The blog post "Don't Lose Touch" was posted in January 2010
In this blog post, Mr. McClung speaks about communication between teachers. There are teachers that observe their co-workers and discuss different techniques and tools that each teacher uses so that new and useful ideas are spreading for the benefit of others. Other teachers, however, stick to their routine and do not wish to be bothered with how they teach their children. Mr. McClung discusses the benefits of teacher-to-teacher communication. These benefits include staying passionate about teaching by encouraging and "pumping up" other teachers, excelling as a new teacher because of advice from more experienced teachers, and finally, practicing what we preach-why should students work together if the teachers can't even accomplish this?
I'm glad I read this blog post of Mr. McClung. I am the type of person that would easily find a routine and stay tuned with how I teach. This idea of branching out and seeking advice from other teachers seems to be a smart way to go about things.
What I Learned This year
The first thing Mr. McClung discusses in his 2011 reflection blog post is to not be concerned with what people think of you. Teachers' focus should be on the students instead of trying to please others. Next, he discusses how not everyone is as excited about change as he is. He encourages others to be optimistic instead of saying, "This will never work." Mr. McClung has also learned that it's okay to be an outsider-don't worry, he's an outsider in a good way. Lesson #3: Don't do all the work for the student, let them do some of the work. Finally, don't get comfortable. It's easy to get into a routine, however, teachers must stay passionate about what they do, not get lazy.
Everything that Mr. McClung had to say in this blog post was what I needed to hear and be reminded of. I think that I would have the problem of doing all the work for the student. This is a great reminder that even though the teacher can do it better, the student still has to learn.
Hello Eva!
ReplyDeleteOverall, you had a well-written post. I saw one typo ("Other teacherS..." in the first paragraph) but besides that, everything else was nice. I didn't choose to read Don't Lose Touch for my post, but you gave a good summary of what was discussed in it. The benefits from the teacher-teacher communcation were helpful and was a good piece of information for your post. I'm glad that Mr. McClung's blog posts were information that will be useful to you.
Keep up the good work and enjoy the rest of your semester!
Communication is such a big part of our lives. It is such a hard skill to master. I really hope you don't put blinders on and tone people out. Good luck!
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