Six Strategies for Sweet Slumber

Can’t get a ticket to the Land of Nod? When insomnia gets in the way of your beauty sleep, it’s not just your looks that suffer. Sound sleep is essential to learning, according to a robust body of neuroscientific evidence. It is a priority for you, me, and all those who share our lives (especially if they are keeping us awake!)

Seducing the Sandman: Six Strategies for Sweet Slumber

This post lists six strategies for succumbing to the Sandman. While just one might do the trick, the best results come from weaving a few strategies into a bedtime routine. In time, the routine becomes an irresistible trigger for sweet sleep. This is the nutshell version of my ebooklet Seducing the Sandman: Six Strategies for Sweet Slumber, which you can download here. 

1. Blank Slate

What keeps us awake is often the residue of the day behind, or anticipation of the day ahead. Peaceful sleep comes to an empty mind – a blank slate. 

2. Calm Body

The best sleep follows an active and fulfilling day. In other words, you sleep better when you are actually tired. Calming evening routines also prepare the body for sleep. 

3. Sleepy Belly

Better sleep is just one of many reasons to go to sleep on an empty stomach. That said, foods rich in the amino acid tryptophan stimulate release of the mellowing happy hormone, serotonin, promoting sleep. Tryptophan triggers to try – in small doses, a half hour or so before bedtime – are bananas, almond milk, soy milk or warm milk with a dash of honey. Certain herbal teas, especially Chamomile, are also known for their calming effect.

4 Serene Space

To escape from the day behind, keep your sleeping space clear, pleasant and serene. Keep the space as comfortable and pleasing as you can afford. The atmosphere in a sleeping space also makes a difference. A fresh flow of air is ideal if your climate allows it, but avoid draughts. Aromatherapeutic solutions for better sleep include the classic lavender, frankincense, clary sage and neroli. A drop on the pillow, in an oil burner or a carrier oil can take you halfway to dreamland.

5. Soothing Sound

Calmness also stems from the sounds in your sleeping space. A silent night is ideal, but if it is not possible, try masking outside noise with soothing soundtracks. These can be white or pink noise, peaceful classical, ambient or nature sounds. Another alternative is brainwave entrainment soundtracks, which promote a gradual slowing of brainwaves through sound.

6. Surrender

The miracle of sleep is letting go. Surrender to gravity. Let go of the day behind. Let go of the day ahead. Let go of the body that serves you so well in this world. Set your spirit free. An ideal prelude to sleep is savasana, the corpse pose of hatha yoga.You may also want to add a spiritual ritual to the closing of your day, whether it is prayer, meditation, visualization or simply counting your blessings (rather than sheep).

Still awake? Try the strategies that appeal to you, one by one, and create a sleepytime routine that is all your own. For more ideas, see my ebooklet Seducing the Sandman: Six Strategies for Sweet Slumber. In time, the routine itself will lull you to sweet, sweet dreams.

Sleep with angels.

A big, warm, fragrant thank you to Trygve, inspirational owner of Enfleurage Essential Oils and Aromatics, for the Aromatherapy insights and incidental blogging pow-wow.

Taking the Tech to the Trenches: 5 Trumps

In this, my eleventh year of teaching, there is a new ingredient: I am taking the tech into the trenches, even though post-boombox technology is unusual in my teaching environment. This means devoting many an hour to developing resources, hammering out logistics and hauling heavy equipment about campus. What exactly is in it for me – or for any teacher not obligated to teach with technology? Here are five benefits that are worth considering.

The 5 Trumps

1. Self-fulfilling prophecy of professionalism

Though there is obviously more to professionalism than merely showing up with a laptop, rolling out the tech artillery makes me feel on top of my game – and the students seem to have the same impression.

*Vital note: Technical problems seriously ruin the effect. Showing up early for setup and rehearsal are part of the game.

2. A better perspective on material to be covered

Compiling one’s own materials always allows a deepened understanding not only of the material, but of the structure behind it. This can only set the stage for more perceptive and agile teaching.

