BECOMING A TEACHER

First, we learned about our students. We practiced how to instruct. We set-up the objectives and planned our lessons. And then, we became teachers. This might seemed to be an oversimplification of everything that happened for the past two weeks, but the realizations and experience that I have can never be described or be written completely. I never thought that this course might actually teach me not just how to become a teacher, but how to become a better physical therapist in the future.

It was the last day of class as our professors introduced us to our final task: teaching our clients. Our group was assigned to teach the support staff of CAMP about prevention of LBP and joint protection program. It was a bit challenging for us since we were exposed more on treatment rather than teaching our patients how to prevent musculoskeletal problems through exercises and proper biomechanics. It added to the stress that it was our first formal teaching experience and our clients were not pretending as patients like in our laboratory exams.

Based on my experience, there are things that we did which help in facilitating the learning experience for the support staff. It was good that we researched for the lessons in order to make them appropriate and relevant to their jobs. It was also good that we translated our research to a more relevant format which made the discussions easier and more interesting for our students. We also gave handouts for the exercises which can help in initiating exercise behavior. We were also able to target our cognitive and affective domains by citing the reasons for LBP and the importance of exercise and proper posture in relations to one’s work. By also encouraging the staff to participate in the exercises and practicing proper biomechanics using their tools, we helped them internalize and appreciate the topics discussed as part of our psychomotor domain. Lastly, the evaluations were effective since we were able to gauge what they have learned in the topics and how they can apply them to their work.

Although I considered our first teaching job as a success, we have failed to consider other things which might have made the experience better. We should have let the support staff introduced themselves to us and let them share their working experience in the college to gauge what are the things we should have focused on during the discussions. We should have also practiced more the exercises to let them learn the proper form. We should have also engaged them more to ask questions relevant to their jobs. This experience also made me realized that my role was not solely as a teacher but as a physical therapist as well who should gave emphasis on the intervention given. I should have considered the proper exercises appropriate for their work settings and gave them instructions as to when and why they should do it every day.

This experience also made me realize my capabilities as a student. It made me realize that I can actually do it as long as I put my mind and heart to the objectives at hand. It gave me confidence in teaching the things that I have learned in college and to never hesitate to participate and lead the discussions. It also gave me hope that I should never stop dreaming as I can be someone someday, may be a teacher capable of imparting important lessons to my future students. It also made me realize to never be afraid of failing because experience will always be a great teacher. Feedback will build me as a person. And in this profession, I realized there will always be room for improvements.

With the guidance given to us by our mentor and the teamwork that we have, the group was able to experienced how to become teachers.