A Little Help From My Friends....

I am currently working on a top ten blog post list from this previous school year. For me, I have a hard time only picking out ten because I am bit partial to the author ;)
So I thought I would ask my friends and guest, if you have a previous blog post that you particularly enjoyed, please just drop me a comment about which blog post you enjoyed the most. Thank you everyone!

Mr. McClung

Summer Time

As of May 22nd, Noel Elementary has dismissed for summer break. Due to summer break, there will be no regular blog post and no video streaming, who wants to watch an empty classroom....honestly. We will return to school in mid August, have a great summer everyone, and I'll see you in the fall!

Mr. McClung

What I've Learned This Year

When I arrived in Noel, Missouri last fall I was entering my first year of being a teacher. Being young and inexperienced, I did not fully know what to expect from being an elementary school teacher. Since last August I have grown and matured as a person and a teacher, and in the process I have learned a TON. So, I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to share with you what it is that I have learned in my first year of teaching.

How to Read the Crowd
Throughout my college education and teaching internship, I developed a mindset that it was all about me the teacher. Meaning that I was so worried about how I was being assessed by my superiors, that I lost touch with my audience when I delivered a lesson. A common theme that I have seen in a lot of teachers is the fact that they do not make their lessons student centered. They become so concerned with the delivery of the content that they are missing the most important aspect of teaching, and that is checking for student comprehension.

I fell like that this year I have developed immensely in regards to this aspect of teaching. In order to be effective you have to be able to let your audience drive your instruction.

Be Flexible
I have a way I want things done.....sound familiar? While we as instructors like to plan "perfect" lessons, we have to remember that we are performing in front of a crowd the struggles remembering what they brought for lunch that day.

NO LESSON IS EVER PERFECT. THE LESSON YOU TEACH AND THE ONE YOU PLAN ARE ALWAYS DIFFERENT.

At the beginning of the school year I felt like I was trying to control things way too much, and I would beat myself up over lessons and activities that did not go well. I had to get over this. While I always plan to have that elusive perfect lesson, I don't let it get to me and I do not kill myself over my mistakes any more. When things go wrong, simply work with it and try to better the situation.....and make sure you do it with a smile on your face!

Communicate
Communication is the best medicine....I know no one has ever experienced workplace drama, but just in case you know someone who knows a friend that does.....they need to talk it out. Communicating is the best way to resolve any issue in the workplace.

In addition, communication is the pathway to building that much desired rapport with fellow teachers. I know that sounds obvious, but communication is one of the hardest skills to develop, so practice all you can and build those strong relationships with teachers and students.

Be Reasonable
As teachers we hold very high expectations for our students....sometimes they live up to those expectations, and sometimes they don't. Often we build our expectations too high for students, and become upset when they do not meet the expectation.

DON'T.

Teachers can sometimes really loose touch and forget that we are dealing with children. They are not perfect and neither are we. While its fine to have lofty goals for our students, we set our students up for disappointment when a goal is not met and we scold them for not coming through. Our job as teachers is to simply pick them up after they fail, dust them off, and encourage them to try again.

Don't be Afraid of Technology
Grown adults everywhere are afraid of computers like it's a bad horror film and computers are trying to take over the world. Technology is our friend and is essential to living in our microwave society of today. We should not become overwhelmed by technology and simply give up before we start. We cannot expect to master computer skills the first time we attempt them, so jump in head first....the water feels fine :)

Listen to Your Students
You may be the only person that does. Below is an example of a answer that one of my students listed on their end of the year survey that really spoke to me:

I know my teacher cares about me as a person when he.
- Listens to what I say

While this may seem like a standard issue answer to such a question, it spoke volumes to me. I truly believe that teachers do not know enough about the students they are teaching. In order to build the respect that we all seek in a student teacher relationship, it is important to take interest their the lives of our students. It's that important.

Lastly....Never Stop Learning
It's never too late to change your way of thinking, learning, or style. We do everything short of beg students to learn on a daily basis, but sadly some of us refuse to learn and grow as professional educators. We work in a learning environment, so why not soak up as much as you can? We owe it to our students.

In closing I would like to thank everyone that has made my first year of teaching something truly magical. Teachers, parents, bloggers, and of course students....thank you to everyone.

Mr. McClung

Talent Show

We held our annual talent show of the last day of school. Our talent show consists of students grades 3-8 and features singing, dancing, and much more. Below are some of the videos from last Friday's action.


The Dead Fish performing their "synchronized swimming" act


Fifth grader Devin and his version of the robot.


Fifth grader Mark and his dance performance.


Sixth grader Arota performing a Native Samoan dance, second place winner.


....and of course our first place winner in the 6-8 division, Jeff singing and playing Simple Man.


Last but not least, the Valencia Brothers stop by the school to perform a dance routine.


Part 2 of their performance.

A job well done by everyone, and what an excellent way to close out the year on such a high note.

Mr. McClung

Last Day of School

Friday, May 22nd marked the end of our 08-09 school year. Below are a view pictures from last Friday.

Fidel and Ryan cleaning out their lockers in preparation for the summer break.

My homeroom students writing goodbye messages on my white board.



Students enjoying their last Throwdown of the year.

Class photo of students that were present on the last day.

I could not have asked for a better situation for my first year of teaching. I have been surrounded by outstanding colleagues, abundance of resources and technology, and of course an excellent group of students. I will truly miss each and everyone of my students from this year and I wish them luck in junior high.

Mr. McClunghttp://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=7548467820736419534&postID=6421131248760141935#

Field Day '09

Last Wednesday we held our annual track and field day at school. Field Day consist of several different activities and competitions in which students compete against fellow classmates. Activities for this event consist of the following:

• 50-Yard Dash
• Sack Race
• Three-legged Race
• Basketball Shoot-out
• Tug-of-war
• Team Relay Race

Below are some of the highlights from last week's events.

Omar winning the 50 yard dash


Anahi crossing the finish line in the sack race


Valerie and Naomi finishing first, while everyone else stumbles in the three-legged race


My class getting dominated in the tug-of-war


After the the outside activities were over, my class spent sometime practicing our Speed Stacks

Mr. McClung

Jane Hamm

Jane Hamm is a fellow sixth grade teacher here at Noel Elementary, and has been apart of this school since 1983. Earlier this school year, Jane announced that she would be retiring at school's end. With this being the last week of school, much of this week we have been celebrating Jane's career in a multitude of ways, and I wanted to make my two cents heard as well.

At the beginning of this school year, I was very fortunate to have Jane appointed as my first year teacher mentor. Coming into this year I had very average expectations about what my first year of teaching would hold. However, through her guidance and support she helped prepare me for the challenge ahead and she absolutely blew me away. Jane is not your typical teacher, in fact she is the type of teacher that can really bring out the best in a person. Even though I have doubted myself many times this year, her confidence in me has never faltered one bit. Not only has she taken me and helped me become a good teacher, she also makes you want to better yourself as a person.

I truly feel that genuine people in this world are very hard to come by, and when you do find that type of person you better hold on tight and absorb as much from time from that person. Jane is one of those genuine one in a million type of people that can, and do make impacts others lives. She cannot be replaced, and her leadership and companionship will be greatly missed in Noel Elementary. Here's to a happy retirement, and I wish you all the best.

Thanks.

Mr. McClung