Exam frustrations

I’m still doing the guest instructor thing and it involves taking all the tests so I’ll be familiar with the material. When I took it at YVCC the tests and questions were from Blackboard and were sharp and professional. The ones for this course were developed here in the state and they’re a travesty. Grammatical and spelling errors abound and you can almost hear the collective groans from the students. One test was checking competency at “combining forms” an example of which would be cardi/o for heart. Each of the questions would ask, “What is the Enlish equivalent of ______?” They never spelled English right throughout the test. Subsequent and previous tests have it spelled correctly, however. I’ve been taking the quizzes and exams to become familiar with the proprietary material. We get specific instructions at the beginning of each week to let us know  if there is any material we don’t have to be responsible for.  One note last week warned us that we would have to know the origins, insertions and actions of several specific muscles and that we would see them on the exam. I patiently committed all the info to memory and eagerly anticipated being able to show off my knowledge. There was NUTHIN  about that subject on the exam. That is Not Fair to the students. Some of these students are taking several courses at once and the last thing they need is to be told to learn a  big bloc of material and then find out it’s just a cruel hoax. The instructors have to work with this until a new course can be designed so they’re equally frustrated. It should be revised sometime this fall when we get new textbooks. My dream job is to have the MT program at YVCC. It’s handled now by an excellent teacher who is an ARNP. She essentially has two full time jobs. One of these days she’s going to give up the teaching. I hope I’m available to apply for her job because it’s a real plum. I also hope I have some experience under my belt so my app will be more appealing.

Guest instructor

Partway through the last quarter, I signed up as a guest instructor in Medical Terminology. Our senior instructor, “CW”, graciously allowed me into his course to see how it all works and take the quizzes and tests just like the students. It’s been a real eye opener! The testing is challenging and forces me to keep up with the material that I’ll eventually teach. I’ve also been keeping up with the discussion board where the students send posts to ask questions of the instructor and each other. The course seems to run smoothly enough. Occasionally, a student will miss a deadline due to procrastination or a hardware malfunction so needs to have a test or assignment reset by the teacher. Some tests have 2 right answers in the multiple choice and only one of them is officially correct. The biggest job of the teacher is to make sure that the students get all the credit they’ve earned. The second biggest job is to present the material in chronological order so that it opens on the right day and closes when it’s finished. This ensures that nobody runs ahead of the rest of the class…a real aggravation for the instructor! I’m gaining new confidence every week and should be able to run my own class when the time comes; it might be as early as this fall. I’m a guest in the same class for spring quarter so I’ll have taken the whole enchilada when it’s over.

Life at the bottom

I struck out again. This time my teaching contract arrived the same day as my rejection note came via e-mail. I thought I had an edge by going for the MT2 but, as it turns out, the students have the option of taking either MT1 or 2. Appearances notwithstanding, MT1 is not a prerequisite for 2.

Since I have all this free time, Carolyn and I are signed up for an online class to teach us how to sell on eBay. Now we can get rid of all this stuff that the boys left behind and ensure a posh retirement…Bwahahahahahaha. I’m all set to photograph Andy’s comics covers and Pat’s Matchbox and HotWheeels cars. Don’t worry, faithful readers. They know I’m kidding. In fact, I want to take this opportunity to thank my faithful readers (both of you) for sticking with me all these years. Time to go download some more podcasts.

More news as it develops.

Another quarter…

As you may have expected, the busy fall quarter didn’t pan out for me. I got my first student (alright!) but I need 15 of them to start a class so my one reverted back to the more senior instructor.

Winter quarter will begin soon. My teaching contract should appear in the mail as always. I’ll sign it, send it back, and wait to see if I’ve been picked. I tried a new trick this quarter. I applied for and was approved to teach both Medical Terminology 1 and 2. There should be a crowd of students coming out of fall quarter MT1 heading into MT2 so I’ll be poised to help receive them. Maybe it’ll work. I’m sure the other three MT instructors spent a certain amount of time patiently waiting for their first class while their more senior colleagues got all the classes. I’m reminded of one of my favorite quotes…” Consider no day lost in which you waited your turn, took only your share, and sought advantage over no one.” If I don’t get a class, I’m going to hook up with my friend Jeff Dykes who is #2 on the list and ask to be his guest instructor. More later as it develops.

