teachers vs ed
Week 1 – Discussion 2
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Teacher vs. Educator
Read the “Teacher vs. Educator (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.” article and reflect on a school leader who has been influential in your life. Based on the example given in the article, explain why you would categorize that influential school leader as either a teacher or an educator.
Guided Response: Consider and respond to the ideas shared in at least two of your classmates’ posts. Provide your reaction to how they categorized that influential educator. In addition to your two classmate responses, be sure to In addition to your two classmate responses, be sure to respond to any questions or comments posted by your instructor.
You can use the Writing a Good Discussion Board Post (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. document to help create your responses.
Teachers vs Educators: Which Are You? – Work in Progress – Education Week Teacher
http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/work_in_progress/2016/05/teachers_vs_educators_which_ar.html?cmp=eml-eb-popweek+05132016[6/30/2016 12:25:02 PM]
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Starr
Sackstein
Starr Sackstein teaches writing and
journalism in New York City. She is a
National Board-certified teacher and
the New York director for the
Journalism Education Association.
Sackstein is also the author of the
book
Teaching Mythology
.
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Teachers vs Educators: Which Are You?
By
Starr Sackstein
on May 5, 2016 5:00 AM
How often do we meet
people who leave a
lasting impression?
How many of those
people were
educators who spent
time helping to sculpt
us into the people we
are today?
This past weekend I
had the experience of
a lifetime when I
presented my first
TedxTalk at a
TedxYouth
event at Burlinton High School in Massachusetts.
All of the speakers were very inspiring, but I’d say that the student speakers stole the show.
Timmy Sullivan, a senior at Burlington High School, closed the event with a compelling talk
about the difference between teachers and educators, which got me thinking (and I’m sure
I’m not the only person who was wondering which
he’d classify me
as).
First he sought to define what a teacher is using the dictionary. Courtesy of Webster:
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Teachers vs Educators: Which Are You? – Work in Progress – Education Week Teacher
http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/work_in_progress/2016/05/teachers_vs_educators_which_ar.html?cmp=eml-eb-popweek+05132016[6/30/2016 12:25:02 PM]
A teacher is “one that
teaches
;
especially
: one whose occupation is to instruct” versus an
educator, who is “one skilled in teaching
:
teacher
.” I agree with Timmy that these two
definitions don’t really distinguish between the two well enough.
For me, like Timmy, a teacher is someone who shows up for a teaching job every day. He or
she knows the content and likely teaching like a job. Whereas an educator is one of those
people who goes farther than what is expected. It’s the teacher who makes relationships with
students more important than the content, but because of those relationships, the content
comes alive.
Teaching isn’t just a job to an educator,
it’s a calling
. It’s passion and commitment and a
desire to amplify the voices and dreams of the many children whose lives touch them as
much as the educator touches theirs.
Timmy spent time going through his schooling career and came up with a short list and tried
to figure out what they had in common. Being much farther away from my formative
education, the fact that some educators still remain inside my consciousness to this day as I
continue to grow in this profession as I try to emulate the impact they made on me supports
their classification as such.
So for this
Teacher Appreciation Week
, I’d like to give a little shout out to a few educators
who have helped shape me as the person, writer, and educator I hope to become.
Margery Kashman
– MK taught 12th grade honors English. She read my personal
writing and encouraged me to keep at it, as a matter fact, she still does now. Being
in her class made me love reading and we shared many probing conversations at
lunch about
Grendel.
When it came time for me to do my observations as I was
becoming a teacher, MK was the teacher I wanted to observe most. She invited
me back with open arms.
Mr. Johannan-
Calculus teacher who made math an experience. His classes were
fun, challenging and engaging. I enjoyed math that year.
Mr. Williams
– High School music teacher. He knew I was shy and lacked
confidence as a singer, but always offered me opportunities to try. Performing in
his groups taught me discipline and made me feel a part of something that really
mattered. The music bled from him and his excitement for the subject filled the
hallways with song.
Ted Chereskin
– an art teacher who let me follow my whims, no matter how crazy
they were. He allowed me to test my curiosity, even if it meant me casting my
entire body in plaster or using pencil shavings as filler in a collage. No suggestion I
made was out of bounds. I took risks in his class and he supported everyone.
Mr. Scheiner
– my 4th grade teacher who I accidentally called “daddy” once. He
didn’t shame me, he was flattered. It was in his class that I learned to love reading
not fear it. His presence was a commanding one and despite the way he looked,
his demeanor was so gentle and warm. I was going through a hard time in my life
at that time and school became a place I wanted to come to hide away.
Dr. Maxwell
– 11th grade honors English. She challenged us all to consider
literature in a way that made me think. We put novels on trial. Ours was
Deliverance
. I’ll never forget the experience of arguing against censorship despite
the content of a novel.
Dr. Berman –
9th grade honors English. English came alive as we passed the
conch shell around the room in our discussion of
Lord of the Flies
or we talked
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Teachers vs Educators: Which Are You? – Work in Progress – Education Week Teacher
http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/work_in_progress/2016/05/teachers_vs_educators_which_ar.html?cmp=eml-eb-popweek+05132016[6/30/2016 12:25:02 PM]
about phonies in
Catcher in the Rye.
Each of these educators had a profound impact on my life both at the time and now as I look
back and consider the legacy I want to leave in this profession. After 14 years of teaching, I
can only hope that I touch the lives of my students in the same way that each of these adults
did mine. Their compassion and excitement for learning permeated what they did and that
mattered.
So thank you to the special educators in my life, past and present.
Who are the educators in your life that made a difference and why? Please share
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School/Life Balance
What if
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11 comments
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Score: 2
William Soderholm
7:02 AM on May 5, 2016
This is very interesting.
The problem is we keep getting things added to our
list that interefere with all of these positives.
The bigger problem is
education is promoting these things at an exponential rate all the while
providing lip service along the lines of this article.
1 reply
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Score: 2
John Bennett
9:06 AM on May 5, 2016
Though many true educators still refer to themselves as teachers, in my
mind, the difference is fairly straightforward: Educators facilitate learning,
occasionally teaching when needed; Teachers deliver information following
lesson plans, occasionally educating some students.
Back when dirt was clear (you know – so long ago, it wasn’t even dirty yet…)
when I was in school, most were teachers with a few like Ted Strein who
were educators. Today, more and more are educators but the change can
never be fast enough!!!
3 replies
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Score: 5
DCGMentor
11:22 AM…
