Blog Post #9

Blog post #9's assignment was to research Mr. McClung's blog page about his his years as an educator and choose at least two post to create comment on and create our blog post. As I looked through each of the links to Mr. McClung's blogs I was fascinated to see just how detailed he was at keeping up and blogging about his ongoing progress as a teacher. The first link I decided to browse was about Mr. McClung's first year as a teacher and titled What I've Learned This Year (2008-2009). This blog post really inspired me to want to look into more of Mr. McClung's blogs because I could see right away just how good of a teacher he is and how much he truly cares about his job. He discusses all the major points he learned as a first year teacher such as always staying positive no matter what and to remember to be flexible in your work as a teacher. McClung also expressed how important it is to be able to read your crowd and try your best to relate to them in ways they understand. He learned that this was a number one key to becoming a successful teacher. One other aspect to always remember as a teacher is to communicate and listen as much as possible with your students and coworkers in order to adequately accomplish goals. The last few points that McClung stressed he learned in his first year was realizing to never be afraid of technology and to never ever stop learning! Reading this post by McClung really enabled me to think about my role as a future teacher. I hope by reading and learning these key points that Mr. McClung learned in his first year, I will be able to carry them with me as I grow to become an educator also.

The second blog post of Mr. McClung's that I chose to read dealt with his 2010-2011 school year as a teacher, What I Learned This Year. As I read this blog post I could not help but giggle because it was completely opposite of the first post I read. With the first post being Mr. McClung's first year as a teacher and this second post is dealing with his 3rd and 4th year as an independent teacher. McClung expresses the key factor as you proceed year to year as a teacher is to not forget the main reason you are a teacher is for the kids! He stated that so many teachers get caught up in trying to impress others and attempting to live up to everyone else's standards when in the end that route does nothing but hurt who is important, the students; point being always put children number one on your priority list. As a four year teacher, McClung says it is fairly easy to set back and allow yourself to become "comfortable" being a teacher. He states that by your fourth year you have pretty well gotten the routine of things down which is good, but unfortunately it seems to hurt some teachers by them forgetting how to challenge themselves to help their students. Two other main points made in this post was never expect others to be as excited about change as you are, because we all know not everyone loves change; do not be afraid to be an outsider was the last great point McClung made in his four years as a teacher post. I felt every point made by McClung was exceptionally beneficial to future educators and teachers as myself.