Bits Flashback for May 2

Did you stay up late last night watching the developing news (or maybe grading papers)? If so, it’s possible “Parts of your brain could be sleeping right now,” according to a recent study.

The NIH-funded study of the brain activity in rats found that “if you deprive them of sleep (aah, sleep), parts of their brains take a nap anyway. Even though they appear awake and active, brainwave measures show that scattered groups of neurons in the cortex are nodding off on their own.” Okay, so there may be questions about the research that readers bring up in the comments, but if you need an excuse for not getting enough done today, it’s a handy study to be able to mention.

Before you head off for a nap though, head on over to Bedford Bits for classroom activities and teaching strategies, which were posted last week:

• What atmosphere do you establish in class? Andrea Lunsford discusses classroom ethos in Tips for New Teachers #1: Classroom Ethos.
   
• Do you teach reading in writing courses? Blogger Doug Downs explains that Yes, We Should Teach Reading in Writing Courses.
   
• Nedra Reynolds discusses resources that have helped her give style center stage in the writing and rhetoric classroom in her entry, In Honor of Enargeia and Polysyndeton.
   
• Barclay Barrios asks what you do to push through to the end of the semester—either personally or in your classes in End of Semester Boost.
   
• High School Bits Blogger Nathan Odell talks about narrative and shares TV Tropes and the Periodic Table of Storytelling.
   

• Traci Gardner shares ways to manage and organize links for the classroom with Paper.li in the Classroom: Alternatives and Activities.

A Few Extra Links

• Paranoid? You Must Be a Grad Student according to a recent article from The Chronicle of Higher Education.
   
• Sign up for email updates about what we do for teachers and request our free professional resources today.
   
• How would you illustrate the “Language” section of The Everyday Writer? Submit your idea in the Idea Survey.
   
• Do Adjunct Votes Count where you teach? Inside Higher Ed discusses efforts in change the system in Massachusetts.
   
• Take a look at resources on How to Create Accessible Documents from Profhacker for tips you can use yourself and share with students in professional communications classes.

Let us know what you want to know about teaching writing or about using digital tools in the composition classroom by leaving a comment. Your response will help shape upcoming posts.

 

[Photo: Day 4: Truffle sleeping on the job again (and browsing dogster.com)! by star5112, on Flickr]