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You read a lot. Now, do you remember much of what of you read?
Whether it is books, blog, magazines, or professional manuals, we still need to read. Now and in years ahead. And, much of it is nonfiction material, where it’s crucial to first understand and then remember what you are reading. [Read more…] about How to remember what you read: Eight tips to improve reading speed and cognitive ability
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Despite Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and television, (or perhaps precisely because of all of them) traditional reading is still an important skill. Whether it is magazines, professional manuals or fascinating books, people still need to read, now and in years ahead. And much of it is nonfiction material, where it’s important to really understand and then remember what you are reading.
An unfortunate reason why many people don’t read much these days is that they don’t read well. Reading, for them, is slow, hard work and they don’t remember as much as they should. They often have to read something several times before they understand and remember what they read.
Why? You would think that everyone learns how to read well at school. Schools do try, but I work with middle-school teachers and they tell me that many students are 2–3 years behind grade level in reading proficiency. Some of the blame can be placed on fads for teaching reading, such as phonics and “whole language,” which sometimes are promoted in shallow ways that don’t respect the need for both approaches. And much of the blame can be laid at the feet of parents who set poor examples and, of course, on the youngsters who are too distracted by social media and television to learn how to read well.
Now the good news. For anyone who missed out on good reading skills, it is not too late to improve now. I summarize below what I think it takes to read with good speed and comprehension. [Read more…] about Eight Tips To Understand and Remember What You Read — Especially As You Read Nonfiction
Despite the increasing visual media we are increasingly exposed to, reading is still an important skill. Whether it is school textbooks, online newspapers or regular books, people still read, though not as much as they used to. One reason that many people don’t read much is that they don’t read well. For them, [Read more…] about How to improve memory skills and remember what you read: Beyond phonics and “whole language”
As school is about to resume, people are reminded of their strong opinions about how to fix schools: more funding, better teachers, less government interference, more government interference, etc. But the one obvious, and never-stated problem, is that students don’t remember what they are taught. In spite of all the “teaching to the test” that parents and teachers complain about, students still don’t remember the very things they were taught as answers to test questions.
The reason they don’t remember is that they are not taught how to memorize. Why is that? [Read more…] about In the Age of Google, Should Schools Teach Memorization Skills?
Despite television, cell phones, and Twitter, traditional reading is still an important skill. Whether it is school textbooks, magazines, or regular books, people still read, though not as much as they used to. One reason that many people don’t read much is that they don’t read well. For them, it is slow, hard work and they don’t remember as much as they should. Students, for example, may have to read something several times before they understand and remember what they read.
Why? You would think that schools teach kids how to read well. Schools do try. I work with middle-school teachers and they tell me that many students are 2–3 years behind grade level in reading proficiency. No doubt, television, cell phones, and the Web are major contributors to this problem, which will apparently get worse if we don’t emphasize and improve reading instruction.
Some of the blame can be placed on the fads in reading teaching, such as phonics and “whole language,” which sometimes are promoted by zealots who don’t respect the need for both approaches. Much of the blame for poor reading skills can be laid at the feet of parents who set poor examples and, of course, on the youngsters who are too lazy to learn how to read well.
For all those who missed out on good reading skills, it is not too late. I summarize below what I think it takes to read with good speed and comprehension.
1) Know Your Purpose
Everyone should have a purpose for their reading and think about how that purpose is being fulfilled during the actual reading. The advantage for remembering is that checking continuously for how the purpose is being fulfilled helps the reader to stay on task, to focus on the more relevant parts of the text, and to rehearse continuously as one reads. This also saves time and effort because relevant items are most attended.
Identifying the purpose should be easy if you freely choose what to read. Just ask yourself, “Why am I reading this?” If it is to be entertained or pass the time, then there is not much problem. But myriad other reasons could apply, such as:
Many of us have readings assigned to us, as in a school environment. Or the boss may hand us a manual and say [Read more…] about Eight Tips To Remember What You Read
Today’s kids are into multi-tasking. This is the generation hooked on iPods, IM’ing, video games — not to mention TV! Many people in my generation think it is wonderful that kids can do all these things simultaneously and are impressed with their competence.
Well, as a teacher of such kids when they reach college, I am not impressed. College students these days have short attention spans and have trouble concentrating. They got this way in secondary school. I see this in the middle-school outreach program I help run. At this age kids are really wrapped up in multi-tasking at the expense of focus.
According to a Kaiser Family Foundation study last year, school kids in all grades beyond the second grade committed, on average, more than six hours per day to TV or videos, music, video games, and computers. Almost one-third reported that “most of the time” they did their homework while chatting on the phone, surfing the Web, sending instant messages, watching TV, or listening to music.
Kids think that this entertainment while studying helps their learning. It probably does make learning less tedious, but it clearly makes learning less efficient and less effective. Multi-tasking violates everything we know about how memory works. Now we have objective scientific evidence that [Read more…] about Memory Problems? Perhaps you are Multi-tasking
