Managing Expectations as a Medical Professor

As a medical professor, it is your job to properly prepare your students for real-world experiences in the medical field. However, students may not have accurate expectations about the type of work they are going to endure in medical courses.

Be Honest From the Start                                                   

To prepare students and get the best results from your class, be clear at the beginning of the semester. Inform the students that they will work hard to pass this class. If they know from the beginning of the semester what’s required of them, they are more likely to continue only if they are serious about a medical career with healthcare companies such as Soliant healthcare. Those who are on the fence about this career path will likely drop the class.

Be Available to Students

With heavy coursework comes a lot of reading, lectures, hands-on activities, labs and homework. Many students may struggle at the beginning of class to keep up with the pace. Because of this, it’s important that you, as a professor, are available to your students. Whether before or after class or by having office hours, showing your students that you’re committed to their success is important.

Ultimately, managing expectations as a medical professor can be difficult. You’re often seen as the bad guy because you’re giving the students a slew of assignments. However, in the end, your students will be better prepared for real-world experiences and a career in the medical field. Once they realize this fact themselves, they will thank you for the comprehensive education you provided them. And for that, you should be proud of yourself.

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Problem Children in the Classroom

Picture by myself

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It’s every teacher’s nightmare: the child who is consistently at the center of arguments, emotional outbursts, mischief and misbehaving. The question is, how do you cope with him or her? The educational environment, especially in the realm of discipline, is a much different place than it was even 10 years ago. Many teachers become frustrated due to their perceived helplessness to control their own classrooms, but there are ways that you can deal with a problem child without stepping outside the lines of your authority.

The first step in dealing with a difficult child is to try to understand the causes for his or her behavior. Is the child trying to control others, either through force or intimidation? If so, your student probably learned this behavior at home. In other instances, you may have a child with a learning disability who is trying to hide that from you. Rather than admitting that he doesn’t understand or cannot read a passage, he will instead shift the focus of your attention to his behavior. These types of problems should always be addressed–with the child and then with his parents–outside of the classroom.

Finally, you may have a child whose problem concerns an inability to stay focused. When speaking to this child, try to sit or stoop to get on an eye level with her. Maintain eye contact, and insist that she look directly at you while you are speaking. If this type of problem persists, you may need to recommend testing to the child’s parents. There are many effective treatments for attention disorders that do not involve medication, and these should always be tried first.

 

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Increasing Popularity of Online Education

There has been an incredible increase in the amount of students that are now attending online or distance education programs. One of the main reasons for this popularity spike is simply that it is easier and faster to complete classes online than to worry about getting in the car and commuting to school. In fact, universities have taken the approach that there should be no difference in quality between an online course and a traditional course in a brick and mortar setting. This has afforded many students the luxury of a quality education in the convenience of their own home.

Online Perks That Rock

The other perks that are making online education a step ahead of its competition is the price point for credit. Most online colleges offer a package program. This means that the average online student is paying approximately $6,000 for a full year of schooling, which would include an unlimited amount of units during that time. This is a drastic difference to the potential $54,000 for high-end traditional settings with room and board. The increasing popularity with online programs has allowed elearners to have regular lives while they are full-time students.

The last perk that makes online education so appealing is the fact that students can usually dictate how fast they would like to go with their program. This self pace aspect allows students to finish in record time, allowing them to begin working in their career field and enjoy the benefits of their college education.

 

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Classroom Management Strategies

Westcliffe Elementary School

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When it comes to classroom management, there are a ton of ideas for keeping the kids in line. One of the biggest strategies is to have management techniques at three levels: class as a whole, rows of students, and individuals.

PARTY

For the class level, a great strategy is PARTY. Each day, the students as a class can earn one letter towards the word party. This means that a party can be earned each week if the children work together. A party is just 30 minutes where the students basically have free time; they can talk, play board games, read, etc. It’s nothing elaborate with treats, which makes it easy for the teacher to provide, and with the students being on task, more than 30 minutes a week is saved in lost time. As a teacher, you decide what the requirements are for earning a letter.

Rows

The next level is each of the rows. At the beginning of each day, you’ll begin with a clean slate. As you do activities, give rows points for being on task and behaving. When you leave the classroom (for recess, lunch, etc.) then the row with the most points gets to line up first.

Individual

This strategy is in the form of punishment for misbehavior. When a student breaks one of the classroom rules, then his or her name is put on the board as a warning. If the student misbehaves again, then a check is placed next to his or her name. For each check, the student must stay in for 30 seconds or so when the other students leave for recess, etc.

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Can’t Find a Teaching Job?

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When it comes to finding a job after graduation, sometimes teachers have a hard time. Why? One reason could be that teaching children is an important job and schools take hiring a teacher very seriously. It’s hard to hire someone you don’t know. So here are some things you can do to improve your chances of being hired.

Volunteer

The number one way to get hired is to volunteer at the school or in the district that you want to teach at. Volunteering is a great way to get to know staff at the school and for them to get to know you. Once they’ve worked with you for awhile, they will see what a great person you are and are more likely to hire you. You may even be given the opportunity of teaching a lesson here or there, which gives them the chance to observe your teaching style. Schools are always in need of volunteers, so more than likely, you will easily be able to volunteer at the school of your choice.

