Dear Lee,
One of my student-researchers asked me the other day if I knew Dr. B.
Immediately, a very distinct and very fond memory came to mind. So, I
shared it with him. I was a student of yours back in probably 1997 or 1998.
I took a Zoology 204 course with you. I will never forget the day of the
"Spider Mating Dance." You dressed all in black with white gloves and put
on a strobing blacklight in the classroom. You selected a female student
and sat her at the front of the room. You then proceeded to dance around
the classroom doing a spider mating ritual where you eventually presented a
chair to the student at the front. I have never laughed so hard!
Unfortunately, I do not remember a lot of specifics from that course, but I
do remember the spider mating rituals. It is a story of legend in my house.
I now study education in the biology department and I find myself often
using your spider dance as an example of effective teaching strategy. You
have definitely made a lasting and significant impression on me. Way to be
memorable!
Jamie Jensen
(Jamie Jensen went on to earn a PhD and is now a member of the Biology Faculty at BYU, Provo, UT)
Monday, January 31, 2011
Doing the Spider Shuffle (Elasha Hanks Morgan BS'98)
By Elasha Hanks Morgan (BS '98), Pittsburgh
As a biology undergraduate student, I took Zoology 204 (Vertebrate and Invertebrate Strategies) from Professor Lee F. Braithwaite, who was kind, soft-spoken, and not exactly rousing in his lecture style. But one lecture in particular stands out in my memory.
Professor Braithwaite was teaching us about spiders' mating rituals, including species-specific mating dances. Toward the end of the lecture, and without explanation, Professor Braithwaite had the lights turned off and doors closed and then disappeared behind a door. Imagine our surprise when he reappeared in the classroom dressed as a spider! With eight legs waving, disco lights flashing, and music pumping out a crazy rhythm, he entertained us with various interpretations of spider mating dances. It was fabulous! Educational? Maybe. Entertaining? Definitely! I laughed and laughed and felt a new respect for my professor.
The arachnid facts I memorized aren't as sharp as they once were, but I fondly remember a professor connecting with students in a way that was purely his.
Thank you for your service at a great university Dr. Braithwaite!
(Elasha Morgan graduated with a Biology Teaching Degree, taught HS in Murray, Utah, and now lives in SLC, Utah, where she is rearing five children, and as she says, "...hopefully instilling in them some wonder in the world around them".)
As a biology undergraduate student, I took Zoology 204 (Vertebrate and Invertebrate Strategies) from Professor Lee F. Braithwaite, who was kind, soft-spoken, and not exactly rousing in his lecture style. But one lecture in particular stands out in my memory.
Professor Braithwaite was teaching us about spiders' mating rituals, including species-specific mating dances. Toward the end of the lecture, and without explanation, Professor Braithwaite had the lights turned off and doors closed and then disappeared behind a door. Imagine our surprise when he reappeared in the classroom dressed as a spider! With eight legs waving, disco lights flashing, and music pumping out a crazy rhythm, he entertained us with various interpretations of spider mating dances. It was fabulous! Educational? Maybe. Entertaining? Definitely! I laughed and laughed and felt a new respect for my professor.
The arachnid facts I memorized aren't as sharp as they once were, but I fondly remember a professor connecting with students in a way that was purely his.
Thank you for your service at a great university Dr. Braithwaite!
(Elasha Morgan graduated with a Biology Teaching Degree, taught HS in Murray, Utah, and now lives in SLC, Utah, where she is rearing five children, and as she says, "...hopefully instilling in them some wonder in the world around them".)
Saturday, January 29, 2011
"Having Fun" (Alan Holyoak BS '83 MS '86)
Dr. Braithwaite, Dr. B., Lee (...I ever know what to call you now...),
I had the great fortune to be involved in three of your summer marine biology field courses - one as an undergraduate and two as a masters student. "In those days" you took your classes to the Friday Harbor Labs of the University of Washington.
During one field trip to Eagle Point, San Juan Island, you told us to look for as many kinds of invertebrates as we could find along that rocky shore. Since this is a stretch of exposed coast there were many large logs that had been tossed up onto the rocky shore.
While navigating my way among large and small boulders on my way back to the vans, I looked up and saw you standing on one end of a huge log that was balanced just right. When you flexed your knees that was enough to make your end of the log dip down, and when you stood back up, your end of the log rocked back up. After watching you on this natural one-man teeter-totter for a number of cycles of ups and downs I called out to you, "Dr. Braithwaite...What are you doing!?"
Without batting an eye or cracking a smile, your deadpan, stoic reply was, "Having fun."
