I just met PLP goal #6 as I have created a Camtasia presentation and have uploaded to Screencast. I found the Camtasia software very challenging to use. I was fortunate that Dalton State loaded it on my laptop for free. I viewed the tutorials provided, watched and participated in another presentation with a classmate, and then made my first solo presentation at the University of West Georgia with extensive assistance from Charles Akin. I want to say a special thank you to Connie and Charles for their patience in assisting me in learning how to create a presentation using this software.
I am posting the presentation to this blog so that my classmates from another course can view it and make comments.
Please give brief answers to the following questions:
1. What are three ways that help ensure that teachers survive emotionally?
2. Why is a teaching philosophy important?
3. Why should teachers have a peer support system?
4. How will you incorporate Brookfield's maxims as a nurse educator?
For your convenience, here is the link to my evaluation survey. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1qH_S0ClnyZn3qGprNpBq6ZOdfLDPGw6765GEDeTTFMM/viewform
I hope you enjoy the presentation.
Thanks for watching!
Gail
Chapter14 Brookfield
Learn more about Camtasia Studio at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camtasia_Studio
Three ways to survive emotionally - give up perfectionism, seek out peer support, take student evaluations with a grain of salt. Your teaching philosophy is your guide to how you teach, your beliefs and values about teaching, learning, and the learner. If you have a firm grip on your philosophy (believe it and live it) you will adapt better to what the teaching environment (academia) throws at you. Everyone needs a peer support system (not only teachers). A support system is meant to be a sounding board, a place for solace, a personal cheering section, and a place to find out that you are not alone in your feelings and experiences. Teaching is a challenging profession as is nursing and peer support is what helps you to keep coming back. Brookfield's maxims are wonderful and hold tons of truths. The biggest one that challenges me is the perfectionism which causes my procrastination. It has always existed for me no matter what age I have been or the school setting. However, as I grow in wisdom and teaching experience, I enjoy the maxim of taking risks. I have no problems making a fool of myself and even though I struggle with perfectionism, I am no longer afraid to fail (to a certain degree - lol). Thanks for a great presentation, excellent job with Camtasia!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments, Connie. Your perfectionism has challenged all of us to try to keep up with you! One of my children suffers from malignant procrastination stage 3. It is an inherited trait from his father.
DeleteThanks for your help with Camtasia!
I think in my short time teaching that I have had to learn that you are never going to make everyone happy and have all positive evaluations. This was very hard in the beginning. I have also learned that perfection is not a realistic goal when dealing with education and a large diverse group of individuals.I have always liked organization and do feel at times I strive to much for perfection which I now realize is a charactor flaw. Peer support has been very beneficial for me in my nursing education career. I have learned a great deal about nursing education and my personal philosophy in education related to the peer support I have received. These EdD course have provided wonderful peer support and knowledge. I am still working on my teaching philosophy. I think it should be a work in progress as I continue to develop as an educator. I think the Maxim 11 (judging ourself according to students evaluation) is the most troubling because of my self doubt which is probably the hardest for me to deal with and overcome. I am working on this with every course I teach. All Dr Brookfield's maxims are very helpful in they continue to help support my growth in education and nursing. I realize these maxims are just a guide and we can adjust as we feel needed to fit our style which is something I like.
ReplyDeleteGreat Job with Camtasia and visual effects!
Thanks Susan. I also find myself obsessing over negative comments on my evaluations. The numbers are good but the comments sting! Words hurt me as bad as "sticks and stones". Maybe worse! Our caring groups have been a great source of support during this program. I am very excited to have conquered the Camtasia giant with a lot of help!
DeleteFor me three ways that help ensure I survive teaching is to maintain balance. I try to walk or exercise on a regular basis, I try to take breaks and visit friends and family, I take time for meditation and reflection. As you can see I said "I try". My balance is quite strained as this point. I think I have finally connected with my teaching philosophy for the first time during my EdD course of study. This is the guide that keeps our focus and gives us direction with planning our teaching strategies and methods. Teachers need a peer support group to help them bounce ideas off of and to help them maintain balance and to lift each other up. I will plan to reflect on the laughter that I experienced while listening to this presentation on the 15 maxims. I so enjoyed your presentation and enjoyed the first laugh in a long time. You are the Camtasia Queen now! Good job!! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteOne of my first cross stitch projects was the proverb "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine". It hung in out pharmacy for many years. Unfortunately, the medications became "drugs" to the men in my family and the merry heart quit beating at the pharmacy. The stitchery now resides in my office. I must correct you that I am not even a Camtasia princess or duchess, let alone queen! I am glad you laughed! Thanks for your kindness.
DeleteHey Gail,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your engaging video presentation of Chapter 14, Surviving Emotionally. I also appreciate that you defined the word "maxim", as I was unsure of the meaning when Dr. Byrne responded with one in her reply to my presentation. You acknowledged great points with your definitions of Brookfield's 15 maxims for teaching, which can be used in the face-to-face and online classrooms. The two maxims that stood out to me the most was acknowledging your personality and view yourself as a helper of learning. I make the point, the first day of each semester to the newest group of students I have, to be authentic in who I am and encourage the same from them. I also make the point and tell the students that I am definitely not perfect, but neither are they. I find that setting a personal and genuine tone the first day relaxes both myself and the students, so that they are more willing to participate and feel comfortable with expressing their ideas, concerns, and questions. I find that maintaining authenticity is a valuable tool in helping students learn about themselves.