3. A more efficient, engaged and engaging lesson

Visuals can make key elements of a lesson so much more meaningful. Having visuals ready on-screen, or even creating them on the fly in class (in response to a class brainstorm, for example), is not only much faster than writing on the whiteboard, but it can be saved for future reference. Relationships between the work being discussed and other relevant areas can be pointed out. And as to engagement, student responses have been overwhelmingly positive, especially with images, animations and video. Yes, the F-word (F*N – gasp!) is still a powerful formula.

4. More efficiency in preparing future lessons

Very simply, materials are pretty much done and dusted, though some improvements can always be made.

5. Instant and constant feedback on materials

Speaking of improvements, these can be added immediately after class, or even, in some cases, during sessions. Unlike prescribed textbooks, self-made digital materials are not static, and can evolve organically- even right there on the spot in the classroom.

For more on my teaching contexts and strategy with this project, read on.

The Guerilla Guide to Classroom Technology

In my teaching environment, computer facilities are not yet part of the classroom landscape. Yet some months back LCD projectors started showing up in some rooms. Using them, however, means lugging your own laptop, cables, speakers and more to the classroom, not to mention compiling worthy materials, setting up before class and ensuring everything works. It is demanding, but this post should explain why it is thoroughly worth it.

If You Build It, Will They Come? (My Own Personal Sixth Trump)

Of course, I am not simply doing this for the love of the job (or bulging biceps). The experiment is, mainly, in the Name of Science. On the one hand, the objective is to enhance my classroom time with students. On the other, I hope to optimise their out-of-the-classroom learning by posting new supporting materials to a class resource blog and podcast. I am also tracking the whole process for a research paper investigating students’ perceptions, use of and results from these technologies. A simplified version of the research will serve as an example for the students’ own research project.

E-vangelists optimistically assume that proverbial bells and whistles will lead to better results. Most likely, it will actually depend on how the bells and whistles are deployed… and on the students themselves. I look forward to exploring this issue in the months ahead. 

Let the Games (and Workshops) Begin!

Image: Sebastia Giralt via Creative Commons Search

As I mentioned in a recent post, this year I am a member of my college’s Professional Development Committee. For someone who believes so intensely in professional (and personal!) development, this is a thrilling prospect.

One of my main goals is to develop a set of educational technology training workshops to present here and elsewhere in various formats. First, though, there are some administrative duties to see to as well. The first of these turned out to be really interesting.

I was lucky enough to land the task of compiling a feedback report on the first of our PD events for this year. This was the perfect chance to gauge staff responses to this event, but also to find out where there is a call for further training.

The event in question was a workshop presented by Peter Moore, co-author of the Pearson Longman Cutting Edge textbook series. Entitled Cutting Edge from A to Z, it was an enthusiastically delivered overview of principles relevant within the textbooks and beyond. Despite the timing (the very last hours of our working week!) staff eagerly participated and the session was very well received.

Our research questionnaires had a decent return rate, but even more remarkable was the overwhelmingly positive response to the workshop. In closed questions the workshop received high rankings for relevance, quality and helpfulness, while several respondents were full of praise in the open questions as well. I was pleasantly surprised that staff were so positive about professional development on the whole. Although such a questionnaire certainly has its limitations (especially when respondents are scrambling to get out the door for the weekend!), the anonymous responses must indicate some truth.

These findings do seem very promising, and I hope that workshops presented by our staff (who are admittedly non-international non-experts) will follow the trend of quality and be as well attended and received.

(As an aside, I should admit that I am sceptical about blanket international English Language Teaching materials, preferring principled guerrilla materials creation myself. While it is a reality that “teacher-proof” materials can be a lifeline in an industry where teachers have varying levels of training, experience and expertise, the expert on students’ needs is more likely to be a local teacher than a corporate-backed international expert. That said, the Cutting Edge materials are sufficiently thorough, and can plausibly form the backbone of a General English course. I did enjoy elements of the workshop, and most respected the author’s ability to energize the audience under rather taxing circumstances. And as an aspiring serial workshop presenter, I am always looking and learning!)