Thanks for the fun!
Alan Holyoak
(Alan Holyoak earned a PhD in Biology from UC Santa Cruz '92, taught for 10 years at Manchester College, IN, and has been a member of the Biology Faculty at BYU-Idaho since '02.)
I had the great fortune to be involved in three of your summer marine biology field courses - one as an undergraduate and two as a masters student. "In those days" you took your classes to the Friday Harbor Labs of the University of Washington.
During one field trip to Eagle Point, San Juan Island, you told us to look for as many kinds of invertebrates as we could find along that rocky shore. Since this is a stretch of exposed coast there were many large logs that had been tossed up onto the rocky shore.
While navigating my way among large and small boulders on my way back to the vans, I looked up and saw you standing on one end of a huge log that was balanced just right. When you flexed your knees that was enough to make your end of the log dip down, and when you stood back up, your end of the log rocked back up. After watching you on this natural one-man teeter-totter for a number of cycles of ups and downs I called out to you, "Dr. Braithwaite...What are you doing!?"
Without batting an eye or cracking a smile, your deadpan, stoic reply was, "Having fun."
Thanks for the fun!
Alan Holyoak
(Alan Holyoak earned a PhD in Biology from UC Santa Cruz '92, taught for 10 years at Manchester College, IN, and has been a member of the Biology Faculty at BYU-Idaho since '02.)
"Who-Who" and the Spider Dance (ZOOL 204, Dan Thunell BA `01,)
Several years ago I submitted this story to BYU magazine. It was put
on their online issue in the summer of 2005. He was a great professor
and example.
Invigorating Invertebrates
By Daniel H. Thunell (BA ’01), Pittsburgh, PA
In fall semester 1998 I enrolled in Professor Lee F. Braithwaite’s Zoology 204 invertebrate course. Invertebrates would be a tough class even without the 8 a.m. start time, but the combination of my late nights and a dimly lit classroom made attentiveness nearly impossible for me.
After several weeks of sleeping through lectures, I decided to write him an anonymous letter, pleading with him to interact with the class before starting his lecture to help us stay more awake. I slipped the note under his door one afternoon and left it at that. To my surprise, the next morning he read my letter to the class and addressed me as “Who-Who.” He said he would like to dedicate a song to the author and proceeded to do a boisterous song-and-dance routine. Everyone roared and whistled when he finished, and I was wide awake. This wake-up call was repeated several times throughout the semester, and every member of the class appreciated his sense of humor. On the last day of class, Professor Braithwaite dimmed the lights, placed a chair on a table and left the room. Moments later he returned dressed up as a spider and demonstrated the proper mating dance of spiders (with the chair being the spider he was trying to impress). The class erupted, and he received a standing ovation.
After his performance, I decided I had better introduce myself to him and reveal my identity. When I told him I was Who-Who, he laughed a little and said, “I thought Who-Who was a female student judging from the handwriting.” I guess he had the last laugh.
(Daniel Thunell earned a DMD and is now a periodontist and owner of Wasatch Periodontics, in Holladay, Utah.)
on their online issue in the summer of 2005. He was a great professor
and example.
Invigorating Invertebrates
By Daniel H. Thunell (BA ’01), Pittsburgh, PA
In fall semester 1998 I enrolled in Professor Lee F. Braithwaite’s Zoology 204 invertebrate course. Invertebrates would be a tough class even without the 8 a.m. start time, but the combination of my late nights and a dimly lit classroom made attentiveness nearly impossible for me.
After several weeks of sleeping through lectures, I decided to write him an anonymous letter, pleading with him to interact with the class before starting his lecture to help us stay more awake. I slipped the note under his door one afternoon and left it at that. To my surprise, the next morning he read my letter to the class and addressed me as “Who-Who.” He said he would like to dedicate a song to the author and proceeded to do a boisterous song-and-dance routine. Everyone roared and whistled when he finished, and I was wide awake. This wake-up call was repeated several times throughout the semester, and every member of the class appreciated his sense of humor. On the last day of class, Professor Braithwaite dimmed the lights, placed a chair on a table and left the room. Moments later he returned dressed up as a spider and demonstrated the proper mating dance of spiders (with the chair being the spider he was trying to impress). The class erupted, and he received a standing ovation.
After his performance, I decided I had better introduce myself to him and reveal my identity. When I told him I was Who-Who, he laughed a little and said, “I thought Who-Who was a female student judging from the handwriting.” I guess he had the last laugh.
(Daniel Thunell earned a DMD and is now a periodontist and owner of Wasatch Periodontics, in Holladay, Utah.)
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