Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Mr. McClung- What I've Learned This Year

This is a picture of a piece of paper with the words
I really enjoyed this post by Mr. McClung. He shared his feelings and experiences from his first year if teaching, and he had many helpful things to say. This will be a post that I may need to refer to before I enter my first year teaching. There were quite a few things mentioned that will help me in my own classroom. I thought it was great that he mentioned that the lessons should be student centered. Different classes will learn in different ways and at different rates, so this is an important thing to remember. He also mentioned that the lessons do not have to turn out just as the teacher expects. It is alright to make mistakes, even for the teacher. Mr. McClung mentioned the importance of communication. I am a firm believer that communication is one of the key ingredients to a strong foundation for a relationship.

Mr. McClung tells us to be reasonable. This is one of the most important things that I got from this post. No one is perfect, and teachers have to allow room for the students to improve. I think that it is good to challenge students and encourage them to do their very best, but I think that it is important for students to feel that glorious feeling of accomplishment more than they feel the disappointment of not reaching their goals. He also says that we should not be afraid of technology. I agree that technology can be a useful tool in the classroom, and students need to be comfortable with technology because they will be using it daily. Mr. McClung said, "Listen to your students. You may be the only one that does." This is very true, and I hope that I am a teacher that the students can approach and talk to because, again, communication is important. Another big statement that Mr. McClung made was, "Never stop learning." I think that teachers should want to learn as much as possible for the students and for themselves. I know that I am excited that I am going to teach a field that is constantly changing and growing-science. So, sometimes I may have to learn with my students, and that sounds good to me.

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