Blog Post #10

1.Do you Teach or Do you Educate

Do you teach or Do you educate was an inspiring film. It is a short film explaining the difference between teaching and educating. It was clear from watching the video that educating involves passion, while teaching can be accomplished with little or no passion at all. To teach is simple, all it takes is to show or explain how to do something, but to educate you must be able to empower, enlighten, inspire, illuminate, encourage, and guide a student.

As a child, growing up I was never really too sure of what I wanted to be/do, however becoming an educator wasn’t one of those jobs that was at the top of my list. It wasn’t until I had joined the Army that I realized I had a passion to educate others. It always brought me joy to share my new found knowledge with others. As the short film states to teach is to “show or explain how to do something”. This task is very simple and just as it is simple to explain it is simple to forget once the lesson is taught and over with. I want to be the type of educator who inspires students to be passionate about learning. I want my future students to know that with the power of knowledge they can achieve anything. I want my future students to know that even if no one else believes in them, I will be there to support them. The way that I see it is, I will be a stepping stone for my students. My job as an educator is to help my students succeed in life so they may help me in life as well, because like they all say our children are our future.

2. Tom Johnson’s: Don’t Let Them Take the Pencils Home
“Don’t let them take the Pencils home” is a short story about an argument between Mr. Johnson and Gertude the school’s Curriculum Instructional Interventionist Academic Specialist. Gertude argues about how students taking pencils home causes as a distraction and in turn causes the students to have lower test scores. Mr. Johnson views the idea of not allowing students to take pencils home as absurd. He tells Gertude that he has spoken with the students and their parents, in which he explained ways that pencils could be used for learning. He then goes on to say that he has come up with a program where the parents learn certain skills that are being taught to the students, so that hopefully the students may stay interested in learning even when the students are home. He also explains that the point of creating the project was to show the students and parents that pencils are not just for entertainment but can be used as a learning tool.

I really enjoyed how Mr. Spencer uses a pencil to portray the idea of using technology in our class rooms and in our student’s homes. It was very clear what the message was. We cannot look at technology as a distraction but as a learning tool. I can see how some teachers and parents can only see the bad in technology, but this is because they themselves do not know how to fully utilize the benefits of technology. With today’s society revolving around the internet we have to learn how to incorporate technology into our children’s learning skills. I feel one of the main reasons we have students dropping out of schools and not seeking higher education is because they simply lose interest. If incorporating technology is what we need to do to keep students interested, excited, and motivated then I don’t see anything wrong with it.

Another great point in the story is the fact that Mr. Johnson got the parents involved. I know growing up anytime I was on the computer doing something for school my mom always thought I was just goofing off and wasting time. It was hard for her to take me seriously because she didn’t think that technology had evolved to the degree in which it was able to be incorporated into school. I believe it’s time for teachers, parents, and administrators to stop viewing technology as a source of distraction. We must realize that in our society of ever evolving technology, it will be and already is a norm in our classrooms.