I am legend.

Just had a thought on this cold, stormy, windy Vancouver day…(no, not Armageddon)–I was thinking of what I was going to post on my blog today and thought, “Why am I voluntarily putting myself through 2 online courses on what should be my holidays?”  That ended up opening a can of worms and I spent time thinking about the switch in my career path and revisiting the ol’ goals list.

Background info:  I spent the day doing a google search for “instructional strategies for college”–thinking I should really post a video on my blog (it’s been awhile).  What propped up were a bunch of college interviews based on students’ perception of a good teacher, some TED talks about why kids hate school, and a whole bunch of educational hooplah.  I looked at my laptop and squinted my eyes to read the title “How to find and do work you love.”  It was a TEDx talk that featured Scott Dinsmore, a man who created the website: “Live Your Legend,” a place where people find inspiration and demonstrate passion for what they do.

Visit Scott’s site here:  http://liveyourlegend.net/

I watched his 18 minute video and felt engaged and motivated throughout.  Though this is not an instructional strategy video, it is a video that I think is worthwhile for other passionate teachers out there (or teachers that want to leave the profession)-do what you love!  I am passionate about the world of health and the art of nursing.  This combined with the opportunity to teach it, I think I am on the right track.

Be kind, rewind!

Today’s post goes back to confidence and teaching.  I have been thinking more on this topic and was able to find an advice column written by Rob Jenkins from a site entitled: “The Chronicle of Higher Education.”

“Tips for New Teachers at Community Colleges” hit the high notes for me when it comes to teaching with confidence.  I wish someone gave me this article to read when I first started teaching.  It talks about how to demonstrate confidence and tips to get the students to listen & respect you, no joke!

I think that I am going back to the subject of confidence because I remembered my first day teaching.  I was a nervous wreck and totally lost points for saying, “…this is my first time teaching…”–that brought on a whole set of problems.  After 2 plus years of teaching clinical and classroom theory, I have definitely found my groove.  Confidence comes with time.

More wine!

I was so caught up in talking about wine in my previous post, I forgot to share the video that sums up MERLOT.

Here is a video for MERLOT that talks about who they are and what they can do for you.

Wine please.

  Like a fine wine, teaching can be brilliant, balanced and sweet.  I have discovered a website through various online forums and discussions from both my PID classes about a tasty website called MERLOT (Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching).  Learn more about this awesome tool here.

There are helpful hints and strategies to making the classroom a dynamic field for discussion and participation.  Check out Merlot’s Pedagogy Portal for information on teaching strategies, assessment, and teaching challenges.  What’s great about this website is that the information is free and can be used across all disciplines to bring your lesson plan to life.

Educating individuals is definitely not everyone’s cup of tea, but learning about how to teach (for me anyways) has been like drinking a fine wine…This instrucktional journey blog has opened my eyes to the profession and the ongoing development and dedication to the craft.  Definitely a “AH-HA” moment.  This calls for some wine.

Would love to hear from anyone who has used this in the past!

Teachers need to be confident (insert exclamation mark here)

Hi all, I was responding to a response to a forum in my class and just realized something huge: teachers need confidence to impart good teaching.  Sounds simple but really, for new instructors out there on the front line, this can be a little daunting.

I still remember feeling unprepared and sick to my stomach before my first nursing arts class would begin.  Butterflies maybe, but it was more like “what if they ask me a question I don’t have the answer to?” or “Am I really the subject matter expert here?  there’s a doctor in this class for goodness sakes!”  I was feeling what most new instructors experience: lack of confidence.

I have been drawn to this website: Faculty Focus: Higher Ed teaching strategies from Magna Publications.  In particular, there was a piece done for their blog about teaching with confidence that you can find here.  It summed up my thoughts on Dr. John Hattie’s Visible Learning all the while as it gave strategies to boost your confidence in the classroom.  A really good read for new instructors out there.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Fostering critical thinking in Nursing

Another sleepless night finds me updating my blog for PIDP 3250.  This post takes me back to my roots and had me thinking of my own subject matter: nursing.

