Blog Post 9

What I've Learned this Year

No matter how many classes or degrees people may get, they will never fully be prepared for their futures in their field of choice.  So thank you Mr. McClung for pointing out life lessons that I cannot learn inside a classroom.  McClung illustrates seven lessons that may be helpful to other educators.  Although I want my students to drive my lessons, it will not be easy for me to let go of the instruction and throw the plans out the window.  Will I still attempt to construct the most detailed lesson plans ever? Yes.  But do I really want to talk through out the entire class without any interruptions? No.  I want my students to ask questions often.  I want them to start conversations that they will learn from and remember long after they are out of my class.  It isn't that hard for me to imagine beating myself up over lessons going awry.  My biggest obstacle will be learning to go with the flow.  I see that he uses situations like these as an opportunity to better the situation. Which is something I will be able to develop once I am actually in a classroom.  Expectations.  Well, I have many friends and family members in the education field that have told me on several occasions that my expectations of my future classroom and students is extremely too high.  But guess what, I would much rather have too high of expectations than too low.  I want the students to strive to meet my expectations, but if they don't, I will just have to deal with it.  I'll get over it.  What I won't get over is going into a profession where I have to lower my expectations so the children can meet them.  I will never lower them, I will help them reach it.  Most importantly I want to listen to my students.  Not only do I want to hear their needs so I will know the best way to get through to them as far as lessons go, but also I want to build a relationship with my students so I can earn their respect and they will want to reach my lofty expectations.  So once I graduate and go into my own classroom, and eventually forgetting how to be a good teacher, I'll look back at this post to remind myself.