Blog Post #9

Mr. McClung's 1st Year Reflection
Happy Sunday! 

I just finished reading Mr. McClung's blog post,What I've Learned This Year (2008-09). In his post Mr. McClung lists concepts he learned through out the year in regards to how he could grow as a professional. Here are his eight epiphanies (most in my own words).
1. Stay Positive
2. Pay attention to your students while teaching
3. Go with the flow
4. Openly communicate with your co-workers
5. "Be Reasonable"
6. Embrace technology
7. "Listen to your students"
8. Be a lifelong learner
For each of the ideas listed above he reflected on his personal growth in these areas. He ended this post with thanking the people who helped him develop throughout the year in these areas.

I wrote a comment on Mr. McClung's post because I was so excited to read a post from a male teacher who humbled himself to write a blog post about his professional growth over his first year of teaching. Here is what I wrote:
"Thank you for posting! You sound a lot like me my first year of teaching. However, it has taken me all this time outside of the classroom to realize how I let my first year consume me to the point where I lost a sense of that positive me. I have two little ones who I am now mothering as a stay at home mom, but I do plan on returning to the classroom one day. Thank God for your gift of being able to reflect the way you have because its only through self reflection we are able to grow as professionals. Again, thank you for sharing!
Brittany DeFalco"
This comment sums up how I feel about this post. Now to the next one! I can't wait to read his reflections on his second year of teaching.

Mr. McClung's 2nd Year of Teaching
Wow! Mr. McClung's 2nd year reflection was even better than his first. In this post Mr. McClung reflected on what he learned his second year of teaching. He learned the following:
1. Adapt
2. Encourage students to think for themselves
3. "Find your school mom"
4. Don't be afraid to be silly
5. Relinquish control
6.Plan ahead
7. Focus on your main objective--the students
8. When you think you know it all, think again
This post was a deeper reflection then his previous year. As he pointed out, his first year he was feeling pretty good about himself as a teacher. This year was more challenging for him and lead him to a deeper refelction of himself and the ways he could grow as a professional.

There are many ways I can relate to Mr. McClung. We began teaching at the same time in 2008, and we are the same age. Our experiences were very similar from the way it sounds. I, like Mr. McClung, am a very reflective person. I like to examine the areas in which I have succeeded and areas in which I can improve. I am doing this constantly as a wife and mother so that I may become more of who God created me to be--a saint! (I have a LONG way to go). I also know that when I go back to the world of teaching I will need to and would like to do this through the form of blogging in order to grow as a professional.

Thank you Mr. McClung for leading by example and showing the importance of self-reflection so that you can grow professionally as an educator!