I am a teacher

Posted on June 21, 2016 by Laura Ambrose

I am a teacher. 

It is the case that I get paid for some of the teaching I do, but I do much more teaching than the hours for which I am remunerated. I teach whenever it comes up as appropriate. And, if I am honest, I probably teach when it is not entirely appropriate. I am surrounded by people who know me well, have really good manners, and love me just the way I am, so get away with telling people things they already know or don’t give a whit about. For me, though, I love to tell people information that I think will help them or that they will find interesting. I love it. As in my heart sings when someone appreciates my teaching because it helps them in their life. I can burst into smiles or giggles when the lightbulb bursts into incandescent glory. Picture that at the front of a lecture hall filled with 120 young adults.

This attachment to teaching means the work-life balance equation is not something I have to solve. I have some methods in place to make sure grading and planning do not take over my hours, but the teaching is something that I always do. Or am ready to do. Even when I am really hating marking the 112th assignment, I know the point of all the marking is to teach through the feedback of the marking. The learner stays firmly planted at the forefront of my conscious mind in order that I do not resent wrong answers or poor writing. I am not marking or assigning grades, I am teaching through my pen or computer keyboard.

I have taught my loved ones to let me know when I am teaching them when they would rather I keep my knowledge to myself. I sometimes hear “Please don’t teach me right now” or “It’s okay if you don’t want to teach me right now” or “No lectures right now” when I am getting warmed up to a full lecture at the wrong time or on the wrong subject. Periodically I get an exasperated look or I catch a look between people. I am mostly not hurt by this, but sometimes what I have to say must be said, so the reluctant learners just sit through it. Rarely, very rarely, a potential learner will burst out with a “Do not teach me right now.” And, so, I don’t. 

I don’t presume to know the answers to everything out in the world. I don’t want all the answers. I do have an inquiring mind, which gets me many answer, but really gets me many questions. Some questions I let fall away, other questions get filed for later follow-up, and some questions force me to drop everything and learn. And when I learn, I want to teach. 

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islet cell transplant – the cure for diabetes?

Posted on September 9, 2011 by Laura Ambrose

Our body cells require energy to carry out the millions of chemical reactions needed to keep us alive. Over evolutionary, time our cells evolved a mechanism for converting certain organic molecules into ATP (adenosine triphosphate) which cells can use very efficiently in chemical reactions that require energy. Our cells have evolved to work most efficiently at creating ATP when the input organic molecule is glucose. Therefore, we need to provide our cells with a constant supply of glucose from our food.The way it works is we eat food that can be digested down into glucose, then the glucose crosses the wall of the small intestines and enters the blood. Cells that need glucose can pick up that glucose when insulin, a rather large protein molecule, ‘unlocks’ the ‘door’ of the cells to allow glucose to enter. The glucose then interacts with mitochondria, organelles within the cell, to break the glucose down in a step-by-step process to capture the energy from the glucose in the molecules of ATP.

Type I diabetes is the situation where the pancreatic cells do not produce the insulin needed to provide glucose to cells. The glucose we eat circulates in the blood causing damage to blood vessels and nerves at the same time cells are starved for a source of energy. A person with diabetes will take insulin around the time they expect their food to be digested so glucose can enter the cells and the cells of the body can function.

Several Canadian medical researchers are looking at a novel way of treating diabetes that involves harvesting islet cells (insulin producing cells) from a deceased person (an organ donor) and injecting them into a person with diabetes. The research protocol has been advanced and improved since 2000 to the point where the most current protocol has cured people of their diabetic state. The research is being conducted at the University of Alberta at the Clinical Islet Transplant Program (www.islet.ca).

This is important research. Current data suggests that 2.5 million Canadians live with diabetes and those people will experience a degeneration in their health over the course of their lives. Diabetes is in my family and is affecting people I care about. One of those people is currently undergoing the islet transplant. Right now, as I write. I am very excited to find out the results of the transplant.

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The first post…

Posted on August 9, 2011 by Laura Ambrose

of many. I am in my favourite coffee shop, imagining the world of blogging and getting my thoughts out into the blogosphere. Of course, my thoughts will be awesome, inspiring, joyful and will insight readers to learn more and do more in their lives.

Of course…

Any sarcasm aside, I do hope to provide interesting and useful information in my postings, for it is through our learning we can live our life fully and wonderfully. I learn, I share, you learn, you share and the world goes around.

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