EMTeacher

The Quality Mountain

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 11:43:59 -0700

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted and it’s been due to an avalanche of demands that has consumed life in the past few months. Nearly all can relate to the challenging climb that I’ve come to realize as the quality mountain. The peak of this mountain contains the hallmarks of greatness - motivated, passionate people with the desire to help students learn; well-designed and well-engineered curricula and programs that are highly relevant to the student’s world; and excellent equipment, space and structure to learn, work and play. Like any ascent, there is more than one way to reach the top. And, like any attempt, the slipping or falling is often just one misstep away. The goal is seemingly simple: Avoid the falls that can be fatal, and learn from the near-misses that can in fact make you wiser.

In my world, quality occurs at the intersection of great people, curricula and infrastructure. Each part compliments the others, and if one fails the rest of the pieces fail as well. This interdependent relationship is nurtured by leadership, not just by senior management but by all involved. It’s critical that everyone feels the need to fulfill both the personal as well as organizational mission, to achieve the level of satisfaction that goes along with a job well done.

It’s a challenge to maintain the direction of heading toward quality. Day to day distractions and the pressure to achieve a middle ground consensus in difficult decision making efforts can take you off course, often without you even noticing it. You have to take time out, on a regular basis (daily, weekly, monthly) to consciously think about where the mission is going.

So, what are some key points I’ve picked up in the past few months?
- Stay focused. When I take my “quality time-outs” and consider where the challenges have been, and consider the final goal, I often come away feeling re-oriented to the original direction.
- Know your data! It’s not enough to just tabulate and collect information. It’s how it’s interpreted and applied that counts.
- Each quality climb begins with the first step. Absolutely corny, and absolutely true. Nothing is insurmountable when you look at it this way.
- Small falls are okay. I’ve learned a lot from the mistakes. We’ve learned a lot from our missteps. We’ve applied our lessons and have improved processes because of it.
- Stay true. What is the goal? Do the decisions you make contribute to the goal? Are you will to settle for less than what you originally wanted? Give yourself a chance to think about these questions, and commit yourself to the sometimes difficult choices you make in order to achieve your goal.

Can I ask you a question?

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 22:52:03 -0700

I’m halfway through a two day train the trainer class in Washington State. Part of the training deals with how to encourage critical thinking skills of students in a continuing education program. Of the different methods out there, I really like the socratic approach.

Of Humaness and Teaching

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 15:32:11 -0800

I’m at the Miami Airport, waiting to be hauled back across the US to home. Sitting through 3 days of classes reminded me of 2 lessons:

1) Conference chairs, as a rule, are not comfortable.

Corollary: Remember that my students must feel the same way at being parked in a chair for hours on end.

1) I felt most engaged when I got my WIIFM* answered early, often and in ways that kept me connected to the class.

Corollary: Keep it clear, keep it focused, keep it real.

We learn about how lecture is the most efficient yet least effective way to transmitting information to others. And we try hard to figure out ways how to avoid lecturing but scratch our heads when we do. I suggest that it’s not a Neither/Nor decision: Pontificating from the Podium can work if you punctuate it with purposeful activities (now that’s an alliteration I wasn’t expecting).

At the closing keynote, Patti Digh spoke about the life lessons she learned from her father’s rapid dying process, and captured in her book Life Is a Verb: 37 Days to Wake Up, Be Mindful, and Live Intentionally The content was good, above-standard fare for self-help and introspection. The visuals were reproductions of the images in the book, created by other readers as a response to what they had read and thought. They were good, appropriate backdrops to Patti’s discussion. So far, so good; excellent fare and what I expect from a keynote. However, what she had us do in this 400+ audience is what created the resonance, that made me think and feel.

About halfway into the presentation, Patti asked us to choose a partner to perform an exercise. While standing, we positioned ourselves as to be able to see each other clearly. My “partner” Margee and I stood about 3 feet from each other. We were then directed to look at each other over a period of a minute or two, not saying anything; after a few nervous seconds I relaxed a bit and gazed at Margee, and realized what a nice peaceful smile she had set among soft facial features. I began to close and open my eyes, at a pace faster than normal, but not as fast as blinking. I almost felt embarrassed at staring at this person, even though I was given permission to do so. Instinctively I extended my arms toward her; she smiled, took a step closer, grasped my hands and we continued to gaze at each other.

Patti asked us to close our eyes and image a series of events that had happened in our lives: our favorite childhood game, our first love, our first loss. We had about a minute to think about each image, savor the feelings and be lost in the memory. All this time, I became very conscious about the hands I was holding, of knowing that Margee was there, that while a stranger, she was present and in touch with me, and I with her. When the exercise ended, I opened my eyes to see Margee there, with a soft smile and a touch of sadness in her eyes. It felt like such a reflection of how I felt at that brief moment. It was powerful moment of contact whose lesson was spoken to by Patti - recognize the humanity of the stranger standing in front of you as real as any other part of him/her.

Patti could have simply spoken about it; she could have shown a video or mages that could have reinforced the concept. Instead she chose to do an intimate physical exercise in the context of a large audience that I could never imagine pulling off. Powerful, powerful lessons in engaged teaching:

1) Learning is a multi-faceted discipline, engaging the student’s ability to think, perform and value processes and procedures. It requires the instructor to teach in a multi-disciplinary way, even in the aspect of a lecture hall. It takes work, and entails the teacher to perhaps risk a bit of confidence by stepping outside a comfort circle. The result may yield far more than the investment made.
2) We do well to the teaching of the physical and mental skills needed by the emergency care provider. We must also help build their emotional strength to overcome bias and prejudice that can cloud judgement at a most inopportune time.

Thanks for Patti and Margee for helping me experience powerful learning. I hope to pay it forward when I am in the classroom.

I, Student

Sat, 21 Feb 2009 07:45:20 -0800

I had the good fortune to be selected as an American Society of Association Executives Diversity in Executive Leadership (DELP) Scholar for 2008-09. The program provides an opportunity to attend quality education workshops put on by the ASAE, and meet other association professionals from diverse backgrounds.

Today I am in Miami attending the Great Ideas conference. 75 zippy sessions on ways to improve association life as well as personal life. They have great keynote speakers and an interesting array of content leaders. I’m looking forward to listening to new ideas and different takes on existing ones.

Save a life, Save the world....

Fri, 20 Feb 2009 20:48:22 -0800

Yes, that was indeed a rip-off from a quirky television series, but it’s what comes to mind when I think about the role EMS plays in communities across the United States and beyond. EMS folks are very special people, often paid very little (or none at all), and sometimes faced with a lack of respect from both other public safety as well as health care professionals. They serve as the safety net for the American health care system, and are often called upon to perform services for which they are not formally trained, but are expected to deal with calm, confidence and compassion.

I’m proud to call them colleagues & friends.

My simple goal for this site is to simply share thoughts, tips, and unsolicited opinions about my love for teaching and learning. I learned the “hard way” - sink or swim. I swam, gasping for air and choking back water all the way. I hope that some of my experiences will help others improve the way we learn this craft.

I will say that these thoughts and comments are strictly of my own and not of my employer, groups, organizations or other individuals. I am happy that you might disagree with what I say - out of discord comes better understanding.

By the way, the photo is an EMT class on the first night. They were playing Twister, which served two purposes. First, they had to introduce themselves to each other each time they touched while on the pad. Second, they learned “first hand” that EMS is a touching profession - they would have to become comfortable touching each other during the program, so that touching patients would become less intimidating.

There was a third reason, as you might have guessed - they had fun!