What Good Students Expect

Good students expect instructors to:

1. Help students who are not performing as well as they are.....to a point.
2. Stand up for themselves and not allow "bad" student to take over a classroom.
3. Be on time.
4. Follow through.
5. Be creative and adapt to their needs.
6. Prepare for class just as they have.
7. Tell the truth.
8. Create an environment where they can learn.
9. Maintain a safe professional distance from them.
10. Challenge them.

Speed Learning

My wife is a pretty smart lady. A quick learner. Today, she stopped by a new burger joint in town that was very busy due to the fact that it is new and unique. She made the comment that, as she stood in a long line waiting to order, she watched others struggle with the process of ordering. How hard can it be to order a hamburger? Evidently, it posed a challenge to some. But rather than bide her time in line simply waiting to order, my wife carefully listened to the people in front of her bumble their way through the ordering process. When it came her turn, she ordered flawlessly and it stunned the girl taking her order to the point of pausing and makinig a "look" at my wife as if to ssy, "How did you do that?". She couldn't believe someone had finally ordered without error.

The lesson here is that watching somone else practice while getting feedback (the person taking the order was correcting the patrons as they made errors) provides the learner with a demonstration of what is--and what is not--the correct way to do something. If you are not using realistic scenarios to teach your students, you are cheating them out of a wonderful learning opportunity.

--Sherm

Thick Skinned EMS Instruction

Some people don't like me or my teaching style. I'm not offended. We all have likes and dislikes. For example, I don't like country music, avocados, the New York Yankees or when people treat their dogs better than their own children.

No matter how hard we work as EMS educators, we will never win-over all of our students, peers, or coworkers. I have been blasted by peers for being too "radical". I'll admit that some of my ideas to change how we educate EMS personnel will make some old-school instructors uncomfortable. I have been accused of being too opinionated and even stubborn. Changing what we do in EMS education is a hard meal for some to swallow especially those instructors who want to keep things nice and simple. Safe and unchanging. Familiar and comfortable. Boring and flat.

Here are a few ways that I'd change EMS education (more to come as I think of them):

1. Get rid of practical skills testing as currently delivered. Memorizing skill sheets doesn't measure anything other than the person's ability to memorize the skill sheets.
2. You shouldn't have to be an EMT-Basic prior to starting paramedic training.
3. Test candidates should only get three chances to pass the NREMT cognitive exam, not six.
4. Instructors need to quit dwelling on hours and start dwelling on competency.

If you're an EMS educator dedicated to maintaining the status quo, you are not moving EMS education forward; you're moving it backwards.

-Sherm

DOT Instructor Course

What does it take to be an EMS educator? State to state, the requirements differ. Most require the 40-hour instructor course. There are very good versions of this course (I recommend taking a NAEMSE instructor course: www.naemse.org). Unfortunately, the NEEMSE course is the exception to the rule in my experience. Most instructor courses are taught by people who have very little--if any--experience teaching. Furthermore, in order to be eligible to teach an instructor course, you only need to have completed an instructor course yourself. Applying this logic broadly, you'd only have to complete the third grade in order to teach third grade!! But, no matter; for it is not the instructor course that makes the instructor. In fact, the very best EMS instructors succeed in spite of their successful completion of the DOT instructor course.

-Sherm

What's a Sherman Sermon?

I have absolutely no idea where or when I started writing Sherman Sermons. You'd have to ask the dedicated EMS Educators that I work with everyday at the Emergency Medical Education Center at F-M Ambulance Service in Fargo, North Dakota; they might have an idea.....Lord knows they've read and heard enough of them!

I have always loved reading and writing. When I was a pre-teen, I frequently wrote short stories accompanied by some disturbing illustrations to compliment them in the form of crude comic books. I am fairly certain that, by today's standards, I would have been a candidate for some type of medication or at the very least a counseling session or two. But, alas, I digress.

I feel, for the first time in my life, that I have a message that I need to share. I have now spent over 20 years in the field of emergency medical services (EMS). I have been an EMS Educator fore more than 17 years. I have experience as a flight paramedic, ground paramedic, EMT, first responder, father, volunteer, center fielder and funeral director (no joke). I have a Bachelor's degree in Mortuary Science from the University of Minnesota (go Gophers) and I'm currently in the middle of completing a Master's degree in Instructional Design & Technology from the University of North Dakota (go Sioux). I disclose these things not because I feel the need to be boastful. On the contrary, you'll never convince me that putting letters after a person's name makes them more important, smarter, or somehow better than those who have chosen a different path. But within the mixes of human personalities, I understand that some of you will not take me seriously if the credentials are lacking.

Sherman Sermons have no political affiliation or standing agenda. They are not meant as self-promoting. They are my opinions, my experiences, and my loves. Furthermore, I'm not ashamed to state that as I muddle through life it is entirely possible that my opinions, experiences, and loves may adjust or change when new or updated information flows into my brain (I know, this is radical thinking for some). I prefer to use reason when I consider issues (unlike the politicians who inhabit Washington, D.C.). Sherman Sermons are not meant to be insulting or mean-spirited, but if you want a blog that pulls punches in order to "please" the masses, this may not be for you. I am not here to make, nor am I here to lose friends over opinions. As I said earlier, I feel I have something to share and I plan on doing just that.

The main focus of my commentary will be related to EMS education and associated topical drivel.

Please enjoy. I hope that what I share with you is worthy of your time.

--Sherm