- Do you struggle to really understand a topic or text ?
- Does information go in one ear and straight out the other?
- Maybe your eyes swim when you confront a block of text, so you give up trying to ‘get it’ straight away?
Trust us: it happens to us all at some stage. Rather than quit, let’s tweak how you learn so that you are more successful – quicker.
Want to know the secret to:
- improving your thinking skills
- recalling information rather than forgetting it
- developing learning strategies that really work
Ready to boost your learning skills? Let’s go!
Help Your Brain Retain Not Drain
Brain drain is a thing!
If you just read a page and then re-read it, very little of it will stick – unless you have a photographic memory, that is. If only, hey?
This is why GCSE students rarely remember all the details in a Literature text from last year. Happened to you too?
To help us remember key details, we need to tell our brains to do something different other than just read information.
The trick is to ‘do’ something with the material – something that helps your brain retain.
One smart move is to read a page of information, then close the book and write out/summarise key information that you remember.
You could even create a diagram, mind-map or flow chart if visual information helps you.
Because you’re retrieving information – not just reading it – your brain acts more like a sponge than a brick!
Try it?
Boost Learning Through Quizzing
Ordinarily, it’s maddening when someone asks you a question but then answers it before you can get a word in edgeways.
A few nods agreeing with us on that one…
What we mean is, when you ask questioning about what you’re learning, it becomes a powerful tool for good.
Let’s say that you’ve just read a dense page about photosynthesis. You might have tried our first tip, and recalled some information to trigger your short-term memory.
The next stage is to help it stick – to make it make sense.
How do we do that? It’s simple. Ask why and how questions..
Back to photosynthesis. Ask yourself HOW does it affect plants and WHY photosynthesis matters…
Or instead of acknowledging THAT Romeo kills Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet, ask yourself WHY he did it and HOW it impacts on the rest of the play.
When you do this, you’re helping your brain make important connections. Those connections help you understand and remember critical information at a deeper level.
Great, huh?
Need Help Getting Started?
Of course, if you need a steer in the right direction as you’re not getting anywhere, it can make a huge difference to work with a professional tutor who knows exactly how to make everything make more sense.
Get in touch with our tuition team today just to have a chat.
Image courtesy of www edrawmind.com
Tags: brain drain, GCSE success, learning questions, practice retrieval