Effective communication skill is essential. Responsible nursing is not simply the ability to successfully carry out a series of routine procedures. Effective communication skills taught and displayed in the classroom setting is an essential piece of nursing. As a nurse and nursing educator successful communication through a patient-centered approach serves to reassure relatives that their loved ones are receiving the necessary treatment. Within the nursing field effective communication skills are considered indicative of best practice.

I have applied the items that I have learned in this session. It has made me take time and listen to each and ever students voice. I have found that the class is having fun and seem to get more into the topic. I also feel that giving praise to my class gives them the much needed confidence that they all are in need of.

It is important to stay on topic and keep your class interesting. Be practical and find way to teach topics or share information using technology which will include visual aids and class discussion or interactive methods.

This concept validate every time your parents have said first impression are lasting impressions. This is true for your students. How they see for the first time will set the atmosphere or their perception of you until otherwise proven differently.

Planning is the key to having a effective class, I have found the best plans have away of becoming a disaster, if one element/factor does not go the way you've planned. Back up plans are always good to have in place.

we may sometimes feel as, we are there to lecture or demonstrate a task or skills, however the student needs to see as a person first before they will see you as a instructor.

A valuable lesson I learned long ago is that people learn in different ways. Effective instructors not only quickly acknowledge this fact, but are also adept in altering their teaching styles when necessary. Obviously some course content does not allow much variation. Despite these constraints an effective instructor can still hit the right chord that will ultimately connect best with that student. This does not mean the instruction becomes wildly fragmented due to an instructor trying too hard to accommodate individual students, but on a smaller scale the instructor has more latitude in their teaching style.

I noticed I am guilty of a fidgety habit while speaking in the classroom. I wear a lanyard to secure my work badge, this lanyard is on a retractable string and I tend to tug on the badge, wrapping the cord around my fingers, letting go and then doing it again. Either during those 3-5 second pauses after asking/answering questions or when delivering information which could be considered "mundane". Going over this material really helped me to identify my fidgety habit and make corrections!

I have found that by knowing all the different learning styles, it has giving me tools to make my class run smoother. I now take the time to asset each student and how their roll in class will better fit them for their best learning outcome.

I like it when my students ask questions. Sometimes the questions do not relate to the topic directly but I will always answer them and be honest. I do not like it when instructors direct students to look up the answer on the internet.

My daughters struggled with learning disorders and I learned a lot walking with them though their challenges. It's all about open and honest communication. No one is "not college material" if they're determined to succeed they certainly can.

As someone who went back to school later in life, I really related to this segment. Adult learners relate far more to real world application than abstract theories. This is something I always keep in mind while teaching a non-traditional student body.

I really liked this segment as group activities are some of the most beneficial for me as a student so I love incorporating them into my curriculum. It's really important to maintain balance in groups and make sure everyone is being heard.

I found the bit on eye contact especially helpful. Often when lecturing it's awkward when you make eye contact with someone who is obviously uncomfortable with it; but those are often the students that need to be the most engaged for retention.

You need to be able to do this more then one way do to everyone learns differently.

This is the first impression where the rubber meets the road so to speak and the student makes a determination if they will be able to learn anything in this class.

This is the most important thing to making the class go smoothly.

First impressions are very important. And planning is key to a good first impression. As an instructor every day is a job interview.

One of the best tools I have found is video recording myself. I like this tool because it makes me more aware of my strengths and weaknesses. I personally feel that I am able to present some of the information differently to a broader student demographic, and have seen higher completion rates. Remember this tool is only as good as it's critic, and that's YOU!

I did gain some valuable information from this course but my role in our education process where I teach is different. I don't teach in a classroom . I instruct students who are in a externship for 12 weeks before they go find a job. The hardest part is keeping them motivated in finishing their course since they are biting at the bit to get out. Attendance is a big issue with them as they go on interviews that pull them away from their externship duties. They have completed their class time and feel they know it all and just want to get out. I have found that in order to keep them motivated and still get needed information I had to come up with something they needed. We came up with mock role playing with me being the hiring company and the student being the applicant. After their interviews I would discuss what I felt was their good and bad points. We do one interview per week for 6 weeks and it is really amazing to see how they improve over the 6 weeks. Most students were having perfect interviews at 5 weeks. They were in competition with themselves to improve. Since I started this the completion rate for the course has gone from 86% completing the course to 99% with 97% on those finding jobs upon completion. I believe it is all about engagement and making it personal for each student. One on one with a active instructor can turn the worst student into a great student.