Blog Assignment 9

Mr. McClung spoke about a few of the things he learned while teaching his first year at an elementary school. He said that teachers need to check for student comprehension rather than evaluate how they are delivering a lesson. He also said that it is important for teachers to be flexible with their lessons and need to communicate with both students and fellow teachers in order to resolve issues. Teachers shouldn’t have unreasonable expectations for their students, they should embrace technology and not be afraid of it, and teachers should listen to their students and never stop learning themselves. These are all things that Mr. McClung identified as being important for teachers to learn.

I love what Mr. McClung said about lessons not going as planned and that teachers should understand that they won’t always work out as they hoped. I wish more teachers would get this because it’s really not fair to the students when teachers rush through material just to meet a certain timeframe, and leave students struggling as a result. I liked the proposal of being flexible with the lessons. I think some of the best lessons in school are the ones that generate class discussions, even if they don’t exactly stay on the original topic. Also, when it comes to the teachers continuing to learn, I think it should be required. Students relate what they learn with current events and trends, so if someone has a question requiring that kind of information, a teacher should know what that student is talking about. When they say “I don’t know,” and leave it at that, it’s a little disappointing. That’s why I like Dr. Strange’s slogan of “I don’t know. Let’s find out.” If the teacher comes back later with a response to the student’s question, I think it shows how much that teacher both listens to and cares about the students. Overall, I think these issues that Mr. McClung discussed are great things for current and future teachers to learn sooner rather than later.