Blog Post 9

Version 4 Post (2011-2012)

In this post, Mr. McClung decided he didn't want this end of the year post to be the same as all the others. Instead, he would share the two themes that continued to nag him. In his first theme, You Gotta Dance With Who You Brought to the Dance, he brought out how he had struggled with peer acceptance. In the past this had not been a factor. But for some reason this year he agonized over who he was as a teacher and what his colleagues thought about him. Somewhere along the way he discovered that what his colleagues thought was not nearly as important as what his students thought. So his #1 rule was making sure that his students were having fun. After all, aren't they the ones that truly matter? Instead of changing dance partners in the middle of the dance, continue to dance with the one that made you want to dance in the first place. The second theme was Challenge Yourself.  During the course of the past couple of years, Mr. McClung had taught the same subjects. He had fallen into the same old routine and realized that his creativity was quickly disappearing. He also noticed that he had become comfortable and lazy. Even worse, he realized that his students weren't enjoying his class. At the same time he was offered a new teaching position. He knew that this opportunity couldn't have come at a better time. He realized that sometimes if we aren't careful, we can become creatures of habit. As he embarked on this new journey, he understood what had taken place and chose to use this opportunity to start over.

What I Learned This Year (2009-2010)

In this post Mr. McClung had been teaching for 2 years. This year he had to experience several challenging changes. Through these changes, he learned how to ADAPT.  During his second year of teaching, Mr. McClung was faced with several first time experiences such as: teaching Jr. High, teaching social studies and history, teaching at a large school district, and teaching 3 different subjects. He had to leave his comfort zone (teaching science in the 6th grade) and adapt to a whole new environment. This was a huge difference in many ways. But the most important difference was the fact that Jr. High students loved their independence. Because he had experience in science and was comfortable with the material, he was able to provide a fun and enjoyable learning environment in science. Unfortunately, because he wasn't comfortable teaching history he wasn't able to provide the same environment in history. In return, the students were not learning very much and certainly was not having fun. So, Mr. McClung decided he needed to make a change. He started looking for different teaching styles that would fit both him as a teacher and his students. After implementing the new teaching style, both him and his students were happy. Another lesson he learned was to Find Your School Mom. Mr. McClung found other teachers who had more experience to guide him in the correct way of doing things. He referred to them as "school moms". They were there to guide him and give him sound advice when he didn't know what to do. He encouraged all first time teachers to find someone and adopt them as their school mom. The next lesson that he learned was to Check Your Ego at the Door. Since he had already established his #1 rule (make learning fun), he knew that he'd have to create embarrassing moments for himself. Which meant he had better check his ego at the door. There were also the lessons of The Path Least Traveled and Don't Be a Control Freak. In the lesson of the path least traveled, Mr. McClung wanted to teach the students how to become "independent thinkers". Often this concept goes untaught because teachers are so busy being "Control Freaks". They don't want the students to think for themselves. Instead the teachers want to control every little detail that goes on within the classroom. In his post he talked about sharing classroom duties with the students so that they created a win-win situation. The students learned responsibility and independence while it also eliminated some of the pressure for him.  Another lesson he learned was Scope and Sequence. In this lesson he noticed that the subjects he liked the most were the ones he spent more time and depth on. The subjects he liked least, he spent less time and depth on. In turn the students were not learning key information. During this time he received adversity from his colleagues. The advice given to him from another colleague was to "shut it down". Fortunately he realized that his students were the most important thing. If he chose to "shut it down", the students were the ones who lose. Lastly, he learned the lesson that It's What You Learn After You Know It All That Matters. During this lesson he realized that although he was progressing, he still needed to make improvements. He warns not to get the "BIG head" because something always comes along to humble us. We can always use advice of the more experienced. Our work is never done, we should always be learning and growing. 

I am glad that Mr. McClung made these end of the year posts. I am especially glad that he was willing to share them with us. There are many valuable lessons to learn from his experience. I am sure that I will be facing some of the exact dilemmas in my future teaching career. I believe that there are many teachers who care too much about what other teachers think and forget about what the students think. I have experienced this before when I have been a substitute teacher. I hope that once I get my teaching degree that I will always do what is best for my students. After all, it is about making students want to learn. I hope that I can be bold enough to stand up for myself and my students if the need should arise. I can also understand how teachers can become lazy and too comfortable being in the same grade and teaching the same subject for so long. I know now that as I begin teaching that I need to be cautious about letting this happen to me. We are crazy if we think that it can't happen to us. We need to challenge ourselves to grow and learn every single year. In Mr. McClung post ADAPT, he explained how he had to adapt to many different situations. I know as I enter into the classroom there will be plenty of opportunities for me to ADAPT. Heck, I'm still having to ADAPT in Edm310. Adapting is a part of life. The sooner we learn that the better off we will be. I have also learned through substitute teaching how important it is to connect with those who are more experienced . These people as he referred to are "school moms". These "school moms" can be so influential during our first years as a teacher. We just need to make sure that we choose our mentors carefully. I am looking forward to becoming a teacher. The thing I love the most about small children is the fact that you can act just as crazy as they do and it doesn't seem to matter. We all laugh together and move on. Thank you Mr. McClung for sharing with us. Hopefully your experiences will help us to become better teachers. Maybe by some chance, we will not make the same mistakes because he was willing to share.