Blog Assignment #9

In this blog post by Mr. McClung titled "What I've Learned This Year", he provides a reflection of his first year of teaching. One of the things he learned was "how to read the crowd." You have to let your students drive your instruction, because after all, they are the ones learning. He also said that you have learn to be flexible and communicate. I know that communication is key and I feel that I am a pretty good communicator. However, I know that I will have to learn to be more flexible. He said you also have to be reasonable. I completely agree. Studies show that high teacher expectations yield higher achievement of students. But  you have to be reasonable and if a child does not meet your expectations, you needn't scold them and put them down. You need to encourage them to try again. Another point he made was to not be afraid of technology. I see this may be a problem for some. Out of 160 future teachers that are currently in EDM 310 there are more than a few that are choosing not to complete assignments. I wonder if this is because of their hesitation to learn the technology we are being asked to use. Mr. McClung's last point is to be a life-long learner. I think this is very important. In today's society, things are changing all the time. As we saw at the beginning of the semester in the 'Did You Know?' video, the top 10 in demand jobs today didn't exist in 2004. As teachers we have to be life-long learners if we are going to be preparing children for jobs that do not yet exist.