Showing posts with label Speed Reading. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Speed Reading. Show all posts

Sunday, 7 September 2014

How Should We Learn?

by: Kelvin Ho


Have you ever wondered how we learn? Why are some people able to achieve tremendous success while others receive mediocre results although both groups receive the same learning materials? Was it because these successful people are smarter or more talented than the rest of us?


Well, the answer to the last question is NO! Some of us lamented that the lucky ones just have better brains than the rest of us. But do you know that all of us basically have the same type of brain? Our brain is made of billions of neurons or brain cells. Although very small, each neuron has the processing power equivalent to a personal computer. The storage capacity of one neuron is unbelievable. Each one contains the entire genetic blueprint necessary to recreate another human being like us. A bee that can build a beehive, collect nectar, communicate with others, attract mates and reproduce has only seven thousand neurons. This shows that we have tremendous brain power in comparison. So it is not our inherent ability that prevented us from achieving success. Rather, it is the Learning Strategies that are used by each and every one of us that set us apart.


So what are these Learning Strategies that can help us achieve the success enjoyed by the top 5-10% of our population? Well, below are the 7 basic steps that you should apply every time you plan to learn something.


Step 1: Get Into The Right Mindset And Beliefs


To succeed in your learning, you must have the right mindset and beliefs. Without the right mindset, you will never succeed no matter what strategies you use.


What is the right mindset? Well, it is the frame of mind that makes you WANT to succeed. In fact, it is a MUST for you to succeed and you are willing to do whatever it takes to succeed. Unfortunately, this is not true for most people. They simply would like to succeed or think they should succeed. Having this incorrect frame of mind makes these people willing to accept mediocre results in their lives again and again.


Step 2: Set Out Your Goals


Make sure you know the purpose of why you learning this stuff. Set very specific and clear goals on the results you want to achieve. This is crucial as the goals you set will determine the action you choose to take. Goals direct our choices and actions.


Without goals, you will have nothing to focus on and you will just be swept by the waves of life. You will move in all directions and go nowhere. Is this what you want?


Step 3: Come Up With Your Plan


Set up a schedule so that you will know what to do and when to do. This serves as a checklist to ensure that you stay on your path to success. It also helps to plan and manage your time better so stick with it.


I will talk more about time management in another article.


Step 4: Take Consistent Action


Having all the wonderful plans will amount to nothing if no action is taken. Make it a point to take consistent action everyday and follow through diligently.


A way to help you get started with your plan is to have a 48 or 72 hour action plan. This is a plan to be carried out within the next 2-3 days. If you execute this simple action plan, it will give you the push in the right direction and help you to get started (a very important part of your plan).


Step 5: Speed Reading


Most likely to learn something new, you need to read relevant reading materials for information. Speed reading does not mean reading fast without comprehension. In fact, it is meant to help you get as much information while retaining or improving your understanding of the topic on hand.


Speed reading is a skill on its own and I will go into details in my future articles. What you need to note is that not all the words in your reading materials are important. Look out for key words (usually about 20% of the whole material) that will aid your understanding of the topic. This will help you gain your knowledge and improve your understanding within a short span of time.


Step 6: Note Taking and Memory


To help you internalize the information you have learnt, you may find it useful to re-organize the information in a way that makes sense to you. Using graphic organizers such as Mind Maps and such help to save time and unleash your mind power.


You will also probably need to absorb some of this information into your memory. This can help you to use this new information on a higher level of thinking. Simple ways to do this include association and linking of information.


If anyone is keen, let me know and I will write articles on them in the future.


Step 7: Application


Unless you can apply your new knowledge to your area of interest, you will probably not do very well. As such you need to master the art of application.


This requires you to develop a core of thinking skills such as creative, analytical and critical thinking. You have to be aware of your thoughts and be able to ask good questions about what you learn. Understand the assumptions that are made and where the evidences are collected from are some examples of such questions.


Conclusion


Put these 7 steps together in your learning and I am sure that your learning will be more fruitful and relevant. I wish you all the best in your journey and hope to hear your success story soon.


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Wednesday, 20 August 2014

Dramatically Improve Reading Speed

Top Strategies To Skyrocket Your Speed Reading Skills!

by: Joe Okoro


Are there uncommon strategies needed to improve ones speed reading skills? What does speed reading achieve at the end of the day and why do people speed read? One surefire way to make sure you develop a speed reading habit is by affirming to yourself that you need to speed read. You tell yourself and you do all it takes to accomplish that need. Speed reading is a skill that you can actually master, only if you know how to. The solution lies in the strategies you use to accomplish this skill.


The first step is to acknowledge your need to speed read. Then tell yourself that your are willing to take the necessary steps to accomplish this task. Those steps will require you to continuously practice till you perfect your reading skills. Now we are starting speed reading, but before we commence, we want to ask this question?


How does my present reading speed fare when compared to speed readers’ speed? To answer that question you will need to know your level of understanding when you read, and at what rate are you able to complete a reading exercise. We are continuing with our speed reading exercise to test you now, are you ready? Let’s go:


Exercise: Read this whole article that you are reading now and time yourself.


