I teach Art History at my university. I am in a small town, well away from any art museum, so my classes in ancient and non-western art tend to be taught largely through projection (used to be slides, now Powerpoint images). That means the room is darkened, although not really dark (my students have to be able to see to take notes), and because the room is fixed tiered seating, there is limited opportunity to move around, even within your own seat. It can lead to dragging, trailing off of notes into unreadable squiggles, or (on occasion) full scale sleeping.
I know it isn't just that I am boring, or even that I am boring at all. Even the most enthralling teacher will sometimes not be enough to keep me awake, myself, at times. I am sitting in on a wonderful class this semester, taught by a Frenchman (in English) on a subject I enjoy, and he is a great storyteller. All the things I enjoy (who doesn't like 160 minutes a week of listening to one of those accents that is more like a purr than words?), and yet, after 40 minutes of sitting and writing notes, I find they start to tail off into unreadable squiggles. I catch myself, and talk myself up, and after 10 minutes or so I usually manage to reassert my awakeness and get myself together. The last 30 minutes of class are fine. So even with everything going for it, I am drifting off (quietly, and unobtrusively, I hope) in class on a regular basis. It is rhythm, and predictable, and something I can see in my students as well. I will try to work on breaking things up more in my classes as this has been a useful reminder that this is necessary and helpful.
However, this occasional or predictable drifting off is possible to avoid sometimes, with thinking ahead from the teacher and planning by the student. And sometimes this isn't the sleeping that is going on in class. Follow me below the folded mobius strip of orange goodness for some further thoughts.
The classroom I teach in is not supposed to have food or drink brought into it. Not that anyone pays complete attention to the posted regulations, but the sign is there. I tell my students not to bring in food (in kindergarten you couldn't bring food if you didn't bring enough for everyone and I think that is a reasonable guideline, and besides pizza and french fries are really stinky!). But I do make exceptions for drinks (non-alcoholic, I tell them, which gets a laugh, but it something that I think probably bears repeating every semester).
I encourage them to bring water, at least (dehydration can make you really tired, which is something I think a lot of people forget). But also caffeine can help keep you awake. I usually bring in a cup of water or a can of flavoured soda water (I always buy a box or three when I drive to a bigger town and have time to shop at a grocery store, because my local grocery seems to never manage to get such things as Mendota Springs or Lacroix or Canada Dry). But sometimes it is a Diet Coke from the vending machine or a cup of coffee from the campus coffee shop. I have been trying to cut down on the caffeine, as this year I passed 50 and my body chemistry clearly changed the minute I passed that milestone; any caffeine after about 10 a.m. seems to keep me up until 3 (a.m.). I know that too much caffeine can be bad, but all things in moderation -- a bit of a kick-me-up as you sit into a lecture class can be all you need to keep you awake and focused.
I also make sure to talk with my students about test-taking strategies. If you want to learn things beyond just the class cramming for an exam is not going to be the best way to do it. I encourage my students to spend a half hour or so a night going through images, and notes, rather than staying up all night the night before an exam, then either coming to the class so wired and so exhausted from caffeine that they can't think straight, or falling asleep over the notes and not waking up in time to make it to the exam.
In general, getting a good night's sleep the night before a test is always helpful. You don't let panic get to you, and you have the ability to work through a question for which you are unprepared. A good test is one that gives the student the opportunity to work through a question, demonstrating that one knows the factual framework but also that one can apply the facts to a new question and reason through to a logical conclusion.
Actually, getting a good night's sleep on a regular basis is essential for success in classes. If you are awake and coherent you will learn more and you might enjoy the class and the semester more. And you will retain it better. And in the long run, retaining some of the content of a class is what every professor, every teacher, wants of their students. (but I am getting off topic)
Every few class sessions I have a student who had a particular hard time the previous evening, and has issues with alertness. It isn't surprising, particularly on a Monday morning, that someone might be a bit worse for wear, and be a bit drowzy. I figure once in a while it isn't surprising. But if a student is not occasional, and simply falls asleep the minute he or she sits down, it is a different problem. What if a student is sleeping and snoring through class every day? Surely that isn't a time management issue, so that all-nighters are the norm. I would like to see students who are having such problems get medical attention. Is it narcolepsy? Or sleep apnea? Or something else I haven't heard of and can't even imagine? I am not a doctor, obviously (or at least any more of a medical one than Steven Colbert, D.F.A.). My Ph.D. is in Humanities or Social Science, depending on how you want to classify it, but it is not in any sort of lab science or medical or health area. So I am only guessing. But I don't know if someone at college has access to anything other than catastrophic medical insurance (I believe they are required to carry some insurance as a student, and a high-deductible catastrophic plan is usually the cheapest form, because the idea is you will never have to use it), and the minimal student health center flu-shot type of thing. If we had a predictable national health care thing I would not worry about the health of my students as much, but whatever (that is a different diary, I guess, and I again am getting off topic!).
So what was/is your strategy as a student to get enough sleep and keep from sleeping in class? What do you tell your students, and what advice do you give? Or does the idea of even broaching the subject with your students send you into panic attacks? As a teacher do you get enough sleep? Are you fifty and still pulling all-nighters? Let's talk about sleep and sleeping in the diary. I am sure we can all stay awake until the end of the class period!