Mr. Joe McClung started teaching in fall of 2009. He started out in Noel, Missouri where he worked closely with Mr. Chamberlin. After his first year of teaching, he went to Fayettville, Arkansas where he started teaching junior high. At the end of each year, he wrote a blog post describing his reflections on his accomplishments and learning. Here is a summary of two of the three blogs that he posted.
At the Teacher's Desk
A important decision I made this year is stay positive. Mr. McClung started out the year very nervous and did not know what to expect being a first year teacher and especially in elementary school. Seven main things that he learned throughout the year was how to read the crowd, be flexible, communicate, be reasonable, don't be afraid of technology, listen to your students, and never stop learning. With these seven things Mr. McClung thought that it was a very successful year in the elementary school.
After reading his post for his first year of teaching, it gave me several helpful suggestions to keep in mind during my first year of teaching. I am not teaching in the classroom yet, but when I do actually get into student teaching I have those seven things that Mr. McClung learned with his first year of teaching. I also learned how important it is for teachers to blog their ideas and other materials. I feel that if teachers can share their ideas with one another, it will help others around the world.
At the Teacher's Desk
One major thing that Mr. McClung had to do this year was adapt with his students. He went from teaching elementary students to junior high students. That is a very different atmosphere. Also, Mr. McClung found his "school mom". A school mom in his eyes are the ones who have been at that specific school to help him with any problems that he may have throughout the year. One thing that helped Mr. McClung out tremendously was to "check his ego out at the door". He sometimes had to make a fool out of himself so that he students would listen and pay attention to what he was saying. Don't lose sight of what it important is something that Mr. McClung kept in his mind everyday. He would keep the big picture fresh instead of the small pictures that he had to achieve to get the big picture.
After reading his second post,I find it to have changed a little bit from the first one. He went from teaching elementary school to junior high. Which for me is a huge change. I thought that was a big step for him to make. His flaws and strengths both changed when he moved schools. I think that Mr. McClung is a great teacher and has many more years to go with his teaching career.
Hi Sara,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your thoughts on Mr. McClung's blog posts. I like what you said about teachers sharing their ideas with one another to help others around the world. I think this is a great advantage of blogging and can be so important. His posts really discussed some of the most important things that we might encounter as future educators. I liked how your first paragraph was a short introduction of Joe McClung. This really helps the audience to understand the background behind what they are reading. Overall, your post was pretty great. Keep up the good work!
Sara,
ReplyDeleteBe sure to add alt and title modifiers to every picture you post in your blog. Refer to page 13 of the project section of the Instruction Manual for how to do this. It seems you found Mr. McClung's blog very interesting and helpful.