Blog Post 9

"What I've Learned This Year" by Mr. McClung
Link

Mr. McClung sounds like he had a wild ride in his first year of teaching. His post was all about what a young teacher picks up in the first 180 days in the driver's seat of an elementary school class. He points out several key ideas that will be extremely helpful in how I treat my students. I like how he says "While we as instructors like to plan "perfect" lessons, we have to remember that we are performing in front of a crowd the struggles remembering what they brought for lunch that day." It's sometimes hard to grasp when I'm sitting in class learning about teaching in all these clinical terms that, yes, they are, in fact, children. I also liked his advice on talking to the kids and fellow teachers about the problems in the classroom. Sometimes just listening to their problems is all someone needs you to do. Mr. McClung learned a tremendous amount in his first year of teaching, and I hope to take what he learned and build on that to learn even more in my first year to be the best teacher I can be.