Mr. McClung
In his reflective post of 2008-2009 he talked about making sure the lesson was student centered that way you keep their attention and know that they are comprehending what you are trying to teach them instead of just focusing on making it through the lesson. He also mentioned tying not to be too controlling when it does come to the lessons, let there be room for some flexibility because not everything is going to go according to plan every time! To him it is important to practice your communication skills constantly because they will be very handy in your career as well as an open mind for technology. He finally discussed why it is good to keep expectations for students at a normal place and to keep learning as an educator.
His reflective post for 2010-2011 was very student based. he wants teachers to always remember that it's about the students when it comes to teaching.
Change is not always something that people like but he thinks that you should at least try to be optimistic about new ideas, but know that not everyone will be.
Stay true to yourself instead of trying to fit in with the crowd is very sound advice that he gives in this post.
Although most people will find this hard to do because it may mean watching your students struggle, you will need to resist the urge to do the work for students when trying to help them because they will not learn this way.
Make sure to stay motivated and not passive once you've been at it for a bit was the last advice he gave in this post and I agree with him that a lot of teachers become comfortable with their jobs and fell into a routine.
Hey Jeni,
ReplyDeleteI chose you for my C4C this week because my assigned classmate did not do this post. It's actually too bad that he didn't because it had a lot of helpful information. I can tell, just from seeing you with Carter, that you are going to be a great teacher because you really love and care about children. I really think that his advice on not trying to control the way that everything ran is great advice. As new teachers, we are going to be so nervous and want everything to go exactly as planned in our super-developed and thought out lesson plans... but they won't. I think that he was talking directly to me when he said not to be disappointed when the students don't live up to our expectations. I know that I will have to learn how to deal with disappointment from my students but I think that he should have explained that point a little further. I believe that all teachers should have high expectations for all of their students but never scold the students for not living up to them. It is important for the students to know that they are expected to do their best and know that their teacher believes that they have the potential to do better. I think that it is unfair to lower expectations for some students but keep high expectations for others. Do you think that this is realistic? Sorry for the lengthy comment but I really liked this post.
Jeni,
ReplyDeleteIt is clear that you have learned a great deal from Mr. McClung's experiences. Good job on the blog post!
Jeni,
ReplyDeleteI found Mr. Mcclung's posts very enlightening. He gives so much great advice for first time teachers. I think one of the most important things to remember is to keep the students first. I like his points on making sure that you keep your goals for your students reasonable. A lot of times teacher's focus so hard on getting every student to make an "A" or for every child to score above average on standardized tests we forget what is reasonable. Good job on your blog post and good luck on your educational journey!