Blog Post 9

Mr. Joe McClung

What I learned this year: 09-10. is a post by a teacher named Joe McClung from Arkansas. He does a summary post every school year detailing the lessons he learned from the previous school year. I chose to write about his second post (from his second year teaching) because I thought that by the second year some of the luster may have worn off. I figure that almost almost all first year teachers see their experience through rose colored lenses, idealizing the experience in some way. Mr. McClung's second year of teaching illustrates this point in a way because during this year, he seems to have had numerous difficulties with administration issues. While never explaining what these are, he does offer some extremely beneficial advice on dealing with these types of issues. He says that if he would have allowed these issues to affect the way he taught his class, then the students would be the only people hurt. The people causing those problems for him would never have been affected, but the students wouldn't have received the quality education they deserve. I thought this may have been the best advice in the whole post. I think it is extremely important to treat the classroom as a type of separate environment where teachers can't allow their personal or professional problems to affect their work.

He offered numerous examples of other good advice throughout the post as well. He says that it is important to "check your ego at the door", which basically means don't be afraid of looking ridiculous occasionally if it helps students learn. Teachers shouldn't be concerned with looking cool or maintaining an image of perfect solemnity. This doesn't mean they should act unprofessional, but it is perfectly fine for a teacher to become extremely enthusiastic when teaching. This should be encouraged because it definitely helps maintain student attention.

Another great piece of advice he offered was what he called "the path least travelled." Basically he describes how teachers generally have a plan for where they want to lead conversation and the topics discussed in class. While some structure in discussions is a good thing, too much can lead to limits on student capabilities. Sometimes students have to be allowed to explore different areas of discussion and learn to think for themselves.

Mr. McClung's most recent post is shorter than his others and almost seems to contain less enthusiasm than some of his previous posts. This post details the pitfalls that can come with worrying about what peers think. We all have a need to be liked by our peers and colleagues, but this post talks about not letting that need affect one's teaching negatively. The most important part of being a teacher is always the quality of the teaching. This seems intuitive, but some teachers seem to have forgotten this.

The last part of this post talks about "challenging yourself." This is an important step in the battle against stagnation. Mr. McClung talks about how he became reliant on old lesson plans and methods of teaching, so when he was offered the chance to tackle a new subject, he took it. This is a very good disposition to have and one that can be quite difficult to obtain. Often we become stagnant in our work because it's the easy way out, and this is a dangerous mindset. Continually challenging myself in my work is something I hope to improve upon as I finish my studies and become a teacher.

These posts are excellent resources for any future educator. I hope to continually revisit them once I become a teacher and learn from someone else's experience to improve my own teaching ability.