Greetings to Camp Alumni and future Camp Attendees,
This summers Boston Boot Camp was packed full of a wide variety of course offerings and individualized instrumentation instruction from Cindy. Participants were able to take part in an actual Corroborative Error Practicum with local dental hygiene students from Mount Ida College in Newton Massachusetts. The exercise allows faculty the opportunity to calibrate on recognition of fundamental skill weaknesses or proficiency and provides a fair and accurate measure of student competence. (See Video Insert Below)
The Sharpening Horse was debuted at this Camp and participants all received a demonstration and the opportunity to sharpen with Cindy using this new technique. Everyone seemed to love the Horse and were amazed by the ease and preciseness of the tool. So much for teaching old dogs new tricks, (or should I say old horses...). The educators could all see that the current method taught to students was not as precise due to inadvertent movement of the instrument while moving the stone. Although we all, myself included, thought our grasps were holding the instrument very still, we could see that in actually, it was impossible to stay totally immobile. That is the basis for the Sharpening Horse technique and the reason for it's consistent performance.
The camp members were both seasoned faculty and those just entering the profession and there in lies the beauty of the camps. Many of us remember those first few years of teaching and how wonderful it would have been to have mentors there to help. The camps do indeed provide that type of mentoring and connections are made that last well beyond the last day of camp.
Thanks to everyone who made this summer's Boston Camp such a success and please feel free to post on this blog any comments or questions regarding information from the camp or any questions in general we may be able to help you with.
I sure had a great time as always and maybe some of you can come out to the Las Vegas Camp in November!!!
Best wishes for a successful academic year,
Marianne Dryer, RDH
