to be brief

In reading Chapters 3 and 11 of Boice’s book, I find I’ve already started to write in “brief, regular sessions,” surely because Donna must have mentioned the idea at some point during class. I know this isn’t something I came up with on my own! So far, I find the brief sessions to be a great way to relieve the stress associated with the constant assignments and projects that are always on my schedule. For instance, in the half-hour before my class started today, I corrected a stack of student quizzes. Normally I would have messed around checking email and doing I know not what, because I’ve felt (up to this time) that I needed an extra-long uninterrupted period set aside for work—I didn’t think I could get anything done in a half hour. Even though I can’t do a lot of work in thirty minutes, the little bits that I can accomplish help me feel that I have a bit less on my plate.

Side note: When training animals, I find that having many brief, consistent training sessions works better than having one long session. I’ve found this to be true with horses, cats, parrots, rats, and now also snakes. I think brief sessions must reduce stress, and stress inhibits learning…?

As for my teaching, how can I introduce the idea of “BRS” to my students? “Introduce” in the sense that I get them to actually do it, not just listen to me advise them to do it. “Cramming” is the classic student study method, after all. I know I’ve done enough of that in my time.