Blog Post #9

On Mr. Joe McClung's blog post What I've Learn This Year (2008-09), he writes about what he learned from his first year of teaching. The first thing he learn was to be more student centered. He stated that most teachers become so concerned about delivering the content that they forget whats more important in teaching, which is checking for student comprehension. He also writes about being flexible. He says " NO LESSON IS EVER PERFECT. THE LESSON YOU TEACH AND THE ONE YOU PLAN IS ALWAYS DIFFERENT." I believe this because there is no way anyone can stick to exact lesson plan because it will be hard and boring. There will be mistakes but Mr. Joe says "work with it and try to better the situation.

He also talks about communication. It can be hard sometimes but communication is the key. Do not let things get out the hand with fellow teachers or students. Always work things out with them and find the best solution through communication. Also he states to not set high expectation for students. They are not perfect and so are teacher. We cannot expect them to meet expectation if we have not done it ourselves. "Our job as teachers is to simply pick them up after they fail, dust them off, and encourage them to try again." 

Mr. Clung also writes about not being afraid of technology, technology is our friend. I love technology so that would not be a problem for me to introduce to my students. I learn so much in this EDM310 course that technology is a blessing. Another important tip he gave was to LISTEN TO YOUR STUDENTS. I feel that this is important in teaching or not. Never know what they is trying to say is important. I also agree with him by taking the time out to know your students. At the end of his blog he states never stop learning. As educators, I think its important to learn as much as we can because something is always changing or being added into our world. I loved his blog post, it just makes me more motivated to do what I have to do to feel the experience of being a first year educator.

Mr. Joe Clung blog post What I've Learned this Year (2010-11) was about his third year of teaching. It was his first year staying at the same school for more then one year, his first year of being a coach and coaching cross country, and also was his first year teaching computer applications. His first tip in his blog was know who your boss is. He was pleasing other teachers and adults more then he was focus on his students. Every teacher should know that the students come first, that is the reason why they choose this profession. What ever is going on in my personal or professional life my students will always have my number one attention.

He also writes about not to expect other to be excited about change as you are. He said he have never seen his optimism as being a fault, but that year he was shown that it can create barriers in the teaching profession. He also enjoyed professional development session because of the quality material being presented. He also writes about not being afraid to be an outsider. I would not mind being an outsider. I do not fit in with most crowds. I like being to myself and only with those that care for me and my well being.

Don't touch the keyboard. Mr. Joe states that it's best if the students learn on their own with only your help. Showing them every step is like doing all the work for them. If teaching a task to the students and they do not understand it's more easy to take over and finish the task for them. So never touch the keyboard. I also liked when he said "Our students will struggle a little bit in the front end but it will help them excel in the end game."

At the end of post he states not to get comfortable. He was fearful of becoming a teacher that would become comfortable so he join committees that he would had never joined. "While routines are good in the sense they allow me to be more effective, they can also be bad because they can foster apathy." Being a teacher is more important to me because I can make a difference in a child life. I will use Mr. McClung advice and tips till I reach my day one. He has said a lot of advice that can be very helpful in the long run. It was a good post.