To Teach is to Learn

I can’t quit teaching because I learn so much from my students. This week I learned about gauged ears. The first time I saw someone (outside of National Geographic) with these large stretched earlobe piercings, I was horrified. Why on earth would somebody want to do that to themselves? Of course, I have the same reaction to all kinds of body piercings and tattoos.

I’ve been noticing more and more of these odd mutilations (my word), so I asked one of my younger students what they were called. Gauging is the colloquial term and refers to the incrementally sized tapers used to gradually stretch the skin, sometimes (as in my waitress) forming holes as big as several inches across.

My student wants to grow his fairly large because the larger the holes, the wiser the person. I can’t really follow that logic, but according to Wikipedia, stretched piercings were popular thousands of years ago in Asia and Africa. “The re-emergence of body piercing in the developed world has been accompanied in an interest in stretched piercings. Much of this activity was initially associated with the modern primitive movement, but like piercing in general, it has become a more mainstream activity, common amongst young people and members of many subcultures as an identifier and due to its aesthetic appeal to the masses.”

The fact that it doesn’t appeal to the masses of my generation is probably the point.

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Sleep on it

When I tell my students that sleep is very important to their brain functioning, they nod in boredom and roll their eyes. While they can accept that some of them are natural morning people and some are nightowls, they typically believe that sleep is a waste of time. Most already sleep fewer than six hours a night.
A few months ago, I discovered Brain Rules by brain researcher, John J. Medina. This fascinating book describes 12 principles for surviving and thriving at work, home, and school. Rule #7 is Sleep well. Think well. The book comes with an entertaining and accessible DVD.
Apparently, people are more likely to listen to a scientist than a teacher when it comes to the need for sleep. The week after I showed the video, a student reported that he had tried taking a 30-minute nap before studying and found, much to his surprise, that he was able to finish his work quickly and easily and retain more of what he read.
Faced with his testimony, some of his more skeptical classmates thought they might just try it themselves.
Today came news that a national panel of medical experts is recommending mandatory sleep breaks and more structured shift changes for medical students to reduce the risk of fatigue-related errors. It’s nice when doctors finally accept that they are not super-human after all.

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Audio Textbooks: Listen and Learn

I didn’t really discover audio books until a couple of years ago. I never considered myself an auditory learner. Then I accidentally ordered a copy of Janet Evanovich’s book, Twelve Sharp, on CD from the library. I listened to it and I was hooked. Now, I always listen to a book on CD when I’m in the car, and I’ve been known to sit in the car long after I’m parked to hear the end of a chapter.

Since I teach learning styles, I am aware that many of my students prefer to learn by hearing. Now, I also realize that audio books are a real time saver for adult students. Adults who attend college are already juggling many responsibilities. They have families, jobs, church, and other activities, and they have to fit studying into already full lives.

Audio books could be a real time saver. Students could “read” their assignments as they do the laundry, mow the lawn, cook dinner, or drive. They could also save money, and textbook publishers could more quickly, easily and inexpensively update CD books. Unfortunately, few textbooks are available on CD. Some students have approached their school’s ADA office for access to audio versions of books for blind students.

Now the University of Phoenix is trying out audio books as an option for students in a few classes. Although these books feature the mechanical voice that reads everything on the page (“illustration here”) instead of the professional actors who record most popular CD books, the students love it and are clamoring for more. Let's hope the textbook publishers are listening.

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