Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Ha! My evolution as a learner…a journey from high school to grad school


I believe in working smart, not working too hard. That is a philosophy that I incorporate into my studies. This does not mean that I don’t commit 100 percent to my studies; it simply means that I have adopted learning techniques which make learning less strenuous for me.           


I knew from an early age that I loved stories. I was that student who read a novel assigned to high school students seven years before I was assigned that novel for a class. One learning strategy that I have used over the years has been to make stories out of my lessons. Stories are fun to remember and they have certain elements that help make them more memorable; such as: conflict, characters and the progression of the plot. I study subjects that appeal to me and that way, I can take on the role of the character(s). That helps me remember the things that are important to me. As fate would have it, I now teach a storytelling class which makes learning fun and memorable for our students.


Another learning technique that works for me is attending my classes and taking down notes. In high school, I tried to write down almost every word that my professors said in class. Luckily, that worked for me. However, I realized as the years went by, especially in graduate school that concentrating on writing so much actually distracted me. Now I listen more during lectures and only write down concepts and ideas that I may have had a hard time understanding when I read through my textbooks. Reading the short notes I take in class helps me remember my lectures.







No comments:

Post a Comment