Share More Than Your Subject Matter

As massage educators, it’s our responsibility to prepare our graduates to succeed in the field of massage. While this includes developing exceptional hands-on skills, and all of the accompanying skill sets, it also means preparing graduates to make smart choices when they’re creating their personal career path.

IS Blended BeTTer?Schools often focus on preparing students to become sole proprietors. While these tools are vital, students also need to be prepared to succeed as employees and know that they have choices. Flying solo is not the best option for everyone; some therapists are better suited to working for someone else. Often therapists find that

an employee/sole proprietor blend is just the right mix of freedom and stability. Encourage them to make individual choices based on personality, skills, and interests.

ThIS MeanS You!There is a saying, “It takes a village to raise a child.” Well, it also takes a full faculty and staff to develop a successful massage therapist. It’s not just the job of the business instructor and career services director to help students create a strong career path. All instructors have the opportunity, and obligation, to share personal experiences in the field. What different experiences have you had throughout your career? Have you been an employee or independent contractor? Have you rented an office space or had a home office? What lessons have you learned?

CauTIon: everY PaTh IS unIqueEvery massage therapist has a unique and personal journey, so please remember this word of caution: what you say carries “mentor weight” with your students. Be careful to share your opinions without judgment. Just because working in a spa isn’t for you, that doesn’t mean it’s not the right fit for some of your graduates. They may happily work in that setting for years.

When every instructor thoughtfully shares their experiences (good and bad), students are better prepared to make smart career choices.

Want your students to learn something and have a blast while doing it? Make them sell it! Assign a student or group a topic—a bone, muscle, modality, stroke, you get the picture—and have them create a commercial to “sell” their product to the class. Why is the sternocleidomastoid (SCM) the best muscle in the body? How is it better than the competition? What are the benefits for its owner? What would happen if you didn’t have one? What’s its low, low price? Have an outsider “buy” the product with the best sales pitch! (Great side benefit? Strengthening public speaking skills!)

The Massage Educatorissue 3, 2012

Created by Associated Bodywork & Massage Professionals • philosophy for instructors

The number of years ABMP has been supporting massage therapists, bodyworkers, and educators!

Best adviceInstructors Share What Works in the Classroompage 2

SellIt!

Best AdviceInstructors Share What Works in the ClassroomIn the spirit of community-building, we asked instructors across the country to share their favorite teaching tip or piece of advice. Keep the conversation going by sharing your own inspiring advice in the Massage Educators group at MassageProfessionals.com!

“Use a 10/80/10 class time

instruction. Based on an hour:

10 percent review; 80 percent

new material instruction; 10

percent recall of new material.”

Charlotte, Schoolcraft College, MI

“The teacher needs to be the student.

Keep learning! Then encourage the

same from your students.”

Sarah, Ohio Healing Arts Institute, OH

“Smile more, and enjoy it all—

including the challenges.”

Sharon, Healing Arts Institute, CA

“Bring in people that have

something to do with what we

are working on for the students to

massage and talk to, i.e. runners for

sports massage class, or someone

with MS for pathology.”

Leslie, Integrative Bodywork School of Massage Therapy, PA

“Listen when students

speak and pay attention

when they do.”

Scott, Florida Academy, FL

“In lecture classes, I take one break

and we go for a walk. I have found

some of the best learning moments

and brainstorms happen while

walking with the students.”

Robin, Globe University-Madison, WI

“What interests and excites

one class may be a big yawn to

another, so pay attention to the

unique makeup of your class

and teach to your audience.”

Roberta, The Massage School, MA “What I have found to work best

is to make it fun. It doesn’t seem

to matter what age my students

are, if you don’t get them involved

they tune out.”

Crystal, Mueller College, CA

“I have learned through my years

of teaching to expect excellence

from every student. You may be

surprised just how many students

will give it to you.”

Debra, Milan Institute Sparks, NV

“When correcting an individual

on how to apply a technique, always

find something they are also doing

very well to pair with the correction.”

Kelley, National American University, MN “Let them know what’s

coming. Give it to them early

so they can get a head start.”

Kevin, Anthem College, FL

“My goal in teaching is to make

my students better massage

therapists than I am.”

Michael, Hesser College, NH

“Explain everything as if no one in the room

has ever heard this information before. Even

if some of them have, you are probably

sharing it in a different way.”

Denise, Healing Hands School of Holistic Health, CA

“Remember, your

students look to you

as the example of a

professional licensed

massage therapist. Act

accordingly.”

Tate, Brookline College, AZ

Have a question, comment, or information for the Massage Educator?

Contact: Kristin Coverly, ABMP Education Facilitator, at Kristin@abmp.com 800-458-2267 ext. 658.

“Make the subject matter relate

to your student’s life and practice.

Adults will only truly take the

time to learn something if they

can apply it to their day-to-day.”

