Tuesday, May 24, 2005

Things I wish I'd known...

I came across The Daily Grind, a blog written by a recently qualified English teacher in the USA. His reflection on teaching and the classes he teaches make interesting reading and I've added a link to his blog in the Interesting Blogs section at the right-hand side of this page.

I was directed to his page because of the controversy he caused inadvertently when he made some unguarded comments on his blog. The section I chose to show my pre-service students was his post titled: Things they forgot to teach me in college. It's a really good list and I can relate to every one!

I would add one of my own. Carry everything with you - pencils, punishment exercise sheets, board pens, ... Everything that should be in the classroom you teach in, but that you will be unable to find when you really need them!

I have suggested to my students that they start their own teaching blogs and I think The Daily Grind gives an excellent model of a reflective practitioner: thinking carefully about what he is doing and engaging in discussions about education. I hope some of the PGDE students will get half as much out of blogging as Mr. McNamar seems to have got from writing the daily grind.

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2 comments:

Mr. McNamar said...

David,

Thank you for the adulation--after my episode earlier, all support, in its various forms, makes getting back to blogging much easier. I certainly encourage all instructors who wish to reflect to at the very least try blogging. If as instructors, we wish to improve, we must be willing to analyze our practices as well as the pratices of all. Good luck to your future educators.

David said...

Thank you for your comments. I am interested in the potential of blogs as a means of encouraging reflection... It seems to have worked for you. :-)

Thanks again for your interesting blog.