Made to Stick

I was assigned to read a chapter from the book Made to Stick by Chip & Dan Heath. I have read it before from a previous class, and once again, I was intrigued by the opening story. It started out with the urban legend of the kidney theft. It’s about a man who is bought a drink at bar by an attractive lady and the next then he knows is he is in a bathtub of ice with a tube protruding from his back. I’m sure many of you have heard some version of this story and like me, when I began to read it, I had a feeling I knew what was going to happen to that poor man. The question at hand is: What makes us remember this story? What makes us remember any urban legend or old wives tale? The book Made to Stick explores these questions and comes up with a solution for people to apply to every story or idea.

Clever stories or ideas should always be used in the classroom in order to get the information to stick with the students. The Heath brothers have developed a formula to do just that. It can be displayed in the acronym S.U.C.C.E.S.s…simplicity, unexpectedness, concreteness, credibility, emotions, and stories. They believe if you apply all of these principles to any point you are trying to get across then, the idea will “stick”. I agree with Heath brothers. Students of any age need that stimulation in order to retain information. For example, the story that was introduced could have very well been told in another way. The way that the story was told will leave a lasting impression. The "lesson" of that story will "stick" with the audience longer. This should be the case in the classroom also. I find that my students are more interested in topics when I incorporate my personal stories or topics that relate to them. I try to make sure I include some "stickiness" in all of my lessons.