CWI Library was recently
awarded an Excellence in Academic Libraries Award, which is the academic
library equivalent of winning an Academy Award. The award is given by the
Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) to honor an outstandingcommunity
college, college, and university library each year.
It is a great
achievement!
That day included a
College of Western Idaho training session for our innovative faculty.
I listened to a
presentation about new technologies and how to reach out to the new generation
of students.
I thought about my first
experience teaching. I was in adjunct speech teacher at Boise state. I was 23
and nervous.
It was a night class.
When I introduced myself, several people seemed shocked. “You’re the teacher!
You look like you’re in high school.”
In the early 80s,
technology consisted VHS tapes, old educational videos, and one old decrepit
podium.
I made sure that I used
every available technology to engage my students. Fast forward 30 some years, I
ran into one of my former students at a lunch. She told me that I was a great
teacher and she learned a lot from me.
Around 2006, I started a real estate
school with a good friend of mine. Teaching full-time, eight
hours a day, for two weeks to complete the Idaho legal requirements to become a
real estate agent was a challenge!
My students ranged from
18 to 70. In one class! How do you reach a cocky 18-year-old and a 70-year-old
woman who hasn’t taken a class since she was in high school? I used every
available to including weird videos.
Adult learners are scared
of math. I used “School House Rock” to ease them into math which is key in real
estate.
My students watched clips from the
movie “Mr. Blanding Builds His Dream House.” There are funny yet relevant
scenes about home inspections and paint colors.
After my strokes, people
asked me to go to schools to talk about strokes. My audience were 4th to 8th
graders. I have Power Points for those age groups.
I’ve also developed
presentations about strokes for adult learners. Sometimes I speak at survivor
groups and use technology tools for my presentations including YouTube videos.
I also chair a
stroke/aphasia survivor support group which meets every Wednesday in Boise. I
developed a Facebook page in 2015 using videos and articles. It is been very
helpful.
So when I listened to the
CWI faculty I was in awe of their commitment to teach more effectively.
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