Blog Post #9

"What I learned this year 2009-2010"
This blog post is about Mr.McClung's first year teaching junior high and his struggles. He has always taught science but he had to step out of his comfort zone and teach history, social studies, and a whole new science curriculum. He had to get used to his new 8th grade students. They were more independent then his previous students. It was hard, but he knew he had to find an interesting way to teach to his students to keep their attention.  He talks about having class discussions.He said it would frustrate him because his student's wouldn't state their own opinion. The students would ask what his opinion was and go on from there. He picked a very good way to teach his student's to be independent learners, blogging. He already had a class blog, which he did all the blogging for. He picked a different student, each time, to blog their own opinion on the class blog. This took a lot of stress off of Mr.McClung, and the students could state their opinions.

Mr.McClung talked about finding your school mom. I really liked the paragraph that talks about this. He says to find a co-worker, who has had plenty of experience, and takes their advice to fit your own personal style of teaching. Finding your school mom is very important for new teachers. It will give them great guidance.

He says, never forget what is the most important thing as a teacher, your students. Try your hardest to bring the best effort you can to your students. Always remember it's a privledge to teach!

"What I learned this year 2011-2012 
This is a good and short blog post. Mr.McClung writes a reflection at the end of the school year, talking about what he has learned the whole year. This is his 4th year teaching. He keeps writing a reflective blog post at the end of the year, because he likes the feedback he gets. He usually writes long blog post, but this year he only had two main things he learned.

His first point talks about defining himself as a teacher. He has struggled the whole year with this. He worries about what his peers think of him, as an educator. This is the first year he has ever cared about this. He has stressed out a lot worrying, and it has affected his mood throughout the year. He decides he shouldn't change to please his peers. He works to please his students, and that's all that matters.

The second thing he learned that year was to never forget to challenge yourself. He says don't ever get too comfortable teaching your lessons. Always keep it interesting and change your lessons up each year. He doesn't want his students to dislike attending school. Mr.McClung says, he is going to challenge himself to make changes and become a better educator.