Part of being a good educator is being a lifelong learner.

So many teachers I know have their set way of teaching their set classes, and under no circumstances will they change.  "I've been teaching for twenty years, so don't tell me..."  Marzano does empirical research on teaching, and his book is called "the art and science of teaching".  A lot of teachers hate this.  They tell me that teaching is an art.  That may be so, but learning is a science.

So back to life-long learning. I had, of course, known the formations of the Grand Canyon for a long time.  A formation being an identifiable section of rock which can be described scientifically and is distinctive in appearance.

I was leading a rim to rim hike, secure in the knowledge that we were in the Redwall Limestone, and it was 325 million years old.  A woman on the trip, who obviously knew more geology than I, commented, "Surely we are coming to the Ordovician soon".  If you say so.

Just then we fortuitously ran into a sign which stated that the Ordovician and the Silurian do not present within the Grand Canyon.  With great relief I referred to the sign and said with authority, "Afraid not, because they have either eroded away or they were never deposited."  Whew.

However, I did think: if I am going to keep doing this, I had better start taking geology.

I have to date taken 9 credit hours in Geology of the Grand Canyon and 6 in general geology.  Having this scaffolding, as we say in education, has helped immensely when I attend training for Grand Canyon guides.  When Christa Sadler gives us her version of how the Colorado River cut through the plateau and talks about the Mogollon Highlands, and the Sevier Highlands, and the Basin and Range Disturbance, it is like meeting old friends.  Yes, Yes, I know of what she speaks!

So I pass on this learning to my classes in the Canyon.  And they are are duly impressed.  Often they are overwhelmed, not having the advantage of 15 hours of college level scaffolding.  It was, in fact, suggested to me by a peer that I should restrict myself to one new term a day.

That's a toughie.  Especially when I am asked questions.  "What exactly is a nonconformity?"  "I'm sorry, I've hit my quota for new terms for the day".

One of my best friends teaches at the University level, and I asked him about this.  He said that he thinks of learning as sitting in the breeze from a fan.  You may not get all of the moving air, but you get as much as you can use.

And then sometimes I get people who are Interested.  They take in what I say, and they ask for more. And sometimes I can't answer their questions.  So I have to do some reading. Or ask someone who knows more than I.  Or take another class. And so it goes.

But I was at a ranger program this year, and one of the attendees asked the ranger why there is so much uranium in the area.  She didn't know, so I raised my hand.

"Breccia pipes," I said.  Blank looks.  "The Redwall Limestone was exposed at the surface for a long time, and being limestone, it developed a karst landscape.  One it was buried under subsequent formations, the caves sometimes collapsed, forming breccia pipes.  These pipes fill with rock debris, called breccia, and hot water from beneath the earth ascends due to capillary action, carrying heavy minerals within.  These minerals tend to congregate within the breccia pipes, and that is where they find uranium."

The ranger was happy.  The questioner was happy. I was happy. Lifelong learning.  I recommend it.

Breccia pipe in Supai