Something crappy in my EMT class

[thirdunity]

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Something sucky in my EMS class:

1. At school, teacher is insisting that medical terms assignment is due October 5, for the past two weeks. This is a HUGE homework assignment, worth the credit of four ordinary assignments.
Let me add, every little bit of credit in this class counts; anything below B is a failing grade.
2. On the 3rd, teacher says, "Everyone is arguing with me. I'm not going to argue anymore. It's due today. I put the date on the board last week. You've had two weeks to get the assignment done. You can turn it in Wednesday, but you'll all get partial credit. It's worth four homework assignments. It was due today and you know that."

I wrote down everything I thought saw on the board, and so did the other 35-odd people in class who didn't finish this assignment.

Furthermore, it was listed on the calendar that the assignment was due the fifth, not the third.

When this was brought up, the teacher said, "That calendar is just a loose guide. It can change at any time. YOU KNOW THAT."

Uh, no we don't, because we were never *told* that.

We have two teachers who oversee the classroom part, and neither will budge on this issue.

I and some of the other students were pretty sure that this issue was going to bring about an OK Corral type standoff between teachers and students, but no such thing happened; everyone is just passively accepting this. Our teacher is the sort who 1) is Always Right, 2) has *often* pulled things like this right out of her butt, and 3) can always get the other EMS teachers to verify that she is Always Right.

Oh, to add frustration to frustration:

The students who *did* do the assignment and hand it in on Monday, all told me "she said it WAS due Monday". What were they looking at that the other thirty five of us didn't see?

What does go through my head is, though, HOW COULD THIRTY FIVE STUDENTS BE WRONG about when the assignment was due?

Is this typical in an EMS class or is it just this teacher? This class and its rules *are* very strict - if you miss one piece of your uniform, for example, you are banished from the class for the day. If you're late, you're locked out. If you get below a B on anything, you fail. I've accepted this, figuring it's just the way that an EMS class works, and I haven't had trouble following the rules - but this issue with this huge assignment and this teacher, makes me wonder if she makes some of the rules up as she goes along.

I've wanted to post about this, but I've had this paranoia of... "What if she's reading this?". She would know who she was. And I *wouldn't* put it past her to throw me out of the class for contesting her in any way. That's why, I suppose, nobody will go to the dean with their issues about her.

 

[beanbean]

EMT class should be fun! Not stressful and full of crazy rules. Attendance is important for class because there are a certain number of hours required for your state and/or NR. You need to be able to pass quizzes and practical exams in order to have confidence you can pass your registry exams. Is your class pass/fail or do you receive a letter grade? Sorry your instructor is such a tyrant.

 

[Siggy]

Is there any other EMT class in your area that you can go to besides this one? Honestly, consider it. My EMT class was awesome (to an extent). Grant it, power point presentations are boring as hell (I ended up reading the text book instead), but the couple saturday classes we had was a blast.

 

[thirdunity]

Is there any other EMT class in your area that you can go to besides this one? Honestly, consider it. My EMT class was awesome (to an extent). Grant it, power point presentations are boring as hell (I ended up reading the text book instead), but the couple saturday classes we had was a blast.

We're already to midterms. Doesn't make sense to quit now, now that I've worked so hard to get through this far. So far, my attendance has been *perfect*. I'm getting As and Bs. I've got the skills down. I *did* miss some homework in the beginning until I got the hang of the class and what was expected. I know I'm not going to have a perfect homework score. I just don't know how much of the grade is homework. It would probably set my mind at ease if I knew that homework wasn't a huge part of the grade.

Los Medanos College has an extremely good reputation as far as EMS schools go. Locally, AMR gives preference, hiring wise, to LMC students where it may be harder to get a job with them right out of another school. All of our teachers are paramedics with AMR.

That said, there are times this class makes me feel like I'm being scrubbed with sandpaper... I'm really feeling the workload. ALL of our homework is *hand written*, and the big homework assignment that we had to do was about fifteen pages of medical terms and definitions all *hand written*. Plus every week we have to do these big copying assignments for skill sheets and mnemonics. By hand. I missed part of a homework assignment recently just because I had already done that huge medical terminology assignment plus another homework assignment, and I literally just couldn't write anymore.

They really make it a challenge to get all the homework in on time. Staying ahead of my teacher (who likes to capriciously backdate the due dates of our assignments, or tell us something was due that she never announced) is a lot of work in and of itself. I feel like I have to always stay two or three steps ahead of her and anticipate what she's going to assign next.

For the person who asked - this is a letter grade. But anything below a B, they fail us. There are no Cs and no Ds.

 

[deleted6669]

sorry about your situation. emt class is short( as is emt-p) so they take coursework, class time, and clinicals very seriously. in my emt-basic course you were allowed to miss one session in 6 months with a great excuse and still were responsible for the work. terrible family emergency lasting> 1 day, sorry take it again next yr....in my emt-p program if we missed 1 lecture or any clinical time or weekend seminars we were out. people tried the " I was sick last week" attempt and were shown the door. I sat in class dehydrated with a fever so as not to get booted out.probably infected the rest of the class too. they didn't care. I was in my seat participating and that was all that mattered.
fail acls, pals, or btls by 1 point: c'ya.we lost a few that way.
we started 20 and graduated 12.the 8 who failed out didn't get a refund on tuition. all fees were due in full including book fees 2 weeks before the first class.

 

[fiznat]

Wow talk about an overly hardcore EMT class. Seems to me your teacher is taking herself WAAAAY to seriously. Its for the EMT basic for gods sake.

Everyone knows that most of the real-world EMT skills are learned on calls and in the back of ambulances... I dont understand this gunner attitude about the class. Mine was pretty relaxed, lots of "story time" classes and pretty much powerpoint presentations up the wazoo. We had must-pass quizzes often of course, but nothing like you are describing.

Bieng that youre already so far though it, I guess the only thing you can do is suck it up and do what it takes to pass. Sucks, I know. 🙁