Colleen Schwindt

@ellythomas : I have had this same situation happen to me.  I was fairly new instructor at the time and it didn't take much to intimidate me.  In the past 3 years of teaching, I have become much more comfortable in the intructor's role.  When students are talking out of turn , I will make a general announcement that everyone needs to quiet down and pay attention.  If the talking continues, I will stand by that person and look at him/her.  That usually will draw the person's attention to what they are doing and they quit talking.  I have also… >>>

I found this course added to my knowledge of encouraging active learning through analytical and critical thinking. As instructors in the nursing program, we are always encouraging our students to look beyond the facts and figures that we want them to learn and incorperate them into the care of their clients.  By using critical thinking skills, the students are able to individualize their care for the client and "one size does not fit all" attitude.

I found that listing the stressors in one's life and categorizing them into the three tasks (eliminate, reduce, coping) can put the stressors in perspective.  I tend to take on a lot of responsibilities which causes more stress.  Now I have something tangible in the list.  I will write down the new responsibility/ task in the future.  If it is more of a stressor then a pleasure, I will look at it objectively and see if it can be eliminated.

I will be using the strategies learned in ED 108 as I prepare for my next didactic class next month in Respiratory Nursing.  I have always remembered a mnemonic that I was taught in my associate degree nursing program of how to remember the 12 cranial nerves " On Old Olympus's Towering Top, A Finn And German Viewed A Hop"-Olfactory, Optic, Oculomotor, Trochlear, Trigeminal, Abducens, Facial, Acoustic, Glossopharyngeal, Vagal, Accessory (Spinal), Hypoglossal.  Now all I have to do is come up with something clever to remember the differences between respiratory and metabolic acidosis/alkalosis.

I have learned some practical educational techniques in this course such as peripheral learning and the order of how students learn.  I will employ these techniques in the classroom.  The theory of Pygmalion reinforced my philosophy that I have used in most of my life; if you have positive expections about people ( students, your children, colleagues), they will usually rise to the occasion and do well.