Blog Post #10

Do you Teach or Do you Educate

After watching this video, it did make me sit and think about if I teach children or do I just educate them. In the video, the definition of teach is (1) to show or explain how to do something. (2) encourage someone to accept something as a fact or opinion. (3) give information about or instruction on. (4) cause someone to learn or understand something. (5) induce by example to do or not to do something. With seeing all of those definitions that describe the word teach. It is something to think about before you enter the education field. Do you want to just explain how to do something or do you want to actually engage with the student and make sure that they fully understand the concept of what you are telling them. Also, the definition of educate according to the video is illuminate, enlighten, inspire, and power. Those are some very strong words that describe educate.

I believe that teachers are doing a small part of both teaching and educating in the classroom. I feel as if the kids look up to the teachers in a sense that they are teaching them the things that they will need in the upcoming years of school. The major reason that I became a education major is because I want to make a difference in children's lives. I feel as if a teacher has a very large impact on the student and will make "changes" in their lives. I can still remember some of the teachers that I had in elementary school and the impacts that they had on my life. Some of those impacts are the reason that I want to become a teacher and change the lives of our future today!


Don't Let Them Take Pencils Home

Don't Let Them Take Pencils Home is a post about a School Curriculum Instructional Interventionist Academic Specialist who talks to Mr. Spencer about allowing his students to take pencils from the school to their home. She had recently posted a journal article stating that children who use pencils at home instead of pens have a lower score on the standardized tests that they have to take in school. Mr. Spencer took a different approach to the situation at hand. He thought that it would be good to meet with the parents and have them filled in on what the students are doing in the classroom and some of the things that they could learn from using something as simple as a pencil. Educators today need to worry more about the solutions to the problems that the schools have more than the problems at hand.