Blog Post #9

All that was Learned

As McClung wrote his blog first blog post after teaching his first year I could really sense that he grew as a person and a teacher. He started out as an elementary teacher and even though it may be hard to believe, he didn't really have his stuff together. However, after reading his post I would ague that he started out as a good ambitious teacher, and became a great ambitious teacher. He stays ambitious, which makes him great. He used this blog to talk about several points that he felt that really stuck out in his career. Three that stuck out in my mind were "Communicate, Be Flexible, and Never Stop Learning." His first point on Communication was really informative and correct. Communication is everything in life, if you know how to talk, you can almost get anywhere you want to go. Take myself for example, I have talked my way through more situations I can't stand to count. Communication allows for an individual to seek out and learn social skills that will open up doors through life. I back communication skills one-hundred percent, which is one of my problems with the rise of technology. More and more kids are getting off the fields of sports and streets of play to go inside by their lonesome and play computer games. This can not be right for the world. With that taken into consideration, communication was a great opening point. Secondly, he spoke of "being flexible" which I also agree is a must in the classroom. I do agree that we are going to want to teach our own way, but with different situations come different methods that we need to formulate.We are going to have to be flexible in order to help our students learn to their own best potential. we also need to make sure we are flexible in the eyes of our bosses. In the job place it really is "their way or the highway." Lastly, "never stop learning" is a great piece of advice that I would argue needs to be remembered in the back of everyone's memory throughout life. Once we stop learning, we stop growing, which would then lead us to stop seeking out information and thus kill all motivation. In conclusion, we should never stop learning.

The Third Year

After his first two years, I really felt that he matured as a teacher and developed his skills as an educator. Mr. McClung was facing many different changes in life. He was in his first school for two years during this section, with new kids and new classes to teach. He expresses in his post how he was nervous about his second year in the same school. Even though he felt more at home, not having to do the whole introduction year again, he was still ready to take on the new challenge. He wrote in one of his posts about making sure you always know who the boss is. He tells us that teachers can sometimes get caught up in the teaching process and the kids that they forget about what the "Man" is saying behind the scenes. "You can't get wrapped up in pleasing people." I feel that this was a quote that directly spoke to me, I have been accused many times of trying to please everyone. In his last section he speaks about not getting too comfortable. I agree that this is an excellent point. Although it would seem more desirable to get comfortable at a place and relax knowing that everything is alright, we must remember that there is always someone wanting your job and aiming to take it if we fail. We must always shoot to stun and astound the bosses in the workplace. Getting comfortable means slacking off a bit. We must not get so comfortable. Thank you Mr. McClung for the posts.