Learning Should Be Fun!

By Dr. Barbara Priddy Guyer

Dr. Barbara Guyer's groundbreaking book, "Learning Should Be Fun!" provides detailed instructions on how to bring the joy of learning back to students and teachers. Dr. Guyer bypasses roadblocks to learning by harnessing the creative power of the mind of the student, using mindfulness paired with visualization and auditory imagery VAM! for short.) So, get ready and buckle up your seatbelt as she guides you through time and space to visit the Jamestown Settlement and Civil War battlefields, meet Generals Lee and Grant, sit next to FDR as he deals with the Great Depression, enter the war rooms of Winston Churchill and Adolph Hitler through the dark days of World War II and later, the struggle for Civil Rights. See how VAM! can manage the problems of reading, studying, test-taking and public speaking. Even more important, discover, the lifetime skills to build friendships, develop habits of healthy nutrition, positive thinking and success. Read and enjoy Dr. Guyer's handy desk reference and VAM's how-to guide to make learning more interesting and fun in this Introduction to a Textbook. This book has the power to change the lives of teachers and affect generations of students. By James L. Lewis, M.D., author of ADHD and Co-Existing Conditions: A Practical Guide for Educators, Counselors and Parents". Having travelled to many counties for accreditation purposes, I have seen a variety of student vitality. Some are vital, whereas others are only plodding along. The payoff for teachers and students may take a while to manifest; however, the poetry and images with which Dr. Guyer spices her book could enliven and reduce stress for all concerned. Some may benefit from this book, whether they do so intuitively or by reading the practical and detailed instructions found in this innovative book. Hazel F. Palmer, Ed.D.

Learning should be fun!" Uses the imagination of students to travel through time and space to visit the topics they are studying. Fasten your seatbelts and visit the JAMES TOWN settlement, the GREAT DEPRESSION and many other eras that will add excitement of learning. This approach is learning in a new way that will make students smile and make better grades.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Nov 29, 2022
• ISBN: 9781662411533

Book preview

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Learning Should Be Fun!

Dr. Barbara Priddy Guyer

Copyright © 2022 Dr. Barbara Priddy Guyer

All rights reserved

First Edition

PAGE PUBLISHING

Conneaut Lake, PA

First originally published by Page Publishing 2022

ISBN 978-1-6624-1152-6 (pbk)

ISBN 978-1-6624-1153-3 (digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Foreword

Introduction

Throughout her career, the author was puzzled when students rarely seemed to relate to a famous play like Hamlet, the history of the founding fathers of our country, or accounts of famous wars. About twenty years ago, she learned about mindfulness and worked with many medical students and others who were making grades that were not acceptable. Their study skills, self-concept, and test-taking skills improved significantly, and their dreams or expectations for the future were fulfilled. Their academic strengths and weaknesses were also addressed; then their reading skills and reading comprehension improved markedly. (See the sections on Teaching Reading to Nonreaders, which would not include medical students.) She also encouraged her graduate students at Marshall University to use similar techniques when appropriate.

How to Use this Desk Reference

What Is Visualization?

What Is Auditory Imagery?

What Is Mindfulness?

What Is VAM!?

The Importance of Making Friends

Social Studies/History Classes

The Jamestown Settlement

Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor, and General

The Civil War 1861–1865 and the Depression Era

Contributions of African American and Other Minority Groups

The Depression Era 1929–1941

Leader: We will now travel through time and space to the era of The Great Depression. Sit up straight and tall, put your feet on the floor, and take five deep breaths; and on the fifth breath, VAM!, you find yourself in 1932. Franklin Roosevelt has just been elected president of the United States. Few know of his battle with polio and that he is unable to walk. During his bid for the presidency, he has hidden this from the public by carefully selecting his campaign locations. His son, Franklin Jr., and sometimes one of his other sons support him on either side as he walks to the podium, so the public will not become aware of his paralysis. He is handsome and tall, and the press has kept his secret for many years. This is a sad, oft-repeated, tale of the times. The public was not as accepting of disabilities as it is today. The lives of disabled people changed significantly, especially when parents were able to bring about the passage of the Rehabilitation Act Section 504 (1973), which prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in programs or activities receiving federal assistance.

Winston Churchill, Adolf Hitler, and World War II

Teaching Reading and Reading Improvement

Leader: This is a skeleton introduction to helping nonreaders learn to read. The author has used this approach for over thirty-five years with K–12 students, college, and professional students; and it rarely fails. The author recalls the physician who was chief of staff of his hospital who spent a summer in Medical Higher Education for Learning Problems (HELP). He confided in Dr. Guyer that he read on a second-grade level, yet he was outstanding in his field. His stories of how he passed exams ranged from having casts on his arm to broken fingers to making friends with professors who gave him oral tests when they realized that he was a gifted student. He always managed to need a reader when he took licensure exams. The vocabulary on patients' charts was limited, and he had memorized (with his wife's help) every possible word that he would need. One day, he attended a medical conference where the author was speaking, and he asked to meet her privately and gave her permission to share his story with you. She suggested he come to Marshall University and participate in the Medical HELP program for five weeks. When he arrived, the author gave him an IQ test. His score was 150+ (this placed him in the top 1/2 percentile of the population.)

