Blog Post #9

Mr. McClung's World 

Volume 4 Post (2011-2012)

For over four years now Mr. Joe McClung has kept interesting blog about his classroom during his first years to teaching.  In this blog post he recaps what he has learned in the past year during his fourth year of teaching.  In his latest blog post he gives us two tips on which to focus on: you gotta dance with you you brought to the dance and challenging yourself.  In Joe's first tip he explains that you should always remember that having fun in your classroom is more important then the reflection of your peer's. In his second tip he explains that as a teacher you should never stop learning new things and expanding the creativity of your students.  His goal is to never become lazy and maintaining his will to present his class with exciting material. 

Every part of his 4th post rings true to my desire to become a elementary teach, and always remembering that having fun in the classroom is my prime objective.  I remember too many experiences as a learner sitting in a desk unfocused in class because my teacher did not want to have fun, and thought that learning shouldn't be fun either.  To a certain degree, I will always remember that the children in the classroom are much more important then gaining the satisfaction of my peers; simply because I'm here to make an impression on the children's lives, not on my peers'.

Volume 3 Post

Mr. McClung is back, well technically he wrote this before the post above.  Nevertheless!!  An equally beguiling post defining the lessons he learned in his third year as an educator.  This post gives us four tips to remember as we enter our careers as guides of academia including:

      1. Know Who Your Boss Is

Many times I remember feeling as though I was not the important part of the classroom.  Instead, the teacher was too worried about the principal's reactions to her teaching or the organization she was displaying.  He reminds us to always remember that we chose this profession to make an impact on the lives of our students and not on the lives of our administration.

       2. Don't Expect Others to be as Excited About Change as You Are

As an educator we must always remember that the children's point of view is just as important as our own.  We may see a child in the corner on Facebook mumbling to themselves in emotional tone, but they may see a nerdy person in the front of the class with freakish interpersonal skills. 


      3. Don't be Afraid to be an Outsider

He lines this topic up with the last one and says that since we will be facing waters outside of the mainstream we can possibly become an outsider.  Embrace it!  It is much more important to be proud of the work you are doing with the students than the social life you have with the other teachers.  Don't be afraid to play your music too loud, to be immature, to eat lunch with the students rather than the faculty, or connect technologically with your students.

         4. Don't Touch The Keyboard

This is a term Joe picked up from his mentor in the faculty who worked for an airline training center.   He applies the principle to his classroom by allowing the student to struggle on their own in the beginning because it will allow them to excel in the endgame.  Resist the urge to do the work for the student, and instead allow them the opportunity to fail so that they can learn to complete the task correctly on their own. 

          5. Don't Get Comfortable

                       "The biggest fear a teacher should have is becoming comfortable" 

As Mr. McClung moved into his second year teaching at a new school he felt it was much easier to complete his teaching duties.  He felt comfortable in his new groove and complacency was beginning to set in.  To combat this new stagnant feeling he found himself joining clubs he would never have before and enjoying activities that were alien to him.  We must be "movers and shakers" in our schools and challenge ourselves everyday to benefit ourselves and our student body.