"In this letter, describe who you were in terms of teaching before you explored the possibilities of a student-centered paradigm in education and who you are following this experience. Be sure to address all the creative, innovative, and engaging teachings strategies you now have in your teaching strategies toolbox. End with sharing with the students what they can expect from their visionary, student-centered, caring, and creative teacher!"
Dear Nursing Students,
Welcome to Nursing Education in the 21st Century. It is an exciting time in nursing education as we embrace new active learning strategies and student/learner-centered outcomes so that you experience deep learning, develop a spirit of inquiry, and become a life-long learner as nurses of the 21st Century must be. If you are used to classes that I have experienced in the past with a patriarchic classroom where the teacher takes center stage and lectures, decides what you need to know, and does not expect participation; you are in for a pleasant surprise. As a newly graduated MSNE RN, I plan to take you on a much different journey to becoming a nurse than what you might have been expecting. I once heard a quote that rings true for me and it goes like this…”The brain can only absorb what the derriere can endure.” Short lectures may be employed as a teaching strategy sometimes, but expect to be an active participant in the classroom learning from each other or even leading the class yourself. We will develop class norms together and a few class norms that I have in mind include participation, mutual respect, collegiality, and caring for each other in a supportive environment where each of you will grow. As your course facilitator, I hope to role-model the caring behaviors that I expect nursing students to value for patient care including knowledgeable from an evidence base, approachability, accountability, genuineness, integrity and honesty, reliability, and a sprinkle of humor. A caring student centered environment will help you to discover your clinical reasoning abilities and hone them to think like a nurse.
My hope is that you will be guided with active learning strategies to gain deeper understanding of the concepts in nursing through active participation in your own learning. I plan to keep in mind that everyone learns differently and employ auditory, visual and hands on methods to remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate and create knowledge, remembering that everyone can learn something even if your dominant learning style of auditory, visual or hands on isn’t what is being used at the moment.
I have developed a toolbox of evaluation strategies to complement the active learning strategies you will experience and they are not 100% tests; but you will be provided with grading rubrics so that expectations for performance are communicated well in advance of evaluation. Because entrance into nursing requires passing the NCLEX exam, we will need to evaluate with some tests, but it is my aim to provide you with lots of practice tools including rationales for why answers are right or wrong in order for you to deepen your understanding of concepts.
I will never expect from you anything that I would not expect from myself. I will strive to strike a balance between giving you challenges in your learning and trying not to overwhelm you. It is my goal to help you become a generalist nurse that cares for the patient holistically, is safe in practice, values evidence-based practice, strives to provide quality nursing care, and is comfortable with constant advances in technology. I will not have all the answers to your questions but I will work with you to learn to know where to look. We will learn from each other. As a generalist nurse at the end of this program you will each be innately drawn to specialize in a particular area of nursing beyond the scope of this nursing program, and may even change career trajectories in nursing over your life-span. You will need the skills of a life-long learner to continue to grow and become in this noble career of nursing. It is my role to passionately show you the way. It is your role to enthusiastically embrace the opportunities for learning that you will be given. I can hardly wait to get started!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Ostwald
Welcome to Nursing Education in the 21st Century. It is an exciting time in nursing education as we embrace new active learning strategies and student/learner-centered outcomes so that you experience deep learning, develop a spirit of inquiry, and become a life-long learner as nurses of the 21st Century must be. If you are used to classes that I have experienced in the past with a patriarchic classroom where the teacher takes center stage and lectures, decides what you need to know, and does not expect participation; you are in for a pleasant surprise. As a newly graduated MSNE RN, I plan to take you on a much different journey to becoming a nurse than what you might have been expecting. I once heard a quote that rings true for me and it goes like this…”The brain can only absorb what the derriere can endure.” Short lectures may be employed as a teaching strategy sometimes, but expect to be an active participant in the classroom learning from each other or even leading the class yourself. We will develop class norms together and a few class norms that I have in mind include participation, mutual respect, collegiality, and caring for each other in a supportive environment where each of you will grow. As your course facilitator, I hope to role-model the caring behaviors that I expect nursing students to value for patient care including knowledgeable from an evidence base, approachability, accountability, genuineness, integrity and honesty, reliability, and a sprinkle of humor. A caring student centered environment will help you to discover your clinical reasoning abilities and hone them to think like a nurse.
My hope is that you will be guided with active learning strategies to gain deeper understanding of the concepts in nursing through active participation in your own learning. I plan to keep in mind that everyone learns differently and employ auditory, visual and hands on methods to remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate and create knowledge, remembering that everyone can learn something even if your dominant learning style of auditory, visual or hands on isn’t what is being used at the moment.
I have developed a toolbox of evaluation strategies to complement the active learning strategies you will experience and they are not 100% tests; but you will be provided with grading rubrics so that expectations for performance are communicated well in advance of evaluation. Because entrance into nursing requires passing the NCLEX exam, we will need to evaluate with some tests, but it is my aim to provide you with lots of practice tools including rationales for why answers are right or wrong in order for you to deepen your understanding of concepts.
I will never expect from you anything that I would not expect from myself. I will strive to strike a balance between giving you challenges in your learning and trying not to overwhelm you. It is my goal to help you become a generalist nurse that cares for the patient holistically, is safe in practice, values evidence-based practice, strives to provide quality nursing care, and is comfortable with constant advances in technology. I will not have all the answers to your questions but I will work with you to learn to know where to look. We will learn from each other. As a generalist nurse at the end of this program you will each be innately drawn to specialize in a particular area of nursing beyond the scope of this nursing program, and may even change career trajectories in nursing over your life-span. You will need the skills of a life-long learner to continue to grow and become in this noble career of nursing. It is my role to passionately show you the way. It is your role to enthusiastically embrace the opportunities for learning that you will be given. I can hardly wait to get started!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Ostwald