Using Concrete Objects to Teach Reading

Vowel Drills and Other Sounds

VAM! for Spelling

VAM! for English Classes

To Kill a Mockingbird

Suggestions for a VAM! Studying Experience

Nutrition: Healthy Living and Learning

Note: The section on Nutrition was written by Kenneth E. Guyer, PhD, Barbara P. Guyer, and Antoinette LeQuire-Schott.

Conclusion to Nutrition

Recommended Readings for Nutrition

Appendices

Appendix I

Five-Minute Mindfulness Experience for Daily Practice

Appendix II

Thoughts for Promoting Positive Thinking and Success

Appendix III

How to Bring Myself Back to the Topic when My Mind Wanders

Appendix IV

What to do when I Don't Do Well on a Test

Appendix V

Preparing for the Test-Taking Experience

Appendix VI

Helpful Information to Read that Will Lead You to a More Peaceful Life

Appendix VII

Using VAM! to Speak to a Group

Appendix VIII

Important Friendship Skills4

Appendix IX

Recommended References

Frank, J. L., P. A. Jennings, and M. T. Greenburg. Mindfulness-Based Interventions in School Settings: An Introduction to the Special Issue. Research in Human Development 10, Vol. 3 (2013): 205–210.

About the Author

To Newton B. Schott, Jr., Antoinette LeQuire-Schott, and my cousins, whom I love and respect more than words can express. Thank you for sharing your lives with me and my family.

IN GRATITUDE

Gratitude is expressed to the following people for their assistance in the preparation of this book:

Antoinette LeQuire-Schott for her many hours of time in editing and the creative ideas she shared with me.

Newton B. Schott, Jr., for the organizational skills he provided for this book

Todd Chow for the computer skills he always readily provided with compassion.

Shayanna Ashworth for the illustrations she drew for this book.

Diane Williams for sharing her knowledge of computer skills, particularly when I was in my office at the Marshall University H.E.L.P. Program.

Martha Casey and Barbara Graham for encouraging me during times of frustration and during the illness of my husband, Ken.

Andrew Saksa and Trevor Boyd at Page Publishing, Inc. for their patience and skill in the publishing of this book.

I would be remiss if I did not mention my husband, who recently lost his battle with leukemia, Ken always encouraged me in my many projects and ideas. I wouldn't have received a doctorate from the University of Virginia or published the books listed in this book. Thank you wherever you are, Ken.

—Barbara Guyer

Leader: If you are the person who will read the contents of this book to students, please read this poem first.

Walk Slowly

(Danna Faulds, Poems from the Heart of Yoga)

It only takes a reminder to breathe,

A moment to be still, and just like that,

Something in me settles, Softens,

Makes space for imperfections.

The harsh voice of Judgment drops to a whisper,

And I remember again that Life isn't a relay race.

That we all will cross the finish line.

That waking up to Life is what we were born for.

As many times as I forget to catch myself charging forward,

Without even knowing where I'm going.

That many times I can make the choice

To stop, to breathe, to be, and walk

Slowly into the Mystery of Life.

The reasoning behind this book lies on the sundial at Wellesley College, Wellesley, Massachusetts.

The shadow by my finger cast

Divides the future from the past.

Behind its unreturning line

The vanished hour, no longer thine.

Before it lies the Unknown Hour,

In darkness and beyond Thine power.

One hour Alone is in thine hands,

The Now on which the shadow stands."

The Rubyiat of Omar Khan

The moving finger writes,

And having writ, moves on.

And all thy piety nor wit

Can e'er erase a word of it,

Nor turn it back

To cancel half a line.

Other Books by Dr. Barbara Priddy Guyer

The Pretenders: Gifted People with Learning Problems

Maximizing College Potential

ADHD: Achieving Success in School and in Life, Editor: Barbara Guyer

Reading and Self-Esteem: Helping People with Learning Disabilities Discover Hope and Self-Confidence through Learning to Read

Mindfulness in the Classroom: A Desk Reference for Teachers

Foreword

LEARNING SHOULD BE FUN

In this book, Learning Should Be Fun, Dr. Guyer writes, One of the primary joys of my life has been teaching students in grades two through four, in a woman's prison, and in a learning disabilities class. I also have been principal of two learning disabilities centers, as well as a high school. She has learned a great deal from these unusual varieties of experiences. She also has taught in five different states from Virginia to Texas.

The author understands that students who have difficulty with textbook material often find it hard because it is dissimilar to their own lives. This book is an introduction to textbook material with examples of mindfulness training, a training which helps students concentrate through visualization and auditory closure—that is, to see, taste and smell through their imaginations the era they are studying. This learning thus becomes realistic and lasting.

For example: In one chapter, the group visits Abraham Lincoln as a boy. The students become aware of how everyone criticizes him because he reads whenever he can find a book. After his mother dies at an early age and his sister is responsible for cooking, cleaning, and washing clothes, he continues to read late into the night. After much soul-searching, he decided to leave his family, and he and a friend rent a flat boat, having no experience related to the treacheries of the Mississippi River. It was almost a miracle, but these two inexperienced sailors successfully guide the flatboat fully loaded with produce and other items to New Orleans. Abraham has other experiences until the instructor says it is time to travel! She instructs them to get ready to move through time and space. While they hold on to their seats, the leader gives instructions for the trip. There are other visits on other topics with words included for the leader to speak if desired. Other materials included here show exactly how learning can be made