Blog 12: On McLung's Lessons and FabLab 4 Teachers

Adapt: The bit about the difference between middle and Jr. High students expounds on the educational psychology of development. Both are sensitive development periods, but children in Jr. High do exhibit more independence, and a need for such. So, adaptive teaching is needed to balance the cognitive development of students in certain age groups. In middle school, children are still experiencing industry vs. inferiority, needing more encouragement and confidence in their skills. But in Jr. High, they are entering into identity vs. role confusion. They are exploring independence and developing a sense of self.
When Mr. McLung didn’t know how to teach history without becoming the “ghost of history teachers past”, he decided to do the research on classroom management, tactics, lessons, etc. Learning and discovery is a major part of adaptation.
The Path Less Traveled: AWESOME! Here, Mr. McLung explains how many educators present their own biased opinions in class discussions. Instead of fostering an environment in which students are free to discover their own opinions, teachers who stay hooked on their own biases are detrimentally affecting their students. As a teacher, you hold the “right” card. If you’re constantly expounding on your own views, students are likely to soak up the information as a lesson, automatically assuming the teacher is right. This does not give students an opportunity to think for themselves: a harder and harder task in today’s society. We need to realize that no matter how passionately we may believe some things, it is okay for people to hold opposing opinions, as long as those opinions are well-researched and defended. We have the obligation to allow people to believe whatever they want, and to foster their search about why they believe those things. If we simply go on and on about our own beliefs, students feel there is no reason to research.
This reminds me of an AP Psychology teacher I had in high school. He was by far the best teacher I’ve had. The reason is because he would take on the characteristics of whatever concept he was teaching. When he was discussing behaviorism, he would BE a behaviorist; when talking about Freud, he “believed” in psychoanalysis. This kept him from running into his own biases, and kept the students from knowing his views on any subject. This plays into the “check your ego at the door” section, which we’ll get to in a moment.
Find Your School Mom: Not all schools provide mentors, and sometimes when they do, the mentors aren’t too good at mentoring. Finding an educator with experience, excellent classroom management, and who will coach, encourage, and “stick up” for you is so important for newer teachers. Not only do you have a friendly fish in the crazy sea of school, you have someone who can tell you about “sharks” they’ve encountered in their career. 
Check Your Ego at the Door: salesman is a good term if you take away the negative connotation of a greased-up man in a 50s style suit trying to sell you a car. The best teachers are the ones who aren’t afraid to “make a fool” of themselves, display passion about what they’re teaching, and who encourage interest in that subject. I have recollections of the same psych teacher mentioned above standing on his head, arguing about what made a coffee mug a coffee mug, and encouraging debate. He was so thrilled about schools of psychology, his students were too!
Don’t be a Control Freak: Flexibility is key. This is something mentioned in the first “What I’ve Learned This Year” reflection. I responded to that in a previous blog, saying: Perfection doesn't happen in a classroom, but the lessons are absorbed best when mistakes are made (by both the students and the teachers).
Scope and Sequence: The material that is to be presented must be presented in a logical order. While teachers do not need freak about time or script, they need to make sure that the order in which they’re presenting information is methodical and makes sense to the schemas of the students.
Don’t Lose Sight of What’s Important: Yes, evaluations, colleague relationships, administration, rules, laws, etc can all be pretty daunting, and we can lose a lot of our time and energy focusing on and dealing with these things. But at the end of the day, we’re in school for the students. It’s an ideology that dies too young, and we’d do well as educators not to forget it, at whatever level.
It’s the Things You Learn After You “Know it All” That are Important: The phrase “Don’t become a professional stagnant” pretty much sums it all up. We’re in education; therefore, we must continue to seek education, alongside humility.



Mr. McLung:
I've read "What I've Learned This Year" versions 1 & 2 as assignments for Dr. Strange's EDM310 class. Here is a link to my comments on version 1.

Your comment about the differences in independence in middle vs. Jr. High students is extremely perceptive, and is a well-needed point for teachers. In middle school, children are still experiencing industry vs. inferiority, needing more encouragement and confidence in their skills. But in Jr. High, they are entering into identity vs. role confusion. They are exploring independence and developing a sense of self. This is based on Erik Erikson's stages of psychosocial development, and is basically a bunch of "flim-flammery" to say, awesome! I agree whole-heartedly.

We have the obligation to allow people to believe whatever they want, and to foster their search about why they believe those things. If we simply go on and on about our own beliefs, students feel there is no reason to research.
This reminds me of an AP Psychology teacher I had in high school. He was by far the best teacher I’ve had. The reason is because he would take on the characteristics of whatever concept he was teaching. When he was discussing behaviorism, he would BE a behaviorist; when talking about Freud, he “believed” in psychoanalysis. This kept him from running into his own biases, and kept the students from knowing his views on any subject.

Salesman is a good term if you take away the negative connotation of a greased-up man in a 50s style suit trying to sell you a car. =) The best teachers are the ones who aren’t afraid to “make a fool” of themselves, display passion about what they’re teaching, and who encourage interest in that subject. I have recollections of the same psych teacher mentioned above standing on his head, arguing about what made a coffee mug a coffee mug, and encouraging debate. He was so thrilled about schools of psychology, his students were too!

I appreciate your posts, as they have been a great learning tool, and a reminder that we must all be reflective. I've added At the Teacher's Desk to my PLN, and I hope we can communicate more in the future.


video 1.
This looks like a really cool program to do projects. I like how it engaged the students and motivated their excitement when they were finished.

video 2.
I will certainly use this tool in my history class to help students learn about geography! Not only will it help them place situations in a global context, but it also shows topography, which is very important when considering state-building.

video 3.
This is a very relevant viewpoint when it comes to education nationally. Students need to be engaged in scientific and mathematic learning, and it needs to be through tools that do not frighten them.

video 4.