Sunday, March 25, 2012

Blog Post #9

header of Mr. McClung's Blog Page

I decided to write on Mr. McClung's first year as a teacher. His blog What I've Learned this Year attempts to unfold his introduction from student teacher into the realm of teacher. He explains how certain misconceptions in teaching about what was expected of teachers really played an inconsequential roll in actually teaching. He went in like we all do trying to please our supervisors instead of focusing on the important aspects, the student. As his year unfolded he learned some key points in the day to day life of a teacher. Be flexible in your lessons for the day, "there is no perfect lesson plan". Communication is key to interpersonal relationships with teachers and students, "build those strong relationships". Don' be afraid to use technology in your classrooms no one is an expert at first, "so jump in head first....the water feels fine". Never stop the learning for yourself or for the students, "We work in a learning environment, why not soak [it] up...". These and other key points mentioned in his blog were the foundations that Mr. McClung has learned to utilize in his teachings. His success should be our lessons.

I decided to read Mr. McClung's latest post, What I've Learned this Year to see if his beginning fruitions still held true. I was surprised, not only did he still cling to those beginnings, but he expanded on them. According to his post he has focused more on the students than before. His first bold statement reads,"Our decision making process should always be student centered and not centered around pleasing adults". This bold declaration builds upon his earlier remarks about teachers should focus on students instead of their supervisors. His last comment really hit home for me as an aspiring teacher, "Don't Get Comfortable". We so often get our dream jobs and we excel in them to the point they become routine. When this happens we get comfortable, this can be a bad attitude to have in some workplaces, especially teaching. Mr. McClung see this as a way for teachers to not grow, to not succeed, and to let education down. As teachers he states, we should be "movers and shakers...". Teaching should be dynamic. So education does not end up "stagnant" 
I have read Mr. McClung's first and last reflections and I believe them to be uplifting and eye opening. I would like to continue to look to his blogs as a guide in my own upcoming profession. I believe his blogs could further my teaching skills and offer an inspiring way to look at teaching. I thoroughly enjoyed his parts on don't be concerned if you are an outsider with other teachers, focus on the students. I myself feel immature sometimes, Mr. McClung said it worked for him in his class. He did what most anthropologist do, he lived with the school natives, students, and they accepted him. I want to be like that, I want to be accepted by my students, so I can build a stronger education within them. 

3 comments:

  1. Jason,
    I really loved the enthusiasm throughout your post. I too think that Mr. McClung's posts are very eye opening. It is as if you are getting the inside "scoop" of how your future career is going to go and what to look forward to.
    Keep up the good blogging!
    Heather

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  2. Jason,

    I like how you quoted Mr. McClung throughout your post! It was interesting and different, yet, remember that we want to read YOUR thoughtful response about the content - whether it be a poem, song, narrative, paragraph, whatever it takes to get your own point across. =)

    Thanks,

    Rebekah Lloyd

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    Replies
    1. First let me say thank you for the constructive criticism. I like learning how others perceive my writings. Just for my clarification, I typically don't link much in my post because I want people to hear my words and my thoughts more than the one I am summarizing. But Mr. McClung, I felt was mirroring what I want to do as a teacher. He was able to put experience into words. This is something I lack because I have not had the pleasure of educating young minds. His quotes that I used, I feel, are truly important for up and coming teachers. I wanted those thoughts to stand out as people read my post. I wanted people to see my desire to apply his thoughts into my educating journey. We all do it when we write, talk, or learn. We are inspired by someone, who we think is special, we quote them, use their way of thinking in our thoughts, or mimic them. This is how we grow. I am not saying put Mr. McClung on a pedestal, but we should really take to heart his thoughts on communicating and educating students and try to implement them in our future classrooms. I was trying to use his words as a template for the way I feel about education. What better way to do this than by quoting the source.

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