Issue link: http://ncumarketing.uberflip.com/i/1327438
Michael Whitehead, PhD, LMFT Part-Time Facult y, Department of Marriage and Family Sciences I love teaching. Or rather I love mentoring. I had so many great mentors throughout my graduate education, I have a sincere desire to give back and help others develop into their professional identity. I am constantly trying to change my approach to reach all types of students. After recently completing the "Teaching through Engagement" training, I have redoubled my efforts to be a better teacher, mentor, and clinician. My biggest struggles adjusting to teaching at NCU have been feeling connected to students, time management, and providing substantive feedback. Over the course of my time at NCU, I have utilized the following techniques to address each of these concerns. Connecting to Students. As often as possible, I meet with students via Zoom within the first three weeks of a course starting. I believe that this initial meeting sets the stage for my feedback moving forward. If I can put a face to the name on the assignment and know what motivated them to become a Marriage and Family Therapist, I can provide specific feedback for each of their assignments. The assignment is no longer just a paper or a discussion, it becomes a course-long dialogue between me and the student. During the first meeting, I strongly encourage the student to email me throughout the course and to schedule at least one more Zoom meeting with me. Not every student takes me up on this, but those that have I have felt a stronger connection to. It's fun to see students over time between different courses. I had one student that ended up in my practicum course. We had developed a working relationship throughout her entire academic career and it was so much easier to provide appropriate and timely feedback for her clinical work. Scheduled Management. As a full time clinician working part time at NCU, it often feels like my schedule is not my own. When I first started at NCU, I was constantly overwhelmed and grading the very last day I could. I have now managed my schedule to match my responsibilities at NCU. Doing so has allowed me to provide space for students to schedule time to meet and for me to truly develop those relationships with them. Rather than chasing a task list with due dates, I'm now grading and interacting with students throughout the week. It was important for me to decide on a 'grading' day and provide two different blocks of time that allow me to meet with students and to stick with that schedule. Teaching TIPS 6