the way you teach a couple years from now.
I do have one question, though; you said, "Our job as educators is to never let the student get down on themselves for not doing well; this is being responsible." Was this his idea or yours? Do you agree? What is the alternative (i.e. praising failure)?
Great work,
Anthony
Hi Anthony,
ReplyDeleteIt was Mr. McClung's idea originally that we need to keep our students positive, but I just reworded him rather than quoted. I do agree with this idea and I think the alternative would be ignoring a student's emotions and feelings towards their grades.
Thanks for the comment!
Excellent post Kristen!
ReplyDeleteBeing afraid of technology is not an option, especially for teachers in this day and time. This would be like a carpenter being afraid of a hammer, a solder being afraid of guns, or a policeman being afraid of a radar gun , it just will not work! Teachers must embrace computers, software, the internet, smartboards, etc. because these are the tools of our trade. SS