Blog Post #9

What I've Learned This Year (1st Year)
In this blog post, Mr. McClung talk about his first year of teaching elementary education.  Mr. McClung's first year of teaching was in Noel, Missouri.  He admits to being young, inexperienced, and didn't know what to expect from being an elementary teacher.  In his first year reflection blog, he talks about the things he learned from teaching.  Mr. McClung learned how to read the crowd, be flexible, communicate, be reasonable, don't be afraid of technology, listen to your students, and lastly, never stop learning.
I enjoyed reading this post, because as an upcoming elementary teacher, these things are very helpful when entering the classroom on the first day of school.  His insight on his first year helped me tremendously and also gave me hope.  This post helped me to realize that everyday will not be the same! The part that most helped me was when was talking about listen to your students.  Although, we may not think children appreciate when we listen, they do.  You may say student's don't know if we listen or not, they do.  Listening may seem so minor, but it affects student's, and they appreciate it significantly.  No doubt, this blog has gave me hope for my first year.

What I've Learned From This (3rd Year)
In this blog, Mr. McClung talks about his 3rd year of teaching as an elementary teacher and coach.  He explains the many different things that he has learned from the first day of teaching up until now.  Mr. McClung has learned from and about knowing who his boss is to never getting comfortable.  He states that it is a must to ALWAYS stay an energized teacher and never be afraid to accept and learn new ideas.
I enjoyed read Mr. McClung's post.  This is because it showed me that all teachers aren't the best on day one.  Teachers learn on a daily basis and accept their imperfections and work on them.  Teachers must be able to accept the fact that every lesson WILL NOT go as planned.  Mr. McClung says that he used to stress all the time because he his lesson didn't go as he planned them to.  Being an elementary teacher, hardly ever will lessons go as planned because elementary children are so random, that you can never predict them.  I enjoyed reading this post and will take the many things that Mr. McClung addressed with me into the real world when I begin teaching.