Blog Post # 9

In Mr. Joe Clung's summary of what he learned from his first year of teaching,
May 27, 2009, he touches a few subjects that really hit home with me. First, he mentions you must learn how to read the crowd. He explains that in your first year it is easy to forget who your audience is. We are used to creating lessons to please our instructors. It's easy to forget that our audience (especially if teaching elementary school) "struggles remembering what they brought for lunch that day". This also leads to his points on being flexible. It's ok if you plan the "perfect" lesson and things just don't go exactly like you planned. You may get started and realize that your teaching the gravy and your class hasn't even gotten the potatoes yet. This may set you back a little, but don't panic. Communication, this is a big one, we must be able to communicate not only with students but with parents and fellow faculty members. Create some allies (friends), make your own little support system. There will be times you will need it and you have to have good communication skills to do this.

Be REASONABLE, I encountered this kind of situation the other day, when I read this I knew exactly what he meant. I was at a school week before last, the name of the school is not important and neither is the name of the teacher, the class was having an ice cream party for the students that had reached 90% on their AR (accelerated reader) goals for first quarter. Every student in this class had reached 90% except one, she had only made it to 89%. Therefore, she was not able to attend the ice cream party. Not only was she not able to attend the party, but while the other students were at the party she was in another teacher's class working on the computer trying to get to 90%. After the party all of the students came back to class including the 89% student. The teacher asked her if she had reached her goal, "No, mam... still 89%", she said. The teacher said, "Well sweetie, ya know, I just don't get it.... I mean you're just gonna have to try harder.. there is absolutely no reason why everybody else can get to 90% and above and you just can't get past 89%." This conversation was not only in front of me but in front of the entire class, that still had chocolate syrup in the corner of their mouths from the ice cream party. I thought to myself, first of all, there may very well be a reason why she can't get past 89%. It's great that everyone else is at 90% and above but she may not be able to get there, and that's ok. Talk to her, find out what it is... and don't forget that is the goal that you the teacher set for her. Remember 89% is not bad, it's a good score, it's above average. Look at what her score was on the first test, has she improved? Because if she took the first test and made 75% then ending the quarter at 89% is AWESOME, and deserves a reward.
He also touches on not being afraid of technology, we have EDM310 to get us ready for this one! His next piece of advice is to listen to your students. This is so important, you need to know where your kids are coming from. Everyone, I repeat everyone has a different story, get to know them. You don't have to be nosey, just listen. When my daughter was in K4, we went on a field trip to the pumkin patch. This sweet lady read a story around the fire place to the kids. At the end she was asking questions to them in reflection of the story. She asked, "How many of you have someone that loves you?" of course they all raised their hands. Then, she pointed to some of them and asked the question, "Who loves, you?". I'll never forget when she pointed at one of the little ones, he replied, "Mrs. Davis, I know she loves me." He looked up at his teacher and smiled. He had always been the wildest one in the bunch, but then it kind of made sense. Listen to 'em....
The last thing he mentions is never stop learning, hopefully we all know why this is important. We need to be excited about learning if we want our students to be excited about learning. Not to mention things are changing everyday, we need to make sure we stay up to speed.

In his post after his second year of teaching "What I have learned" June 15, 2010.
He talks about how things didn't go as smooth his second year as they did his first year. He had to learn to adapt, when he was switched from sixth grade to eighth grade. He was also teaching a history class when he was used to teaching science. Science involves a lot of "fun" learning through discovery, and he learned that it was hard to make history "fun" to learn. He also mentions to find a school mom, someone with experience, who knows how things work. She will help you when you get into a jam. Also, even if you are having problems with fellow faculty or admistration, make sure that this does not affect your teaching. It's not your students fault there is a problem, so don't let it affect their education. He closes with "It's what you learn after you know it all that matters." Think about that statement for a moment... It's huge!! It is very important that we remember, that when we graduate we will walk away with our chest out. Because we are college graduates, and we are educated! Don't forget to be humble, keep learning you will NEVER know it all.