My Instructor Fail!

Safety Consultant with Sheldon Primus

Keywords: Sheldon Primus, Sheldon, Primus, Safety Consultant, Safety Training, Instructional Design, Public Speaking, SDS, OSHA, OSHA compliance, Adult learners, Zoom, Zoom conference, public speaking
[00:00:00] : This episode is powered by safety FM. Welcome to the safety consultant podcast. I am your host on the premise, this is the podcast where I teach you the business of being a safety consultant and additionally considering me your consultant. Yes, I am now America's safety consultant. How are you this week? I'm actually doing pretty good. It's been a good week. I finished a certified occupational safety specialist class. I was the instructor, had a bunch of students who was green had a good time. Yeah, I actually am going to talk to you about something that happened during that class and this is what we're gonna do today. You ever had those times where you say something in class and then someone's like, no, that's not true, hold on, let's look this over and uh it's just a technical issue. Well, I had that in class. I had one of those uh instructor moments where I had a technical error, a big one at that and then it turned out to be two of them uh in the same class, but I'm going to talk to you about the way you handle it, and then also about just my thoughts about it, just the dynamics of why and a few other things. So that is to, just for this uh episode, I really want to just kind of dissect that thing a little, just get my brain on it and uh have you guys help me out and get my brain on it too. So that is the the idea for this week and it's just gonna be me, I'm not gonna uh do much else, but just Work on this one. So let's do this one together, I'm gonna, I'm gonna tell you the scenario and then after I tell you this scenario, this is really, it's set up, I think, to to really get you to to feel what I felt. So I'm doing a lesson on them on well, the lessons has come basically and I got something really, really wrong about specific gravity versus not. And it was just a, just a pretty, pretty nightmarish thing for me. So um a student, you know, you just mentioned it, uh it's not what you're saying is like, well, let's see. So we kind of went over it together classes, it's a class, that was a 40 hour class and I'm teaching OSHA compliance and teaching a bunch with foundations for safety and health, and this is just one that was on a topic such as hazard communication. We had other topics because I am, I was on break, needed to look it up, I looked it up, sure enough, that was me ma bad. So when we come back with the class, I just get ahead and fess up and just tell the class hey uh student was right I was wrong and then I went a little further and I decided from here on and I'm gonna name this exercise, the student's name, that's what I'm gonna do. So I'm going to do that to actually because I said it and just because she earns it, she earned it, uh we're gonna go ahead and do that, it was pretty funny. So the class was a wonderful um It was like a mix of pretty much people who have been in the business for a long time and people who were uh they thought they were less competency than they really were. Uh So the perception was that they were just really getting going, but many of them in practicality was aware of things safety and health related and just really didn't equate it to being principles of safety and health or uh they had more foundational knowledge that they just didn't really taking account for october, you reminded them of that in the class, so that was a good blend, but we just have fun in my classes, I have much fun as I can and you guys have heard previous episodes of me telling you how to be the best instructor, telling you how to uh my thought behind public speaking, but generally it's if I'm having fun, everyone else gonna have fun. So I'm just going to have as much fun as I can and uh and that's my, my principal and I try to go by that principle, so I'm gonna break down this feeling just a little bit more for you. At first, my initial feeling of being challenged is a curiosity more than anything. So it's not like I felt as the instructor, I needed to stand my ground even though I tried to explain my point and as I gave an explanation, it was the right explanation. However, the constituent that we're talking about, I actually just happened to read the, read the data wrong. So the concept was right, the data was wrongs and therefore the technical stuff was wrong. So, um, I felt first curious as to why, why was it wrong? What did I miss there? So my quick little look up and I was like, yes, you're dealing between the weights with florida and waits with air and, and it just elementary, it was actually something that I've forgotten and uh, and it was great to, to be reminded and learn again. So I, I actually felt, you know, I don't feel as much as a failure per se, as much as I did feel it as, um as an awakening, like oh yeah, cool. I I could, I could find out a little bit more about some technical stuff and so it was great and I am truly, truly started at the next session after I checked everything is yes, student excellent. Uh I thanked her, yeah, I said, hey, good job because truly if you're in a a setting where you're learning and you know that the instructor is the professional and the person who is the technically supposed to be the guru if that's the term. Uh so therefore a student having a very sound understanding of a principal and not letting that go, excellent, Don't let that go, you're right, well you're not, I'm not always right. Uh the other thing that I was kind of thinking about threw out of it was I kind of felt pride because I had another student with another technical thing that I know that I have known before. I just completely um, just mistook it. I don't know why. So hair, this one is, is really, it's simpler to explain than the other one. So this one's a good one. One of my students again, here, I am the expert, I literally right courses on safety and health and I didn't know that the end for N- 95 or I honestly thinking if I'm thinking back, I would have known it when I was actively doing this. But the N is, come on, what do you guys think? Not NIOSH? Everybody who may have been in a classic could be listening to this is probably cracking up at this point, but it is non oil. So it's basically a classification of non oil uh, or no oil. Excuse me. Uh, so that was kind of cool to, to figure out the true meaning as I am sure I've known, but I just completely went blank and it was nice at a student. Yeah, I just said, hey, teach, Oh my, we got something here. So it's a non oil is, what's the meaning? That is if, and I just pulled it up on the website real quick. No oil based particulates are present, then you can use this mask in the work environment. So that's what the end for the N 95 means if no oil base particulates or present, then you could use this mask. So I messed up on that one and I