“Variety’s the very spice of life.” William Cowper, 18th century poet
Wait! Whatever you do, do not close that book. Sure you’re finished reading, but there is more fun to be done. You need to help your working memory deliver the new information into your long-term memory in an organized and exciting manner. Challenge yourself by asking, “How can I make this information new, fresh, and exciting?” The more novel you make the information, the more your mind will wake up and pay attention.
Novel Information
Every year clothing styles change, music styles changes, and hair styles change. We even change what we eat throughout the day. Why? The brain is a wild and crazy organ. It actually gets bored thinking about the same things over and over again. For example, has the familiarity of sitting in one position and reading from a book made you sleepy?
The mind is constantly seeking out new input and striving to make meaning from novel stimuli. Novel or novelty is derived from the Latin word, novem for “new”. If you want to make sure your mind doesn’t drift away, you are going to have to spice up the information you are reading.
The challenging part of RELAX is making sure you choose the novel stimuli that matches your multiple intelligence. Sure, you took the multiple intelligence survey so you have an idea of your top three choices, however, your prior knowledge and motivation to learn also play a part in this final step.
Breaking it Down
Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligence suggests there is more than one way to be smart. When you match the way your mind likes to think with the way you study, you increase the amount of new information transferred into long-term memory and strengthen the connections for future recall.
Take all that you know about yourself as a learner (learning style/multiple intelligence) and as a reader (FLIRT/DRIVE/RELAX) and apply it to the new information you are trying to learn. Use the following suggestions to help you create novel stimuli while you study:
Auditory: Interview a friend, tutor, or teacher about the topic. Pretend to hold a press conference where you ask questions to an expert and listen to their answers. Record the class, or record you reading your notes on a small digital recorder. Then listen to it in the car, while working out or before going to bed.
Intrapersonal: Create foldable books or type out your thoughts on a blog. Keep a daily journal to record the insights you discovered while reading.
Interpersonal: Find a tutor or friend with whom to study or write out a script of you talking about what you learned with different characters. Pretend you are on the Today Show, Jay Leno, or Saturday Night Live and are sharing your knowledge to better the world.
Kinesthetic: Invent motions, craft sculptures from play-doh, or design travel brochures. Exercise immediately after reviewing your notes. While you work out, your mind will review and record the new information.
Linguistic: List vocabulary words in alphaboxes, generate acrostics, or draw word graffiti. Go on-line to www.puzzlemaker.com to create crossword puzzles and word searches with important terms.
Musical: Produce your own lyric summaries to simple tunes or conceive rhyming poems. Listen to instrumental music immediately after reviewing your notes.
Spatial/Mathematical: Construct charts, graphs, maps, and equations that represent the content.
Visual: Construct a collage of pictures that represent abstract concepts or create a power point slide show. Video tape class or watch videos related to the subject.
Warning: DO NOT USE THE SAME STRATEGY FOR EVERY CHAPTER AND CLASS. The more you use a strategy, the less novel it becomes. You will have to XPERIMENT with different study strategies often!
Reality Check
After all this engaging work, your mind still needs you to rehearse or study every day. Take time to RELAX before going to bed. Your mind will replay any information it sees immediately before falling asleep. Establish a schedule to study a different subject each night. Remember, every time you recall the concepts, you strengthen the neuro-pathways between your prior knowledge and new information. The stronger the neuro-pathways, the easier, faster, and longer your mind will be able to remember all the fascinating facts you learned through reading. In other words, a little studying every day will get you that “A”!
information stick -fun-excting-mix up strategys.
ReplyDeleteI like the ideas of how you can make the information stick. It seems like it will really help.
Before I read this I already knew that there were various reading strategies I could experiment with after I was done reading. After reading, I now know to try a variety of different strategies as "same-old, same old" becomes way too novel.
ReplyDeleteAndrew Thompson Section 1
Before I read I always take a look at what I am about to persue mentally. I think about what I already know and how this is important to me as the reader. After I read I think about things that stuck out to me the most. For example in this reading what caught my attention was the phrase "do not use the same strategy for every chapter and class".
ReplyDeleteAbbie Forry
Section2
Using these different stratigies and knowing what type of learner you are will help you learn the information and remember it by doing an action that fits your personallity
ReplyDelete2 words to summarize the author's message
ReplyDelete-experiment
-strategies
I will remember
-breaking down
-reality check
information stick -fun-excting-mix up strategys.
ReplyDeleteI like the ideas of how you can make the information stick. It seems like it will really help.
Before I read I already knew they are different strategies of helping you know the information better. After reading, I know that if I use what strategy fits me I will become a better reader.
ReplyDeletebefore reading, I knew about FLIRT, DRIVE & RELAX. after reading, I realized what stands out of the text the most and what is repeated/irrelevent.
ReplyDeleteryan dahl
1 week left!!!!!!!
before the reading i knew all the different "multiple intelligences" and what style i was. after reading i learned more exact examples of what the different learning styles use to study
ReplyDeletekatie bricker
section 1
before reading this i knew my learning style is auditory. after reading i learned other ways of studying and how to remember text more effectively.
ReplyDeleteAdam Vetere section 2
When i use the strategies i do better with reading. etc..
ReplyDeleteBefore reading I already knew what you had to do as an auditory learner. After reading I learned that your mind learns replays things over and over so that you can recall it easier.
ReplyDelete-Logan Gurreri
2 words:
ReplyDeleteexperiment
strategies
I will remember to try and use all of those strategies because if i use the same one over and over again they will not be novel anymore.
Before reading I knew that my learning style is visual. After reading I figured out that I can do a couple other ways of learning to help me understand better.
ReplyDeleteBefore reading i already knew what te reading styles were. After reading I now know more indepth about the different reading styles and how they can work for me.
ReplyDeleteTyler Adcock-sec. 1
Befor reading I realize that I need to find the type of reader I am to take in the information. After reading I know that you need to apply the reading strategy all the time when you read and even when you present the information.
ReplyDeleteAnthany Heindel
Experiment
ReplyDeleteStratigies
While reading use different study stratigies to help you remember the information. When I read I like to use 3X5's, Highlighters, and draw pictures of what I'm reading to keep everything fresh.
2 words
ReplyDelete-experiment
-stratigies
You should use different stratigies while you study to help you remember information. While reading I use highlighters, draw pictures, and use 3x5 cards.
Before reading I already knew that I had to Flirt, and Drive with text. I use highlighters and, notes, and flash cards to help remember what I just read or learned in the text.
ReplyDeleteBefore I read I already knew they are different strategies of helping you know the information better. After reading, I know that if I use what strategy that works for me I will become a better reader.
ReplyDelete-Ryan Althoff
before reading this i knew there were other strateegies but after reading it, this showed me that i should try different things to keep my mind intersested.
ReplyDeleteDustin R. Wagnon
TRAINING YOUR BRAIN TO MAKE READING FUN IS THE BEST WAY TO SET A PASTE. DONT RUSH IT, MAKE IT LAST LIKE SOMETHING YOU REALLY WANT.
ReplyDeleteBefore reading I knew I would have to flirt with the text & Drive. While reading I explored with many different strategies. After reading I learned in order for the information to Sink into your brain ; You have to study the topic outside of class ! :) FLIRT your way to an A Is AMAZING !
ReplyDelete-MyKeira!<3