The thing about nursing is that to make good nurses, it’s about getting students to be really good critical thinkers.  These days it’s death by PowerPoint and a lot of passive learning in the classroom.  I now realize that it is the curse of a novice instructor that makes me second guess my lesson plan and question if my activities are powerful enough to evoke critical thinking.  Low and behold the day finally comes when I have to let go of my nursing student’s hand and trust that he/she is going to make a good judgment call.

I found a neat website for nurse educators or clinical teachers to gather useful instructional strategies to use in both classroom, laboratory and clinical areas.  The University of New Mexico’s College of Nursing website showcases a page entitled “Teaching and Learning Strategies” where instructors can click on different methods and find examples and tutorials on how to use them.  Handy tool for health educators and definitely one that I will add to my repertoire.

Instructional Strategies for beginners

Thought I’d share a cool blog by someone experienced in training and Elearning development.

The blog: Upside Learning talks about something I haven’t heard about before.  It is the ARCS model, which is a problem solving approach to designing the motivational aspects of learning environments to stimulate and sustain students’ motivation to learn (as cited in Bhat’s blog).

ARCS is a four step learning process:

Attention

Relevance

Confidence

Satisfaction

This is the work by John Keller who looks into motivational theory and how to influence it.  An unexpected find, but very relevant for how this impacts instructional strategies.

As I navigate my way through this PIDP 3250 course and my PIDP 3240 course, I am beginning to make connections and link theory to practice.  This ARCS method as well as the other strategies posted on Moodle have been great resources.

Happy Thanksgiving.

How do we create great teachers?

Paying attention, having students engaged and motivated to learn.  Yes, these are what great teachers do for learners.  A TED talks video by Bill Gates goes over how we can create better teachers.

 “Education is the most important thing to get right… ” Bill Gates.

Teachers talking about teaching; discussing what worked and what didn’t work.  Videotaping themselves and showing good techniques–Studying and crafting the teaching profession is a sure fire way to get students learning and improve academic success.

Incidentally enough, this relates to Dr. John Hattie’s work on Visible Learning.  He states in his 8 mindframes the simple solution to being an effective teacher: Know thy impact.  Evaluating your work and intervening in ways that help students progress and change their thinking is when you know you’ve done good.

Answer my question with another question…

Socrates was onto something when he began using critical thinking as a way to probe into his students’ minds.  Socratic Questioning or Socratic Method is an instructional strategy that teachers can use to delve deep into the learner’s beliefs and opinions about things.  I discovered this neat youtube video that gives you the low-down on this method:

Why is it a good tool?  You can have in-depth and stimulating discussions with your class about the topic of your choice.  Also, you will be motivating the learner to express themselves as clearly and carefully as possible.  Remember, as the teacher you need to provide a safe and positive learning environment to maximize this strategy.

I must admit that I haven’t used this strategy in my own classroom, but the mark of a good teacher begins with taking risks!

Learning about what I’m learning…

The British Columbia’s teachers strike is over and school starts today. BC’s kids will be learning again! So, in the spirit of learning I decided to post about what I have been learning 2 weeks into my Instructional Strategies course. I was finishing up my journal entry for my class when I found this; here is an article written by a professor at Stanford University that elaborates on motivation and learning. Thought it was fitting considering our first couple of chapters in Barkley’s Student Engagement Techniques book (2009).

I am learning new knowledge about student engagement and how this impacts my role as an instructor. Also, I feel compelled now to utilize strategies to catch drifters in my classroom and keep them enthusiastic about course content. This article points offers some ideas to keep that momentum going in the classroom from offering timely and frequent feedback to making use of students’ background knowledge. Being the “sage on stage” now has new meaning for me, after learning about engagement and active learning–I think I need to also be the “backstage sage,”-setting up the learning environment and making it so that the students show up, participate and stay engaged.

Click on the link to be redirected to the article. http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CB0QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fweb.stanford.edu%2Fdept%2FCTL%2Fcgi-bin%2Fdocs%2Fnewsletter%2Fmotivation_to_learn.pdf&ei=m9kfVIjVCca7igK54YDICQ&usg=AFQjCNE2oYYBXjJZ3pNqEkZxDf1MRWPRQA&sig2=gzbzScsjsqx9t7UA7kiLfQ&bvm=bv.75775273,d.cGE