Blog Post 9

What I've Learned This Year (2008-2009) by Joe McClung

Even as a teacher, your learning experience will probably never end. At the end of the 2008-2009 school year, 6th grade teacher Joe McClung decided to document some of the lessons he learned from his first year of teaching in his blog. How to read a crowd, be flexible, communicate, be reasonable, don't be afraid of technology, listen to your students, and never stop learning. These are valuable lessons to learn, and I'm lucky to be able to read the lesson plan beforehand without life needing to teach these to me the hard way. I found these to be the most valuable for me.

1. "How to read a crowd." Don't let the lessons be all about you, the teacher, and your delivery of the lessons. You can't focus on how your superiors are judging you, you need to focus on whether the students are understanding the content. I worry about what others think way too much. While it's good to be self-aware, you shouldn't let it affect your teaching unless it's how the students are reacting to your teaching style. Be receptive to their feedback.

2. "Communicate." As it says on the tin, communicate with others. I'm a pretty shy individual, and get nervous when talking to people I don't know, even if I hide it. But according to Mr. McClung, it's the best cure for workplace drama and builds a good relationship with your colleagues and students, and that's more important than silly insecurities. Communication isn't just about talking--it's listening, too, and listening to your students and taking an interest in their lives can gain you their respect (another lesson McClung learned). So, I'll need to step it up in the communication department from here on out.

3. "Be reasonable." Have reasonable expectations of your students--you're doing them a disservice by expecting perfection the first time, because it's setting them up for failure and disappointment when you get onto them about it. You're the teacher, you're supposed to be helping them learn. I get pretty impatient when people don't understand something the first time I explain (example: trying to teach my younger brother anything), so, while I don't need to lower my expectations of them, I don't need to take it out on them if they don't make it. I just need to keep encouraging them and show them the way.

4. "Never stop learning." You can choose to; you can decide that what you're doing is fine, and to just keep on going the way you're going with no regards to whether there's a better, more fun, more effective way out there. But don't stop, because it's better for yourself and, more importantly, for your students, if you're willing to change the way you work. I'm learning even when I don't want to, because I know someday this information won't just be useless junk on my hard-drive--it will be something I'll come back to again and again; unless I learn of something better.


What I Learned This Year (2010-2011) by Joe McClung

Even three years on, Joe McClung is still able to make a blog post about the lessons he's learned throughout the 2010-2011 school year--this time as an 8th grade teacher. The lessons he learned this school year are: know who your boss is, don't expect others to be as excited about change as you are, don't be afraid to be an outsider, don't touch the keyboard, and don't get comfortable. Of course, I found some more valuable then others, so here we go.

1. "Don't be afraid to be an outsider." It's okay to stay true to yourself, especially if that means you'd rather focus on your students than seek approval from your colleagues. I have always been okay with being an outsider--communication, as I said, is not my forte, so I'm used to it. If I end up being an outsider among my fellow teachers for focusing on students? Well, as I said, I'm used to it. But this is definitely an important lesson, because many people are not used to disapproval, especially from those they consider colleagues or acquaintances.

2. "Don't touch the keyboard." This lesson Joe McClung learned from another teacher who he regularly went to for advice. If you're teaching something, don't take the keyboard into your own hands to show them how it's done. No matter how much they struggle, you should resist the urge to help them by doing it for them. If you do it for them, they won't fully understand the skills you're trying to teach. My brother and I do this to each other all the time. If one of us is playing a video game and the other asks to show them how to do something, whoever is teaching will often get frustrated with the player bumbling around under their directions and simply say, "Let me do it, it'll be faster." Of course, then we'll fight over it, because we both know if we don't do it ourselves, we won't really understand how to do it.

3. "Don't get comfortable." This, I think, goes hand-in-hand with "never stop learning." Don't let yourself get too used to the routines of each day. Shake it up a bit--volunteer for things you might not have considered being a part of before, challenge yourself with new tasks. I know every day, when I go to work, I dread the same, boring routine I follow every day. There's nothing challenging about it--I unpack boxes and pick up clothes all day around the store. I actually got excited about cleaning the back room, one day, because it was something different. So if you can, do something different, don't let the ease of established routines cause you to stagnate.