I found a word cloud for technology....lol
http://apopheniainc.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/screen-shot-2012-07-03-at-11-05-44.png?w=497&h=279
Thanks Tammy. I value our camaraderie and have found you to be truly authentic. You are my only friend that has the courage to smoke a fake cigarette in public!! My boys both smoke them and I bet I would like them too. I plan to try pot when I retire and don't have to worry about drug screens anymore. I have shared that long term goal with my students when I emphasize that they can be fired if pot shows up in their urine. We have had two graduates get fired for urine positive for pot. They were both in their 50's!! I am sure that I will enjoy the technology word cloud!!!! Love you,girl!!!
ReplyDeleteI feel that the ways to survive emotionally are to forget about perfection (as you said, it is an illusion that cannot be achieved), not focusing too heavily on the negative evaluations you receive (some students are never content and/or happy with coursework and never will be), and try to implement pieces of personal enjoyment into your lecture (students can feel excitement from the teacher so I feel it is important to find something that you enjoy and incorporate it into your presentation. This is why I like to incorporate video clips from movies and music clips – I am a movie and music fanatic). In regards to personal philosophy, you did a great job in presenting this. I think it is important for each educator to identify what he or she feels is important. I did not realize how difficult this would be until I had to write my own personal philosophy in my MSN program. It is crucial for the educator to have a peer support system (the song “Lean on Me” comes to mind). Everyone needs a friend to talk to and to seek input from, especially when getting started in a profession. I frequently seek input from peers and ask for input when planning out educational events. Frequently, I get ideas from others that I have never thought of, and this helps me improve my classes. I feel that the biggest thing I need to do is try not to be a perfectionist and try not to think too much about the negative comments I receive.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments, Jimmy. I always enjoy the music and clips you provide in your presentations. The link you gave me to "Terms of Endearment", increased my interest in that movie so much that I watched it for the first time last night. It was produced in 1983 and that is the reason that I missed it. My daughter was diagnosed with cancer that year and I pulled inward. The last newscast I watched that year was the downing of Larry McDonald's airplane. You may not have even been born in 1983 and I am sure you were too young to even remember Larry McDonald. This was my way of coping with the horror in my life. I am thankful that my outcome was better. I will try to incorporate some of your strategies to make my future presentations more engaging.
DeleteGreat job on your presentation!!!!!
ReplyDeleteIn an effort to survive emotionally - I feel the hardest obstacle is to say it is okay not to be perfect. I think we try to set the bar so high for ourselves and expect nothing less which can cause great anxiety (like was mentioned in the presentation). I think it is critical to find support from others so one does not feel like they are totally alone with their feelings. I also agree with what others have said - to not concentrate on the negative aspects in regards to student evaluations - which again is very hard to do especially when we feel we should be perfect. (lol)
Having and understanding one's teaching philosophy is a valuable tool for any educator. Like Brookfield emphasized, the teaching philosophy helps the educator maintain responsibility and provides stability.
Support systems have been crucial for me in continuing this educational adventure. The positive support and encouragement helps keep me motivated and realize that this is worth the experience:)
I do incorporate some of the maxims and will continue to trial and error the others.
Having been in academia so long, I have watched many in my support group retire! I find myself keeping in contact with them as they are interested in what they left behind. I have no illusions of perfection but do struggle with being good enough. Thanks for your comments.
DeleteAs an educator, I can survive emotionally by maintaining a balance between family, work and school. This is a challenging task but it is the only way I can stay afloat. Utilizing the support system of my colleagues is another way to survive. My colleagues are always asking what can they help me do but because I am on release time I feel the need to try to do more to compensate for my absence. I need to have more confidence in my ability as an educator to survive. Stop the self-doubting.
ReplyDeleteA teaching philosophy helps to guide our teaching practices and keep us focus of our purpose in the learning environment.
Teachers need a peer support system in order to have a sense of community. No one wants to feel they are alone and to have a sense of comradery.
I will corporate Brookfield’s maxims one step at a time. I need to make sure I have a clear understanding of each maxim in order to incorporate in my teaching practices.
Great job, Gail!
Yes, Sherika, we both need to stop that self-doubting as it can be paralyzing. I cannot imagine how difficult it is for you to have so many family obligations and still maintain balance. You have given me inspiration and support. I feel that I am closer to some of y'all in my cohort than I will ever be to many of my coworkers. Thanks for your encouragement.
ReplyDeleteHi Gail,
ReplyDeleteExcellent presentation. My three ways to survive emotionally is to increase my exercise regimen; balance school, work, and family commitments; learn to be more politically correct at work. After your presentation, I reflected on whether I was striving for perfection in a teaching and learning environment. I think that my response is no, because I see myself as a facilitator of students' learning. I may strive for perfection in other areas of my life and that may be contributing to my stress level.
Thanks for your comments Ethel. I gave up on perfection years ago as I saw how it can make people miserable and found that misery contagious! I am so convicted that I need to exercise and create more balance in my life. Those are both long term goals I hope to meet after I graduate. Gail
DeleteGail,
ReplyDeleteGreat presentation.
To survive emotionally, faculty should give up the notion of being perfect. We do not know everything and we shouldn't have to know everything. We should allow students to be responsible for their learning. We do not have to stand in front of the classroom and teaching every word of the book. The students can read and get the information; they are capable. Also, having a support system helps. Either someone to vent to or just help you when issues arise. Just having someone to encourage you on occasion is important to emotional survival.
Thanks Roxanne,
DeleteYou and the rest of cohort one have been very encouraging to me. I agree that students should assume more responsibility for their learning and as teachers we should ease ourselves off that hook. i was reading that your program was looking into team teaching. We have always said we did that but it looks much more like "sequential" teaching rather than team teaching. Be sure to establish the difference in the beginning of this journey!
Gail