I keep telling myself I will write on here. And obviously that has not happened. It has been a heck of a semester for me. We are just past mid-semester and screeching into spring break 2018. Yep 2018 already. In my time as an instructor I have learned a great deal--especially that I should expect the unexpected always! I have good days, bad days, odd days, and just days where I scratch my head and think "I don't get paid enough for this!" or "I get paid too much to be a babysitter!" But alas I do love what I do, I truly do. It is rewarding to see my students come in wide-eyed and curious. So full of potential. Some make it and some don't. Some leave the classroom with a great deal more than they expected and some leave thinking I have done them a disservice because I did not award them with an A for showing up.
So some funny things to park for later:
--when performing catheter care skills in nurse aide one does not need 6-8-or 10 washcloths! The skill really only requires 2 or 3 at the most, yet time after time so many of my students grab extras. I fear I am becoming jaded at times, or just needing to trust my gut more. I can certainly tell often when the student has no clue of what they are doing and they are trying to fake me out.
--I really need to make my own training videos for my nurse aide students. Alas, this is on my to-do list and of course skills will be changing in July. So maybe for next years goals I will get this done.
--even on a multiple-choice exam with obvious answers, sometimes things are not so obvious to the students. I have to laugh when I read the questions again and the answers and realize that the student missed the answer from not reading carefully--one student this year in my MA classes has consistently done this. She likes to argue her point with me, yet has failed to convince me she is correct and when she reads the question again she realizes she did not read carefully. And in nurse aide the exams have only one correct answer. If the student would simply read all choices and ask themselves "does this answer complete the question text?" Of course I do remember my own days as a student and have a sinking feeling that I was just like so many of my students.
--I am pretty sure I teach at the college level, yet this year I feel like I am on par with my sister who teaches first grade and my teacher who assists with preschool! So many times I have to catch myself, take a deep breath, count to 5 and then speak before I call someone a doodie head or just roll my eyes outloud.
--Despite this I do have success stories out there in MA and nurse aide. I have students successfully becoming nurses, rad techs, and other careers. I do have hope. Maybe it is just a sign of spring fever in myself also! So, until next time when I return with more thoughts to get out of my head and to help me keep on keeping on!
