experience is your best teacher

Last Thursday we had what I consider the culmination of our course in Teaching in Physical Therapy. My group was assigned to teach a wellness activity to the 3^rd year PT students. Our topic was about circuit training and the general flow of session was a short lecture for the first fifteen minutes, followed by the exercise proper. Then the interns also came in to have an activity scheduled at the same time. Despite the unexpected incident, our group was able to accomplish the objectives we set on our instructional design except for the affective domain which was not possible to accomplish because of time constraints. We had delivered the lecture part clearly and within the time frame, but we could have added more visual aids such as pictures and exercise tools aside from the power point presentation, and used music to engage the interest of the audience. For the psychomotor domain, our group was able to begin the group activity with warm up exercises and demonstrate some of the exercises included in the interns’ program, and able to teach the proper forms, it just that the game was taking too long to finish that’s why we didn’t have the chance to close the session properly. 

Personally I was shocked when I learned that the interns are making a lot of last minute changes to our plans. I wasn’t ready to accept what was happening in front of me but I chose to stay silent and go with the flow. I just felt that it was unfair for our group since we put our thoughts and efforts into designing an instructional design specific for that population, time, and event. The big lesson here is that we have to consider ALL possible contingencies and never forget to include external variables when preparing for an activity. We could have at least asked more questions about our audience and their availability. Also, we could have inquired about their level of physical fitness so that we may have thought of a better exercise program to introduce. 

This is one unforgettable experience for me because I learned valuable lessons that I can keep for life. I have learned that, in any circumstance that we are about to face in our future practice we have to think quickly to make room for some last minute changes. In real life, not everything goes according to plan and that is why we have to be adaptable at all times. Should unexpected things happen, we always have to maintain composure and try to think from an outside perspective. That way, it would be easier to improvise. I am honestly grateful that it happened at this time so that in the future, I can always go back to this experience and remind myself to prepare better for my clients and my audience, and think further and outside the box. It taught me that flexibility and thoroughness is an important thing in life. Finding the right balance in giving way to changes and at the same time still sticking to the original plans, and having not just plan A but also plan B and C are crucial in ensuring the success of a project or presentation. 

Above anything else, I must remember that there is always room for improvement and teaching can be learned, not over night, but over time. Experience is indeed the best teacher.