Bridget Hoffman

I think that it's important to be very clear and concise when creating fill in the blank questions.

I feel as though we are constantly using CAT's in massage school and that bridge between learing and application are there on a daily basis.

I have often come up with discussion topics that I feel will "light a fire" underneath my students. One highly debated one came in a criminal justice class when we were discussing prisoner rights. I feel that the students took a lot more from that class than if they had sat and watched a PowerPoint and listened to my lecture. Although it was highly debated, both sides were right and it stayed respectful and was a great learning environment.

As a massage therapy instructor, I feel that the majority of my students are kinesthetic learners in the hands-on environment because they prefer to manipulate in order to learn.

In all of my classes I have incorperated a calendar along with my addendum that informs the students of what we will be doing each class period, so there is no gray area in what we will be doing each class period, as well as my expectations of them as students. I have found this extremely useful in keeping the communication lines open.

The first day of a new class, I always have my students introduce and give a short background on themselves and then they have to tell me why they are in my class as well as what their future goals are beyond their degree. And then I share mine. :)

Students respond more positively when they are given positive feedback. I've also found that when they are praised for what they do well, they tend to work harder and come to class with a positive attitude.

I've found that when students have frustrations and they don't have someone to go to, or someone that can listen and then tell them what the solution is or why something is run the way that it is, it can become very confusing and hard for the students to understand. Which makes them even more frustrated in the end. I've also found that students are more willing to come talk to you when they know that if they don't I will never know about the problem or the situation is. Communication is the best way to get through student frustrations.

Wow! That's actually shocking to me. Massage is artistry and science. I tell my students the very first day of Intro to Massage class that I don't want them learning a cookie cutter massage that they give everyone...and they are warned that they need to come up with their own routine. They're taught a variety of strokes, and they need to choose which ones they like, and connect them and have good flow between body parts and their chosen strokes.

Massage therapy labwork is the epitomy of tactile learning.