Lesson 1: Tie Tuesday Shows No Limits

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Above is a picture of one of my first hour “Tie Fanatics” and his normal Tuesday attire. On this particular Tuesday he sat out to achieve a goal….his goal, to wear as many ties as humanly possible (mission accomplished). He spent his Monday night tieing every single tie and placed them around his neck, wrist, and hung must a hundred from his belt……that’s dedication. This young man is already in the hall of fame and has nothing to prove, but for some reason he is constantly is trying to out due himself from week to week. Which I think is great, it displays a fantastic attitude and outlook on school. It does not always have to be about books and pencils, you can make everyday your own.

Lesson 2: Learning Can Still Be Fun

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We started this week off on the right foot, we wrapped up an activity called “Spudoodle”. This activity included taking genetic traits from two parents and passing them off to an  offspring….or spudoodle. Students really enjoyed this activity and gave them a different perspective on how genetics work. Classes can often become bogged down with pen and paper work, sometimes it is refreshing when you step outside that box and try something different and hands-on.

Lesson 3: We’re Much Closer Than You Think

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This one comes from the random file. In my classroom I have an Australian Rules Football, from Mr. Lamshed, that I proudly display on my bookshelf. At the beginning of the year I had a student recognize the footy and told me that he had a friend from Australia that was a big Crows fan. I informed him that I received the footy from a good friend that was a Crows fan as well. The student told me that he has always wanted to attend a game if he ever receives the opportunity. At this time I shared with him some stickers that Mr. Lamshed sent me with the footy while I was still at Noel. The student was geeked up about the stickers and quickly displayed them proudly on his binder…..where they remain to this day. Seeing these stickers today, it made me realize that the physical gap that separates all of us is a lot smaller than we realize. These types of connections and stories mean a lot to myself and my students….and it was all made possible through blogging.

Lesson 4: Don’t Be “That Guy”

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“This sucks I’m not doing it at all”….this was on the back of an assignment that I gave to my students today. Needless to say I was thrilled with the discovery of this creative “piece of literature”. When I first found this I wanted to be upset, but after thinking about it for a while I realized I needed to hold those feelings back. The way I see it is that it is my job as a teacher to make sure that the work we do in class isn’t pointless…..in other words make sure it doesn’t suck. Many teachers would take this as an opportunity to give a lecture on character and having the a correct attitude in class. A lecture is the last thing these kids need, they receive plenty of those on a daily basis. Instead I see this as a teachable moment.

One of my favorite sayings, in regards to classroom discipline, is “we never scold, we just rehearse”. So that’s what I’ll do. I constantly preach to my students that we gotta stay positive and by letting my anger get the best of  me would go completely against my own principles. Instead we will use this as a learning opportunity, I need to make things more relevant and I will ask my students to not be “that guy” who brings everyone else down and stay positive.

Mr. McClung

One thought on “Lessons Learned”

  1. Hi,

    My name is Katie Johnson and I’m from the EDM 310 class. I read your post about the note on the back of an assignment. After reading what you posted, I completely agree with you. It is better to rehearse how you want your students to act instead of scolding them. As a future teacher I hope that I can follow the same saying.

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