Work in Education

If you can’t get a job as a teacher, maybe you could get a job that deals with education. Any experience that lends itself to the job you’re trying to get will look good on your resume. This may mean getting a lower-paid job than what you might get as a food server at the local restaurant, but it will help you get a job as a teacher.

It’s amazing how even though teaching jobs don’t pay much, it can feel like you have to be a part of an exclusive club to get a job!

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Understanding Kids with ADD/ADHD

Classroom

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When it comes to teaching kids with ADD, it may be hard for teachers to understand what they’re going through. Many of these students don’t qualify for an IEP because most kids with ADD are very bright and aren’t disabled enough to qualify. So what can you as a teacher do to help?

Extra Allowances

Although these kids don’t qualify for IEPs, extra help is still needed. One of the first things you can do is allow them to do things you wouldn’t for most students. For example, while taking a test, it may be helpful to let them stand or move around. If you have a quiet area in the classroom with cubicle walls, allowing them to study or take tests there will help because they will be less distracted by other students.

Additional Help

Kids with ADD often need extra help with certain thing such as having someone write down their answers. Many times, what happens in the case of a scribe is that the scribe will write down exactly what the student says with not capitalizing or punctuation. Then the student will go through and add those into the text. Another thing that might help is having someone read the questions to the student and working with the student one-on-one.

The main thing when it comes to helping students with ADD is to be understanding of what they’re going through. Many think because they don’t see anything outwardly wrong with them that it’s not as bad as they say. ADD can run from being slight annoying to highly debilitating so take it on a case-by-case basis.

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Technology in the Classroom

Students taking a computerized exam

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Back 50 years ago, it was unheard of to have computers in the school or in the classroom. PCs were nonexistent. Then the ’80s came and suddenly, it was feasible to have computers at schools. Now computers are part of our everyday lives. There are not many people who don’t use computers in one form or another in their jobs and it’s essential for students today to learn to use computers and other technology.

Learning to Use Technology

For most children, learning to use technology will come naturally because their parents have computers, mp3 players, smartphones, tablet PCs, laptops, and more. These children will learn how to use these computers as they grow up. There are still children, however, that do not have these types of technology in their homes. Schools will the first places where these students will be exposed to computers and other technology. The earlier these kids learn how to use technology, the more adept they will be in the future and with the world becoming so technical, this knowledge is essential.

A Computer for Every Student

In the ideal classroom, there would be one computer for every student. This may be in the form of small netbooks, laptops, or tablet PCs. Every student would have the same applications on their computer and the teacher would have a projector that would display his or her computer on a screen to teach the students how to do things.

Through the use of this technology, students will learn how to use computers in depth and will be more ready to be in a world with so much technology.

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How to Maintain a High GPA in College

The GPA you earn in college is more important than the one you earned in high school for several reasons.

It can determine the type of degree you graduate with (cum laude or summa cum laude, which means “with honors” and “with highest honors” respectively). A higher GPA can make you eligible for continuing or additional financial aid. If you want to pursue a post-graduate degree, a higher GPA may give you more options as to the type of degree you can earn.

Here are some tips on maintaining a high GPA in college:

  • Attend all classes and study. If you schedule your class and study time carefully, you’ll have time to relax.
  • Get your basic courses done quickly. One way you can do this is to check into attending online classes for the basics, especially if you have to work and attend college at the same time. Oftentimes, these courses are easier because you can schedule them around your work hours, plus you may only be required to “attend” or turn in work once a week or so. Type “earn my degree” in a search engine as a keyword to find online colleges. If you decide on this option, make sure that the courses you take online will transfer to your traditional school.
  • If you are still in high school, talk with your guidance counselor about dual enrollment — which can entail either taking college classes on campus or online while you are still attending high school, or taking classes that the successful passing of will earn you college credit. If either of these options is available to you, this will help boost your college GPA.

Maintaining a high GPA in college is no easy feat, but with a little preparation and dedication you can boost your GPA and become an appealing job candidate.

 

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Equality of Education in the U.S.

In the United States, the big thing is to offer a free education to all students; it doesn’t matter what race they are or whether they’re disabled. The problem is that although that education is free, it’s not equal. The areas that are poorer pay less property tax and receive less money overall. Federal funds are used to try and combat this, but it’s not enough. What should be done?

One thought is to take the money for education and split it equally between all schools, but there are flaws to this. For one, owners of million dollar houses, who pay a much higher property tax, expect that money to go to local schools — not schools farther away that are poorer. Another flaw is that it costs more for schools in expensive areas to pay for education including teacher salaries, property, and supplies.

So what can be done? One possibility would be to use vouchers. With the use of vouchers, the school system would become a market system economy instead of a socialist system. Schools would be required to improve or else risk losing students and therefore money. Teachers would also have to improve or they would lose their jobs, but would the good teachers would get paid more as an enticement to work at this school or that school. Benefits for teachers would also likely improve.

When it comes to educating our children, it’s best if we can find a way for all children to have the same opportunities to learn. If possible, it’s about encouraging the best students to improve and helping the students who are struggling to get better.

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