#MeetUsMonday - Meet Instructional Designer William

Meet William.
Hallmark movie addict, video game enthusiast, and Harrisonburg native. Avid runner about to do his first marathon. Possesses a doctorate in rhetoric, a master of arts in communication, and a future professoriate certificate. Dad to one son, 3 ½-year-old Sawyer, and two dogs, Fridley and Bella. A former high school teacher and instructional technology resource teacher who now teaches nursing faculty at the School as an instructional designer.
HIS EARLY CAREER
“My first thought was that I would be an environmental scientist, but I had a communication class and fell in love with the material and professor. At the time I was in this class, my mom had cancer, and then passed away. The support the professor gave me and the amount of connection and care and love she showed made me realize, ‘Wow, this is what being an educator is all about.’ That pivotal moment is really what inspired me to realize, ‘I want to do something in education.’”
BEST PRACTICES FOR NURSING FACULTY
“It all boils down to connecting as humans, to show our students our passion and vulnerability. Passion’s contagious. When students hear it, and enjoy the material being presented, they’re inspired.
“Another thing I try to impart is that we shouldn’t be doing something for the sake of doing it. Technology is like that: don’t bring tech into the classroom unless you commit to using it correctly and understanding what its value added is. ‘Does this fit with how we want to progress? Does it allow students to have peer-to-peer conversations? Does it connect with where we want to go?’”
BEST ADVICE TO NURSING STUDENTS
“First, make connections: whether it’s trying to connect material that you’re working in across classes, or making connections with faculty and your peers, or making connections across classes.
“Second, ask for help. Don’t be afraid to reach out.”
“Third, don’t be afraid to get things wrong. That’s one of the biggest things that I went through during my master’s program, that fear of getting something wrong. I sat silently through some of my classes, didn’t want to speak up, and sound like an idiot. I had a good advisor, though, and she challenged me: ‘You have some great ideas, why don’t you share them in class?’ That was important for me to hear. I think a lot about this now: how can we adjust the climate in class so people aren’t afraid to speak up and say what others are also thinking?”
BEST PRACTICES FOR PUBLIC SPEAKING
“1. Take a breath right beforehand. That activates your parasympathetic system, helps you center yourself, and allows your nervous system a chance to catch up.
“2. Take everything in before you begin. Tell yourself that you’re safe and that you know your material. Use that as a mantra before you begin."
“3. Seek out friendly faces in the audience. I scan for people smiling and nodding, and those are the people whose faces I go back to. Center on them as you scan the room, and don’t get stuck in one place.
“4. Remember that it’s OK to make a mistake; you aren’t a perfect robot. Someone once told me, ‘Be strict with your goals but flexible with your methods.’ Get the points across that you want to, be fluid, and move amongst them. You don’t have to memorize everything. That can help alleviate some of those nerves.”
WHAT A SESSION WITH WILLIAM LOOKS LIKE
“Sometimes, a faculty member comes to me with a specific tool they want to use. We do a deep dive about why they want to use it, how they can use it to be engaging, and make it a fun experience for you and your students.
“Then there are the sessions where professors say to me, ‘I don’t ‘know what I want to do,’ so we brainstorm. That’s really fun. We get at the root of, ‘So what do you want to do?’ Then the conversation evolves.
“We talk a lot about online teaching best practices. Online can sometimes feel mechanical; it’s important that students know there’s a human behind all of this. The biggest thing is to show your human presence. Create short videos, take out your camera, say to students, ‘Hey, how’s it going? I’m here at the beach and it’s windy.’ Things that aren’t even professionally recorded; that’s where you create connection and show you’re human. It’s incredibly important, especially if you’re teaching a fully asynchronous course. It’s not that online community cannot be created, but you have to be intentional.
“For online synchronous courses, create community by allowing space for students to connect with one another. Ask for people to have their cameras on, use breakout rooms without faculty members present: the parents have left the room! They can have fun talking. All of that really expedites relationships.”
UVA SCHOOL OF NURSING IN A WORD
“UPLIFTING. I think about a lot of stories and interactions I’ve had here—with faculty, with students, at events, with staff—and they’ve all had an uplifting, positive feel. Even when we’re talking about something that isn’t positive, there’s a sense of ‘We’re getting there, we are getting better.’ Healing’s another word that comes to mind. People are intentionally kind. That’s really inspiring and uplifting.”
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