Blog Post 9

AT THE TEACHERS DESK

Joe McClung's Reflections on School Year 2008-2009
I paid a visit to Joe McClung's blog post from May 27, 2009.  At the time, he was an elementary school teacher at a school in Noel, Missouri.  He had just come to the end of his first school year as a certified teacher.  He used this blog as a platform for reflection on his first year as a teacher.  He listed and elaborated on 7 lessons he had learned from his experience.

How to Read the Crowd 

Be Flexible

Communicate
Be Reasonable
Don't be Afraid of Technology
Listen to Your Students
Lastly....Never Stop Learning


In my first year as a para-educator, I had to learn all these things the hard way just like Joe did. I found out that sometimes I could tell what kind of day it was going to be after seeing the faces of my students in the morning. I found that I had much better days when I stayed positive. I was scared to death of technology before I took this course, so I did not advocate for its implementation into our lessons. However, the teacher I worked with did a marvelous job of using the technology she had available with the students. Students are avid body language readers, and if you do not listen to them, they will know. I'm working hard on his never stop learning advise right now. I think all first year teachers would agree with Joe on the factuality of the lessons he learned, and that all aspiring teachers should read this post.

Joe McClung's Reflections on School Year 2009-2010

I also took a look at his reflection blog post from after his very next school year.  He seemed a lot more mature in his writing as well as his thoughts.  He had quite a few changes in his life and career since his last post.  He moved his life from Missouri to Arkansas, and he moved from teaching 6th grade to teaching 8th grade.  In my opinion, Joe made some serious changes to his life, which explains his mature demeanor in his post.  

Joe formatted this post in a similar fashion to the previous.  However the lessons he learned in his sophomore year of teaching had changed somewhat.  This time he had 8 lessons that he derived from a year he regarded as unpleasant to say the least.  His lessons are:

Adapt

The Path Least Traveled
Find Your School Mom
Check Your Ego at The Door
Don't Be a Control Freak
Scope and Sequence

Don't Lose Sight of What's Important

It's What Your Learn After You Know It All That Matters

I think it's funny how Joe's first and second year reflect my own.  Although I wasn't a real teacher, I felt and received all the same lessons as Joe did.  In particular, his lesson of adaptation hit me the hardest.  I feel like possessing the ability to adapt is paramount in the classroom.  All to often, the school will have some event or gathering, not to mention students being absent.  Adaptation is a must when trying to juggle the many aspects of teaching.  

In conclusion, I feel I must be a little blunt.  Teaching young people is a huge undertaking.  Each year that passes by is different.  The overall demeanor and culture of each different generation is unique.  Children today are not the same as they were only 10 years ago.  It will be up to us as teachers of the reformation to be adaptable as the years go by.  The positive is that we will have access to all the latest trends and cultural changes at our fingertips.  The internet makes it possible for people like Joe to write their experiences, and for people like me to learn from those experiences.  I will take Joe's lessons with me when I begin my career.