My Last Blog Post!!- To be Happy or Sad??

Although I have been teaching at the two colleges for around 6 years, I still have PLENTY to learn and I am honestly very thankful that these courses we have been taking have really provided a lot of information. The information has all been useful and I have already taken things I have learned and applied them to my career. Nothing is more frustrating than to take courses, spend thousands of dollars and then complete the course feeling emptied handed. Yeah its great to finish a class that was easy and did not have a lot of components to it and you walk out with an A.  My husband acts like I should want piece of cake classes so that I don’t have to spend alot of time on assignments or studying. He thinks I am crazy for wanting to have to work in a class. Its just different now and at this point in my life, my money is valuable and if I am going to invest a large portion of my income into a class, I really want to be able to use the information.

Every dental hygiene school is different. There is a HUGE difference in the two schools where I am employed. They have different beliefs and different priorities and I am assuming if I compared OSU to them it also would have major differences. Its amazing how different a college can be, whether if its how clinic is ran, requirements, procedures, how lecture classes are set up, administration and even the diversity in students because of the location of where they come from. I have enjoyed becoming a buckeye again because since everyone else received their undergraduate degree from OSU they often have a different perspective than that of what I am used to. It has helped me and opened my eyes more to different routes of education. It sometimes is hard for me to not bring up Owens or Rhodes in different assignments or discussions because that is what I am used to and what I see multiple times a week. I hope I do not annoy others when I bring up the other colleges, it doesn’t mean that I think one college does things better or more correct, its just a different perspective. Thank you for allowing me to discuss what the other colleges do for different things.

So, in this particular course I have to say there are several things that I have found more valuable to me. I would say that I enjoyed some of the new ideas for active learning. Many of the activities or ideas can be applied to clinic, laboratory courses and didactic courses. I think it gave me a new outlook and perspective on how student really feel about lectures .Even though I personally enjoy lectures and find it a great way for my learning, I need to reach out and find what works best for the students- not myself. Once anyone starts teaching, its easy to get set in routine, become afraid to change things, follow the “easy” route, and get an ego that everything is perfect. Although, I make small changes every year to my lecture, I have found that I am getting dull and that students are not enjoying my course. Yes the material is not necessarily “fun” but I think some of the dullness is my own personally fault. This summer I will be off for my maternity leave so I am hopeful that it gives me a lot of time to revamp my class and add a new active learning technique to each or atleast every other week so make the class more engaging. Rachel, you have provided us with the tools to search for new ideas and create an innovative classroom. Another thing that I am going to be able to carry with me is the construction of a good rubric.  I have made a rubric for my drawing and waxing assignments. However, I designed them and did not really have a lot of guidance. SO- getting the concept and the information that should be included on a rubric is going to be very helpful for me. I  think I will be able to update them and they will be more fair to everyone. I wont have to decide if the drawing deserves an deduction of points or not because the rubric will clearly state it. I think it will also really help the students get a better understanding on what is expected of them!

Lastly, the activity I loved the most was the Pecha Kucha. It was so fun for me to create and also I LOVED our synchronous discussion the evening when we all presented. It was so enjoyable to hear about the class mates trips and hobbies and for me to get a glimpse of the life of an undergraduate student at OSU (thanks Amy). I honestly, do not think I will be able to apply the PK presentations to my current lecture however, it was a fun assignment.  Maybe someday I will be able to utilize it somewhere else in my career

Thank you for a good and well organized course.

2 thoughts on “My Last Blog Post!!- To be Happy or Sad??

  1. Brittany, I love hearing and reading about your experiences and information regarding being actively involved in teaching. It gives a great perspective and a fresh look at how things work in the real world. It is great to hear that your excitement for change in your own delivery of information and your willingness and acceptance that change can occur at any point in our careers. Your blogs are always great to read!

  2. I’m glad to hear that you’ve taken some things from this course that you may employ in your future teaching. I don’t expect you to take everything you learned about it and mush it into one class. Just a few things is good, and I hope those are things you are excited and passionate about also. Thank you for sharing your experiences in teaching with us throughout the semester, you brought in a perspective that most don’t have.

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