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Monday, September 10, 2012

EduBlogging: When Students Become Teachers



Indeed, we live in a very modern world. Pictures you took minutes ago can now be uploaded on the internet in just a few clicks using a laptop or any other device that can connect you to the world wide web. As a graduating medical technology student, I can say that I have learned a lot from edublogging. Edublogging gave me the chance to both learn and teach at the same time. By reading the blogposts of my fellow students, my knowledge of different fields increases. at the same time, I was able to awaken the sleeping witer inside me through the posts I make. How can edublogging transform simple students into teachers? Let me tell you some points I have learned about teaching:

1. A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.



This famous quote from Henry Adams indeed is true. We can never tell when an instructor’s influence would stop. Like for example, our mothers, having been said to be our first teachers, could influence our thoughts as well as our behavior. A child who grew under a strict parent could likewise be strict to his/her children. A mother who teaches her children to pray right before eating has a chance of passing this religious attitude to her children. Her children may likewise teach their children in the future to pray before meals.


Another good example for this quotation includes the different jobs people have now. A medical technologist who knows how to extract blood from a vein (venipuncture) got his/her knowledge from his/her mentors in the university where he/she came from. He/she can impart this knowledge to other MT students. Likewise, when we write posts through edublogging, the things that we write can add to the knowledge of others. Edublogging gives us the chance to share our expertise to different kinds of people. EDUBLOGGING INFORMS. Information they learn from us can then be passed to others.


2. In teaching you cannot see the fruit of a day’s work. It is invisible and remains so, maybe for twenty years.


I bet you might have experienced seeing your teacher talking to one of his/her former students. That former student of your teacher may now be a famous businessman, a successful physician or even a powerful politician. Indeed, whatever seed is planted, it would be harvested.


A teacher may be passionate enough to do her job but she can never see the fruits of her labor until many years pass. Like for example, during my sister’s high school graduation which was held just last April, the speaker of the ceremony, a famous cardiologist, said that when he was still young, they were very poor. He never expected that he would become a successful physician. What he shared to us is that the teachers of the said public high school in which he came from inspired him. They motivated and gave him the opportunity to realize what he is destined for to be in life.


Edublogging provides us the opportunity to INFLUENCE. We never know, a youngster might be reading our posts and with our help, we are inflaming his desire to become a writer in the future. In my case, senior high school students who do not have a clear view of what they want to become in then future can be influenced by my clinical chemistry blogposts to become medical technologists in the future. EDUBLOGGING INFLUENCES.


3.  The best teacher is the one who suggests rather than dogmatizes, and inspires his listener with the wish to teach himself.


This quotation was from Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton. What does it mean? For me, when we teach, we should also take into consideration the feelings as well as the opinions of our students (in the case of edublogging, our readers). We should also have a certain connection with them. It is not enough that teachers talk to students. They should also understand what the students want to say. Being a teacher requires someone not only to teach but also to learn from his/her students. What a teacher may learn is not limited to knowledge/ experience that his/her student may share. He/she can also learn new attitudes, new behaviour as well as new perspectives in teaching when he/she is with his/her students depending of course on the type of class he/she is in.


Edublogging teaches us to accept opinions and criticisms through the comments given by our readers. We should accept them fully and learn from them. Also, when we blog, we should make sure that what we write are original. The content of our posts should not also inflict emotional stress nor harm to anyone. Be aware of cyber bullying.  


4. Teaching is not just a job. It is a human service and it must be thought of as a mission.



This quotation is indeed true! Dr. Ralph Tyler was able to inspire me. For me, what this quote suggests is that teaching is not limited to delivering and sharing what you know to your students. It should not be regarded as just any kind of profession because teaching is very important. It is not just an occupation but instead a mission.


We bloggers should regard our job as a mission. Edublogging serves as a medium for us not only to improve ourselves but others as well. When we write, we gain confidence. We boost our belief that we are great in something. Also, if what we write catches the attention of our readers, we gain their trust. Edublogging can also be a way of gaining more friends (fans, even).


EDUCATIONAL BLOGGING gave me the chance to experience all these! Blogging is fun and very exciting. I believe that all students should be taught how to blog. I would like to personally thank our mentor, Mrs. VBG, for giving us, her students, the chance of experiencing how to blog. :)

Thanks for reading! I hope I can still update this blog in the future. Visit once in a while. :D