Putting my teacher's hat on, and furthermore, a teacher who undertook 
Government paid research to investigate how to teach complex and 
challenging stuff (in other words, this is an area where I have big 
shiny qualifications, although they are fading under dust at the 
moment!), there are several really pertinent things to mention here.

The _fundamental_ one, is that no one in a position to try and teach 
anyone, anything, should use their own level of education or motivation 
as an example of anything.  You may have reached college level reading 
from a difficult and unsupportive background, don't do your students a 
disservice of assuming they can do likewise.  Equally, don't to them the 
disservice of assuming they can't.

You have to start with an assumption that your students will encompass a 
huge range of both abilities, and motivations, and accommodate them all.

Learning is undertaken emotionally, regardless of the intellectual, or 
educational, abilities of the student.  How a student learns, and how 
they process that learning, is dependant on their genetic inheritance, 
and their emotional and nutritional upbringing.  We come wired to absorb 
information in three basic ways - some of us learn best by reading, some 
by listening, and some by doing.  This is ingrained, and those of us who 
are good at learning by reading, will do better at 'school' than the 
others, as the teaching style is a better fit to our learning style.

In addition how we process the information we pick up through whichever 
sensory path our brains prefer, is widely different, and depending on 
which theory you adhere to at the moment, there are anything from 5 to 9 
main processing pathways, and each student will absorb the info 'better' 
according to how you let them process it.   In addition, recall is vital 
in 'setting' info into the brain.

All this is before you start to touch the fact that school, and learning 
environments, are fraught with fear and emotional danger for many 
adults.   Working with adults from impoverished backgrounds means you 
must assume mind numbing levels of fear from some of them, when faced 
with sitting quietly in seats whilst paper is handed out.  And the same 
assumption for a smaller, but no less significant, proportion of adults 
who are not from significantly impoverished backgrounds.  And the same 
for those from mind blowingly enriched backgrounds.  Being caught in an 
expensive, highly academic achieving school if you're a physical 
learner, is not fun, but you're likely to learn to survive 'quietly'.  
But your fear levels will still be high when presented with a learning 
scenario as an adult.

As an added bonus, of course, you're teaching about body parts that are 
culturally deemed to be 'sexual'.  As well as walking a cultural 
minefield on what normal infant feeding is.  These elements bring their 
own emotional load into the learning environment.

Fear prevents learning.  And if you've never been afraid of school, or 
bits of paper, it is almost inconceivable to you that others can become 
frozen, in body and mind, just by asking them to sit in a classroom and 
look at the board.  No matter how nicely you smile.  :-) 

You've all felt that awful dread inside when presented with a learning 
day, you're condemned to walk into a hall or lecture room, and sit 
quietly whilst being 'talked at'.  You've all felt relief when it looked 
like a video or picture was coming up, and slumped back in despair when 
the power point turned out to be WORDS!!!!!!  The same words the person 
is speaking to you!  And you've all laughed over much when it's turned 
out to be a CARTOON!!! Yippeee!!!  Well, most of you have.  There will 
be a few of you, reader learners, who adored every moment of school, and 
college, and who sat and absorbed every morsel in front of you, and took 
copious exciting notes, who is now looking around in disbelief and going 
"Huh?" at everyone else in the room nodding vigorously.  ;-)

You therefore need to pitch your teaching materials within a wide 
spectrum.  Have all three elements - listening, doing, reading - 
available in some form or another.  Have different spectra of the same 
information available, from 'simplistic' to 'complex'.  Teach from the 
bottom/middle, and let your students direct how far up, or down, you 
go.  Adjust accordingly.  Always have some material that is too low, but 
never let it be seen in that light, and always have material that is too 
high.  These materials can be left openly to one side, and you let the 
students explore them at their own pace.

The 3 X 5 rule is your best friend.  3 for the different learning styles 
- always have something to do, something to listen to, something to read 
- that has the same core info.  If possible, teach the info using all 
three learning styles (much simpler than it sounds, once you get the 
hang of it.)  New information has to be processed 5 times by the brain, 
before a neural pathway is built, so try and make sure the info is 
processed 5 times by the student (again, much simpler than it sounds).

Less, is more.  (Cover less, play with it more)

Cartoons and video are more 'doing' styles than you might think.  
Physical learners respond well to both. (The mirroring neurons in the 
brain are fired by images, and not fired by written words).

As Marsha has so kindly said she'll 'have a go' at producing a further 
simplification of 'Just One Bottle', I'd suggest she considers working 
on images, as opposed to words.  A couple of pictures to illuminate each 
pertinent points, will go a long way in opening up the concepts with 
those struggling to absorb the language.  The concept of a gut being 
attacked by cow protein is much easier to get across with a picture of a 
person/baby, with a visible tummy, with sharp nasty things happening in 
it, and pain and discomfort on the face.  Likewise, stomach acidity is 
an easy concept when faced with lemons and somesuch dripping juice into 
a picture of a small baby's stomach.  You get my drift. 

(And I think it would be vitally important as part of the 'spectrum' 
that someone with the qualifications and understanding of Marsha, both 
produces such, and puts her name to it.  Even as she is screaming about 
how she's going to find someone to draw stuff for her! ;-)  I predict, 
Marsha, that if you managed to do this, with your work schedule as it 
is, you would not only find it productive for _you_, but for your future 
presentations on this info at much more complex levels.  The act of 
concentrating down info to its most fundamental teaching point, is 
incredibly productive for the teacher, and illuminates much about what 
is trying to be put across.)

Illuminates!  Hah!

On this, those who are _resistant_ to learning (I fed my kids formula 
and they are fine and how dare you come in here and tell me I have to 
accept formula is _risky_) will often have their brains 'hijacked' by 
the simplest visual image.  Those damn mirror neurons again, firing all 
over the place just because you've _looked_ at it.  Sure, you can reject 
it, but your rejecting a deeper understanding of the point, than if 
you've rejected the words on the page.  Keep amusing visual images of 
key points on the walls, change them around regularly ( you stop 
'seeing' it if it's there all the time).  If they are laughing, they are 
learning.

So, anyone trying to produce a 'simpler' version of anything they've 
noticed their students struggle with, should be applauded for their 
perspicacity and endeavour.  Likewise, anyone maintaining that a higher 
standard exists, and makes this available to their students regardless 
of opinion that it's a waste, is doing a damn fine job! ;-)

As to how you do all this in a few short contact moments... well, that's 
another story!  Welcome to the world of the teacher: at least most of 
you aren't also marking written homework, setting/marking tests and 
exams, and having to 'prove' to your lord and masters, that every single 
student in your class is progressing perfectly on their own chosen 
learning curve, with examples, and observations, every few weeks.  :-)

As ever, anyone needing actual ideas and help on any presentations of 
training days, do contact me off list.  :-)

Lecture over, pass your homework onto my desk, there will be a test 
later.  I prefer truffles and red wine, as opposed to apples.  :-)

Morgan Gallagher

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