Expected disappointment

My employer let the cat out of the cellophane bag by announcing that there wouldn’t be enough students for me to teach a summer quarter. There are 3 instructors ahead of me in seniority. I’ve met two of them and they’ve been very cordial and helpful. I’m looking forward to meeting them in person someday soon. I was told that I could sign up to be a guest instructor this summer if I didn’t get a class of my own. I applied for it but it hinges on the permission of the instructor. Apparently this person does not appreciate anybody watching them work. Looks like I’ll have to be patient and see what fall quarter brings. If I don’t get a class, I’m going to apply to other schools. Meanwhile I keep working on my flash cards to stay current on the Blackboard version of Medical Terminology. For instance, did you know that the correct term to describe a growling stomach is borborygmus? That’s why I keep up with the terminology. Someday I hope to grade that on a test.

Temporary disappointment

I recently got the news that there weren't enough students to fill my section for my class. There are 4 sections of Medical Terminology and the first two filled right up. Looks like I have the quarter off which will allow me to become better acquainted with the whole process, the materials, the website and all the other building blocks that will help me do my job well. I'm also contacting other instructors to see if we can offer encouragement to one another and share information to make us better teachers. I got my books and CDs in the mail and have been reviewing the material. Some of it is surprising. For instance, if a brain surgeon drills a hole in the cranium, what is the correct terminology to describe the hole? You might come up with words such as trephination, foramen, sinus, or even cranial access. The correct answer is "burr hole" which sounds like a colloquialism. However, that is the term that we are expected to use so I'll file it away. As usual, I'll keep you posted.

Teaching contract!

I got my teaching contract in the mail on the 4th. I read it over, signed it, and sent it back. I thought about framing my copy but thought that would be over the top. Spring quarter is coming up and I keep seeing more and more documents with my name on them. It's all happening really quickly. I want to be sure to give God all the credit for this. I've worked hard to make it happen but God has given me the tools to use. I'll let everybody know how it goes with the first week of class which starts on the 30th.

Moving right along

I've been offered a class for spring quarter teaching Medical Terminology! I have to wait and see if enough students enroll in the class to get it started. There's always a minimum number to make it cost effective. One of the first requirements is to send in a copy of my SS card along with a photo ID. My wife and I looked high and low for the card and, although it never turned up, we managed to recycle or shred reams of paper that we didn't need to keep. The net result is that we have a lot more space but no card. As a result, I found myself down at the Social Security office with a number in my hand watching the digital board. It was an interesting hour before my number was finally called but the process was painless and I was issued a temporary replacement. I'll have the forms all ready to go soon and will wait for my contract to arrive. Sooner or later, I'll need to travel over to Grays Harbor. I'm looking forward to meeting all the people who have so patiently guided me through this process.

Before all this started, we made plans to travel to the midwest to see our son and his family. As it turns out, the class will just be starting as we're beginning our trip. I'll have to do some prep to be able to handle any crises that arise and will use my son's computer to keep in touch with my students. By the time we get back the whole process will be in full swing. This would be a great time to have a notebook computer. The fact that this college would hire an old burned out podiatrist to teach their young, impressionable students is only a result of God's Grace. More later as developments develop.

Training completed

I finished the 4 week training session! It was intense at times, especially in week 2 when we had to create a whole new curriculum out of air, complete with learning objectives and course outcomes and other things I'd never heard of. I feel as if I know the whole website thoroughly now and can navigate around it easier than I can on this blog site. One of the projects was to get together online with a pre-assigned group and create a PowerPoint show that would showcase the state website that features all the tools we use as instructors. I always feel responsible for the success of things like this so I set about trying to get us all together so we could collaborate and share ideas. It was an exercise in futility. I felt like my grade would suffer unless I personally got the job done. Nothing seemed to work so I created a PPT show on my own with blank slides and e-mailed everybody a suggestion to pick a slide or two and submit their own text. Everybody responded, I plugged in the text and graphics, published it and everybody was thrilled with the group effort…to my great relief.

I was invited by the college that had sponsored me into the course to submit an online Intent To Teach. As a result, I got to see my name on a list of state online college instructors already! That alone is worth all the effort. I told them I'm available for spring quarter so we'll see what happens. I've made some great friends among my classmates and look forward to meeting them as I travel around the state. I'll continue to keep you posted on my progress toward a class of my own.

Less than 2 weeks

On January 5th, I'll start my online teacher training. I'll give you an update shortly afterward to let you know what it's like. It lasts for a month and allegedly takes about 10 hours a week. I'm pumped. My college has to pay them 200 bucks if I drop out so they're obviously committed to my success. Barring some catastrophic event, I plan to see it through out of sheer curiosity and the excitement of finally seeing another opportunity to advance. Maybe there's some new cheese around that corner.