Blog Post 10

Do You Teach Or Do You Educate?


This video shows the difference in being a teacher and an educator. The idea of information being put out in the open for someone to already know how to do it isn’t really the ideal method of teaching. Students aren’t always going to grasp the concept the first time it’s put out there. When I see the word educator I think of someone who would go that extra mile to make a lesson more than words in a book. I think the big difference that would decide if you just teach or if you educate would be the personality and the drive someone has. Anyone can read a book out loud to a student but when that student walks away in five minutes are they going to remember what the book was about?


There are a number of reasons I chose this major. I want a student to be able to say ten years down the road I was one of the people to make a difference in their life. I intend to educate rather than teach by first listening. I plan to listen to my students and get to know them. I plan to build a trust that will be unbreakable with them. Second I will vow to never stop learning. If I am going to an educator I will have to learn new things along the way just like a student will. Technology is the first thing that comes to my mind with that! I want to be able to connect with my students and make them excited to learn and to be at school.

Don't Let Them Take Pencils Home! 

This blog, Don't Let Them Take Pencils Home, I thought was about how many teachers always seem to find the problem rather than the solution. I thought this blog could have been a learning experience on how as a teacher you should always want to take that extra step for the students. Learning in a classroom will only go so far. As I continued to read I began to think there was something else behind this post.  This was interesting to read because it’s not a straight forward type of post. You have to find the message within the post.  Following the links posted by Spencer proved very helpful in my search to the real meaning behind Don't Let Them Take Pencils Home.

After following the link in the post on the blog I realized that I was right. There was a completely different meaning to this post. It was definitely not pencils either! The real meaning of Spencer' s post was about allowing students to take computers home. Gertrude, a character in the post. was concerned that allowing students to take computers home would lower test scores. ( and after all that is all that matters right? NOT!) Spencer wanted Gertrude  to see that allowing the students access did not absolutely mean that they were doing their homework but, it did mean they were exploring and learning.   I don’t think using some form of technology over pen and paper is going to change test scores, maybe it is how a teacher presents the material.