Mr. McClung's what I've learned This Year 2008-2009
During Mr. McClung's first year of teaching he basically learned the majority of the Do's and Don'ts as a beginner teacher. Mr. McClung explains how one should be able to read his or her crowd. He talked about how he was so worried about being assessed by his superiors, that he lost touch with his audience and the delivery of his lessons. I often worry that when I become a teacher, I will worry so much about getting my lessons done on time and meeting all of the required standards, that I may lose the attention of my students. Mr. McClung believes that in order for one to be effective, he or she must be able to let their audience drive their instructions. With this being done, the students will feel involved and more interested in learning. Mr. McClung also mentions the importance of being flexible, reasonable and communicating; they will play a great role in teaching experience.
Mr. McClug also talks about the things a teacher should not do. He feels that a teacher should "Not be afraid of technology" and "Never Stop Learning." I agree. Society is constantly changing and as a teacher we should stay caught up with it. In my opinion the world will be technology based one day and students should be taught the basics now. The use of technology will also give teachers more resources to explore so they will be more effective with their teaching methods and materials. Also, a teacher should always be willing to learn. As I stated before, society is constantly changing; therefore, there is much more to learn, constantly. There is always room to learn more.
Mr. McClung has learned new things as a third year teacher. He is now a cross country coach and a computer applications teacher. One of the things he mentions as a teacher is to know who your boss is. He talks about how it is important not to lose sight of the students and not or get that they are the reason for teaching. We can not become so entertained in trying to please every individual. My favorite thing Mr. McClung talks about is "Don't touch the keyboard". The importance of this is to not be that person who does the work for students instead of helping them. Be the person who does more explaining and less taking over. Mr. McClung states it like this: "The idea is that if you touch the keyboard and take over the task that they are not trying to learn than they will never learn how to do it on their own and you end up doing all the work." This is a great concept. I have found myself doing assignments for students while trying to explain to them the steps and process of their assignment. So I think we all can learn from this.
It is hard sometimes to sit back and watch the student LEARN by trial and error. It's so much easier to do it for them but when we do that, we're not actually helping them at all.
ReplyDeleteHey Kashondra! Awesome post; I also worry that I'll get too caught up in assessments and the like to be an effective teacher. Great sentences; your writing flows well, which I love!
ReplyDeleteTwo quickie suggestions:
(1.) Close the quotes at the end of the last paragraph.
(2.) In your last paragraph, I might reword this sentence: "The importance of this is not to be that person who is out to help others, but finds them self doing the work instead of teaching it.", because it sounds to me at first like you're saying not to be the one who helps others. It may just be me, but I might consider rewording.
Happy blogging! One month and two weeks left of the semester!