Dear Instructor...
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when i was 19, i attempted nursing school. after 3 months in the program, i felt overwhelmed, sick, tired, and crazy!!! it seemed that the instructors in that program had very little understanding of what it took to be a "good" nursing instructor. they had very little empathy for their students, they had very little time to "listen", and they seemed almost clueless as to what we were going through.
flash forward to 2008 and 30 years old. after teaching elementary (and loving it) for the last 5 years, i had the opportunity to enter a second degree bsn program through texas tech health science center in odessa, texas. the year i quit teaching, i received an award for teacher of the year. i knew that sincerely caring about your students and their success had a major impact on their learning outcomes. letting the students know that you are human and that you too have made mistakes makes them more likely to admit their mistakes and learn from them rather than trying to cover them up out of fear.
apparently, the instructors from my program had already mastered the art of caring about their students before i came along. the instructors in this program are out of this world! they are very down to earth people that understand your stress over finishing papers, passing tests, paying your bills, etc. they invite us to come in or call whenever we need them. they provide us with their cell phone numbers and tell us to call whenever we need something (and we do without hesitation!).
i think this is called "holistic teaching" when you not only teach your students, but you sincerely care about them as a whole person.
when i think back to the instructors from my first experience, i never got to know the real people behind the teacher. i think this prevented me from being honest and open with them when i felt like things were just getting too overwhelming! i didn't feel like i could confide in them because it seemed that they were always in "gotcha mode".
so, instructors, the next time you go to visit your students at clinicals or sit down to give them a test, invite the students to stay after class and drink a cup of coffee and talk about what's on their mind or sit down with the students outside of class and ask what they think could be changed about the program to make it more student friendly. also, don't be afraid to share your mistakes and let them know that you are human too. i think you will be pleasantly surprised by the results!
this is just a little suggestion from a fellow teacher and current student! one of the best ways to become a better teacher is to become a student again.