Special Assignment

For our special assignment we were to check out Mr. McClung's World, a blog set up by 8th grade teacher Joe McClung, and answer a few questions about it:

Something I found out about Mr. McClung is that he feels strongly that all children do not benefit from "traditional" education methods, and so he branches out in his own classroom. He says in his blog that he tries to bring high energy to his classroom and works to keep things "fresh and fun" for his students. He also says that he likes to focus on group and partner activities that will keep his students engaged. I think that his methods sound like they would be very successful, because he keeps things interesting for his students rather than giving them the same old same old every day. As an educator, I would expect he is very successful because he cares about keeping things interesting and keeping his students engaged in their education.

Mr. McClung's classroom rules were particularly interesting to read. They really show some of his personality, he seems to enjoy his kids and want to have fun with them while they learn. He also presents future teachers with ideas for how to run their own classrooms someday. For example, his Gestures method of teaching, where he has the class mirror his own hand gestures as he explains something, seems both fun and helpful when learning about a difficult concept. I also liked his scoreboard idea. It seems like something that would make students more apt to listen and follow directions when they are getting points for it!

The first thing under "Everyone needs" is a day planner. I think that this is the first requirement to keep teach his students organization and to keep them on time with their assignments. When comparing Dr. Strange's rules about late work with his, one would see that they are sort of similar, though his are more specific. He lists the amount the grade drops per day, while Dr. Strange's is a bit more vague, only saying that consistently late work can result in a D in the class.

What Mr. McClung hopes to accomplish with his blog is a connection with students, teachers, and parents, that will keep them all informed and involved in class assignments, projects etcetera. He also wants his blog to be a resource for all those involved with his class and hopes it will be the main vehicle for technology in his classroom. This blog is very well set up and something that I could see parents and students alike enjoying. It has tons of helpful information about his class and what is happening in it, something that I'm sure parents of his students appreciate. Mr. McClung's idea to create a blog like this is a good one, and one that future teachers should consider doing for their own blogs, both as a way to keep their kids involved and learning in through technology in their classroom, and for students and other teachers to know what is going on.

Useful links:

Arkansas Framework - Arkansas History 7-8 - This link was to the Arkansas History class curriculum for grades 7 and 8.  It explains what the class' purpose is as well as a tentative schedule for what the class will be covering week to week. This would be very useful for the parents of students in his classroom to know what was being covered at any given time in the classroom, and that is why I think they made Mr. McClung's list.

Biology Corner - This link contains information on all things Biology, including information on dissections and anatomy as well as ecology and evolution and many more. It looks like a great resource for students, other teachers, and parents alike for information on assignments, information from classes they may have missed, or just general biology information.

His rules about Internet Safety are spot on! This is an issue that I was wondering about, with all of the teachers we have seen assign their students to us blogging and other internet resources in their classes, what are they doing to ensure their privacy/safety on the internet? I liked his rules, they seem like good guidelines for students at that age that will still allow them to use their blog but also keep them safe.

When looking at the category of Arkansas history, I found a lot of videos made by his students on whatever topic they were learning about at the time. For instance, When discussing the Civil War, the topic of leadership came up. Mr. McClung has his students draw either a Union or a Confederate soldier and list the characteristics of a good leader, then recorded one group's presentation on the topic. This was a great way to get the kids involved in learning and thinking for themselves. Rather than just telling them what was right, he had them really think about it for themselves and them learn from each other about it. I thought that this was a really good idea.

One thing that I liked about Mr. McClung's blog was that he was able to post music on it. I'm sure that blogger has some way to do that since we are able to post videos and pictures to our blogs, but this is something that I had not explored yet and I think it is a nice touch.

Like I have said, Mr. McClung's blog is useful to teachers, students, and parents alike for many different reasons. He keeps them up to date with in class videos on assignments, which is useful both for students who may have been absent or parents who want to know what their children are up to in class. He has a list of useful links, all of which can be used by parents and other teachers. Everything that is needed for the class is also on the blog, the full syllabus, the rules, the assignments, everything.

I think that the main difference in the other blogs that we have looked at in this class is the sheer amount of information on this blog and how easy it is to navigate. It was not difficult at all to find information on this blog, everything was either on the home page or, for the one thing that I could not find right away, only a quick search away. Mr. McClung also posts a lot more of the class's activity on the blog than I have seen before. Looking through everything on this blog would take ages, which is really good, because that means that his class has been using this technology consistently. I think that Mr. McClung should be applauded for the work that he has obviously put into this class and this blog. It really shows the kind of person that he is and how much he cares for the success of his students!