was like, oh, but it was great. It was great. We had some fun with it. The students brought it back in their presentation at the end of the week and a, you're like, uh what? Students had a mask respirator protection that they're talking about the end of this course. They do a 10 minute presentation to just kind of wrap up the learning in a fun way. So their 10 minute presentation was, It was truly, you know, Hey, did you know a little known fact, the end and then 95 is for non oil. Uh, so that was great. They poked fun at their teachers and I told them, Hey, uh, any time you could get one over on the instructor, that's a win. So we had some fun. Uh, another thing that got me thinking out of this last class was our dynamic. So 100% virtual. I've been doing that for credo for quite a while. Even prior to the pandemic, I've been transitioning from physical classes to virtual classes because my wife and I have a lifestyle of being full time our beers. So that means we could literally go anywhere in the US or we want to drive to just hang out and we drive and get there. So for full time are being, I just wanted to make sure I would be able to travel and still work. So that's why I started doing virtual. And then lo and behold we have a pandemic and I'm like, oh Instead of doing this 50% of the time, I think I'm going to try to do this 100% and I just dropped all my in person and stuff and transitioned. Uh so that's pretty much what I do. So I bought this board road castor and I am not to sponsor the or sponsor or mine there or should say they're not a sponsor. But the reason this class went all so good, I believe was because of this piece of equipment, health enhance what I could do. So you're listening to the board right now with the background music, so I'm going to shut this thing down for a second. And if you uh if you're getting into podcasting, you got to do it. But if you're also doing things like some sort of live event where you're interacting with people and uh you want to make it more of a fun event versus just technical information. It's always good to break it up with a few things. So, what I have done with the purchase of this, and the only reason I even knew to buy it was thanks to jay Allen with safety F. M. Make sure you get that safety FM app. Uh listen to jay. He was on my show again a couple of weeks ago. So, uh when you subscribe to the channel, then go kind of flip through and look for jay. So he tells me about this board, and I'm like, all right, I got to get it because I want to I want to get my game up on the podcasting thing. So I noticed that I could actually do this stuff and use it for my classroom. So this is what I was doing all week, and uh just for those of you who are instructors or you're about to be in the environment where you have to do a lot of this online, or you could even do with live because the way the board is. But but online, this is like uh if we're talking about In 95 and N being NIOSH, I would just go something like this, like a like a joke. Or maybe if I wanted to, I could say, nope, that's not right. So if you're in a class when you're hearing that, are you hearing someone a good answer? Yes, Yes, Yeah. That kind of livens up the atmosphere and even if you ask a question and the students are completely fatigued. So that's the idea behind what I was doing during the week. So we had a really nice loose atmosphere uh, in the classroom and you know, even if I said something wrong, I'd even give myself a nice little buzzers that no, and you can see in the boxes and the zoom rooms of everyone cracking up. So that's one of the things that I was happy I incorporated in my training now that I'm mostly well Good, virtual. I do show up at physical places from time to time, but I'm grateful to be blessed to have a full schedule for 20, Uh, so I'm mostly virtual for the rest of the year. Uh All right, here's another thought that I am getting from the same interaction. I know uh, I'm, I'm stretching this one thing, but I honestly felt like this was a way for me to expand myself as an instructor. Yes, I do need to get back in, take some of the things that I could have picked up as gospel truth from someone in passing and not actually get the information from uh, taking a class or, or going through a standard or something. I just hear it and I'm like, oh yeah, that sounds about right. And then I incorporated in my class. Okay, so that's a lesson not to do that. So that's uh, something for me, for improvement sake. But then also, I feel like um, the reaction of the class showed me that uh it could have turned one way or the other the other on me and I'm glad we went down the right path together as a class. And that path was alright, I'll own up to my uh to my ridiculousness and as an instructor, I'll make sure that I have to be the one who would start this path to uh no friction between me and the student. Yeah. And then also that the learning can, can just be, hey, shared learning, I learned just from you the same thing you learned from me all week. I'm learning from you. So it's a two way street. And I say that on monday when I start my classes there, 40 hour classes and I'm like, well, I'm gonna do this this week. See that board gets you every time you just have to hit a couple of buttons or something And now you are just in another fantasy world because you're using your ears the board catching. All right. So, I am truly just, I was happy about that situation just because I, um, I got to learn. I was embarrassed. Yes. Come on. Let me human. But truly I was proud of my students. That was really fun. So thank students. I like only I learned something from teaching. That's one of the things I'm gonna always keeping my schedule of seeing the next generation of safety professionals get out there and and take care of their, their environment and keep people safe and knowing that I had a hand in that. So, that's a good thing for me. All right, well, I will see you guys. It looks like my schedule is gonna be on monday. Yes. Just messed with you. I see every monday. All right. To have a wonderful rest of your week. Go get him. Mm If you use and opinions expressed on this podcast or broadcast, argued with the host of its guests and do not necessarily reflect the official policy of position of the company. Examples of analysis discussed within the past hour are only examples. They should not be utilized in the real world as the only solution available as they are based on very limited and needed. Open source information, assumptions made within this analysis are not reflective of the position of the company. No part of this podcast or broadcast may be reproduced stored within a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means mechanical, electronic recording or otherwise without prior written permission of the creator of the podcast or broadcast Children brightness. This episode has been powered by safety. FM. Mhm.

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