Blog Post 8

What I've Learned This Year

Hi Mr. McClung. My name is Pauline and I'm a student in Dr. Strange's EDM 310 class this summer.
Your blog was really introspective. It's easy to forget to self-examine ourselves when we've trained so hard just to get to the playing field to start the race. And now that we are all running in hopes to create a better tomorrow, we have to still double-check ourselves. A lot of students aren't aware of the expectations that we place on them, so when we get frustrated with them, they are just as bewildered. I think most teachers have a little bit of a perfectionist in them, but it's like how you say, well-planned lecture don't aren't always executed perfectly. Sometimes we need to let ourselves off the hook, students too, and when life gives us lemons - we just have to do our best to make lemonade.
Thank you for sharing your experience.

I enjoyed reading his reflection on his first year of teaching. His heart really is to be there for his students. And it's said that we are to be all things to all people. So depending on your audience is how we are supposed to be. Not putting on shows or anything like that. When I'm hanging around teenagers I'm the fun, cool, young adult that doesn't necessarily act her age. When I'm teaching teenagers, I'm still funny, but I take on an authoritative air. Sometimes I'm their friend and other times I'm their teacher. But even with my peers. All parts of the way I act are all still me, but whomever I'm with, it depends on their need how my behavior is played out. Overall, I agree with Mr. McClung, that we need to be in-tuned with our students as individual people as well as their academia persona.