Shawn, Academy of Palm Beach, FL

2 A

BM

P.co

mA

BM

P.com

3

Massage Therapy FoundaTion’s “Teaching research LiTeracy” Workshophttp://www.abmp.com/instructors_on_the_front_lines

9/28 – Chicago, IL12/7 – Orlando, FL

Webinars www.abmp.com/online_education

9/5 – Instructor 101 Series: “Great Demonstrations” with Anne Williams9/26 – “Understanding the Body-Mind Effects of Stress” with Til Luchau10/3 – “How Well Do You Communicate at Work?” with Dana Dupois and Til Luchau10/17 – Instructor 101 Series: “Great Classroom Activities” with Anne Williams10/18 – “Massage Technique @ Work: Transportation Workers” with Whitney Lowe10/24 – “Myofascial Techniques for Shoulder Pain & Restrictions” with Til Luchau

abMp bizFiT Live: “successFuL pracTice Workshop”www.abmp.com/bizfit_workshop

9/15 – Seattle, WA9/22 – Minneapolis, MN10/14 – Boston, MA

Upcoming ABMP EventsinsTrucTors on The FronT Lines Workshopshttp://www.abmp.com/instructors_on_the_front_lines

9/14 – Fort Lauderdale, FL10/12 – Santa Fe, NM10/19 – Dallas, TX (as part of the TAMT convention)11/9 – Honolulu, HI

“Take lots of breaks. Students

remember the points at the

beginning and end.”

Jerry, Iowa Lakes Community College, IA

“To effectively teach, you

must effectively listen.”

Ed, National Massage Therapy Institute, PA

PO Box 1869Evergreen, Colorado 80437

PRSRT STD

U.S. POSTAGE

PAIDEVERGREEN, COPERMIT NO. 181

Celebrate our 25th Anniversary! And you could win a refund on your membership.

ABMP

25years

ABMP has proudly served the massage and bodywork profession for 25 years and we want you to share in the celebration!

Throughout 2012, we’re conducting random drawings every two weeks to select a member to receive a refund of the membership fees he or she paid for the year; each drawing includes everyone who renewed at, or upgraded to, the ABMP Practitioner, Professional, or Certified level membership during that time.

Yes! If your name is selected, we’ll cut you a check for 100 percent of the membership dues you just paid. By year’s end, we’ll have 25 members celebrating our 25th anniversary and enjoying a free membership. (Actually 26 members will win—thanks to the way the calendar falls—but that’s OK. You’ve come to expectmore from ABMP.) Read about the previous winners at www.abmp.com.

Thanks for being a member and good luck!

Want to learn more? Visit http://www.abmp.com/instructors/ or contact ABMP Education Facilitator

Taffie Lewis at 800-458-2267, ext. 629 or Taffie@abmp.com.

Instructor Resource Program

A Membership Discount and So Much More

www.abmp.com800-458-2267

To say “thank you” for the part you play in advancing our profession, we’ve created the ABMP Instructor Resource Program for all instructors who currently teach students enrolled in an entry-level, state-approved massage or bodywork program (those programs that prepare students for entry into the field of massage).

Your ABMP membership includes the most comprehensive resources available to massage and bodywork instructors.

Benefits include:• $24 discount on your

professional membership fee.

• Comprehensive liability insurance coverage for you in your practice and your classroom.

• Access to Student Success Curriculum Teaching Kits and Activity Ideas on topics like study skills, time management, and more.

• Study forms, digital flash cards, and other resources to increase student success.

• On-demand webinars on instructor-specific topics.

• On-demand webinars on massage-related topics to use in the classroom.

• Free website with unlimited pages.

• Discounts on products and services: online scheduling program, cell phones, etc.

• So much more!

Are you taking advantage of the ABMP benefits that are available to you as a massage and bodywork instructor?

ABMP provides complimentary live webinars (web-based seminars) on topics for massage school administrators, instructors, students, and professional therapists. The regularly-scheduled webinars for instructors focus on building classroom teaching skills and enhancing student success, while school webinars concentrate on issues related to operations and management.

To receive live webinar invitations, sign up at www.abmp.com/forms/receive_webinar_invites.php. All webinars are recorded and available for viewing in the ABMP Online Education Center, www.abmp.com/online_education. Continuing education hours are available for all webinars.

ABMP Webinars for Schools and Instructors Upcoming Live Webinars for Schools & Instructors

“ Thanks for yet again another awesome webinar.

You guys do a fabulous job putting together engaging

topics with excellent presentation and practical tools

which we can put to use in our learning environment.”

—Shelagh Lampshire, Maui School of Therapeutic Massage, Makawao, Hawaii

www.abmp.com800-458-2267

9/5 - “Instructor 101: Great Demonstrations” with Anne Williams10/3 - “How Well Do You Communicate at Work?” with Til Luchau and Dana Dupois10/17 - “Instructor 101: Great Classroom Activities” with Anne Williams11/28 - “Instructor 101: Great Classroom Discussions” with Anne Williams12/12 - “Instructor 101: Advanced Lesson Planning” with Anne Williams

• 20 Instructor Series Webinars Including:“Instructor 101 Series” (9 parts) with Anne Williams“Teaching Learning Styles” with Whitney Lowe“Teaching Body Mechanics” with Mary Ann Foster“ Balancing Art & Science in Massage Therapy Education” with Carole Osborne

“Teaching Palpation” with Dr. Joseph Muscolino“Teaching Pathology” with Ruth Werner“ Technology in the Classroom” with Susan Salvo and Whitney Lowe

• 15 School Success Webinars Including:“ Best Practices for Great Leadership in Massage Schools” panel discussion

“ Planning Great Student Orientations” with Anne Williams

“ Best Practices in Graduate Placement and Alumni Services” with Kristin Coverly

“ The Big Test: Support Your Students in the Credentialing Process” with Anne Williams

“ Best Practices in Massage School Admissions” with Taffie Lewis

“ The Latest in Reducing Attrition: Research and Resources” with Anne Williams

“ The Role of Research Literacy in Massage Schools” with the Massage Therapy Foundation’s Ruth Werner and Diana Thompson

Archived Webinars Available at www.abmp.com