Once you are done, you will need to prepare a chart called a progress report. In it you will have the title of your reading. Then you want to include all the statistics about your speed reading skills in the body of the chart. This progress chart will help you to gradually develop your reading skill as you practice and practice over time. This chart will also make you see a need for you to improve as you progress in your speed reading.


T(seconds)/ Words(Minutes) / Understanding

Speed reading result number 1=

Speed reading result number 2=


As you read, try to record your observations in the following ways: Under the first result, record the time it took you to complete reading this article. This will help you see how long it takes you to complete an article and will also give you motivation to read at a faster rate.


If you want to know how many words per minute it take you to read, then you will have to carefully count all the words in this article. Once done, you will divide the total number of words by the time it took you to conclude reading this article. For instance. Let’s say the total words in this article is 800 words and it took you 3 minutes and 20 seconds to complete reading it. Below is the mathematical representations:


Time = 3×60 + 20 = 200 seconds


Words = 800

Words/Time = 800/200 = 4 words per second


or 4×60 = 240 words per minute.


By keeping a record like this, you find out that it takes you about One second to read four words or 240 words per minute. You can increase your speed by practice and increase to 10 words per second or more than that.


Now that is all about the rate of your reading, let’s move on to the second aspect of speed reading your comprehension level. Comprehension is your ability to fully grasp the meaning of any speed reading activity. We are going to test your level of understanding of this article. Do not feel bad even if you don’t get the answers right, it is just an exercise to practice with.


1. How can i start reading fast?

2. What can i do first to start speed reading?

3. What is the next step once i have started?

4. what third step do i need to take in speed reading?

5. What are the common questions that might come to mind when speed reading?

6. How can keeping record using progress chart help my speed reading activity?

7. How vital is comprehension to speed reading?


Find the answers below:


1. Just start at once.

2. Convincing myself that i need to speed read.

3. Putting the necessary action to start speed reading.

4. The third step is to start and practice and practice more.

5. Questions like how is my reading ability presently compared to the pro speed reader.

6. The use of progress report will help you to see areas where you need to make improvements and you work accordingly to improve them.

7. The main reason of speed reading is for understanding any material at an unusual short time span, thus speed reading has two elements; comprehension and speed.


With all being said, you should be able to fully accomplish your speed reading skills if you apply the skills above, they are powerful and proven strategies that any speed reader can use and achieve an amazing speed reading rate. The only obligation is just try it out, and the results, will simply amaze you.


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Thursday, 14 August 2014

Teaching Life Long Learning

by: Dr Jay Polmar


Life-long learning has been discovered by hundreds of thousands of people, in the U.S. and elsewhere, wanting improved education and the necessary educational tools for success. One of the most popular of these courses is speed reading. I discovered this while teaching reading and study skills in the southwest US.


After two years of teaching these specialized speedreading classes, colleges and Universities in Texas, New Mexico , Colorado, California, Oregon, Nevada, Arizona and Hawaii requested me to teach classes for them. Private corporations wanted courses of stress-management plus speed reading for their executives and sales personnel.


My experience was outstanding teaching live speed reading classes, business success courses, and college study skills courses around the south and southwest. Traveling from college to university and teaching weekend speed reading seminars, or evening classes in study skills, provided a fantastic experience for me to meet thousands of people in cities around the country. Students ranged in age from 7 years old to 91 and from primary school through grad school and from many career fields. As time progressed I implemented stress management and relaxation therapy along with the educational tools of speed reading and study skills. This made everyone, including myself, essentially stress-free.


After multiple successes with researching and teaching corporate programs, I was invited to find a cause and solution to the prison riots that occurred in 1980 in Santa Fe, New Mexico. I aired the results on public radio and was invited to teach in a New Mexico prison, by the office of then Governor Bruce King. In 1982 once a week, I taught a four-hour a method called Future-Learning, which was later retitled as Be Dynamic through Speed Reading and is now available online at www.speedread.org. Twenty five students and staff members had life changing experiences from learning how to read efficiently, reduce excess stress, and taking a long, hard, look at life. It was also life-changing for me, as prisoners challenged virtually every concept that didn’t fit into their everyday negative life experiences. It made me a much stronger teacher.


In 1985 I was invited to teach multiple classes on different islands in Hawaii. The great weather, outstanding views of the Pacific and ancient history, made my experience of teaching speedreading classes, to students of several ethnic backgrounds such a phenomenal experience that I moved to Maui for a year.


As a teacher of educational success tools, study skills, and loving being a traveler, the offer of being affiliated with several colleges and Universities from Florida to Hawaii, excited me.


In Florida, for a wholistic health foundation, I developed and taught specialized courses in speed reading, remedial education, and developed of educational tools which I later taught in other parts of the country. Just for fun, I was able to add methods of stress management, success visualization, and other exciting techniques to stimulate audiences that came from all over the state to meet me. After a short time I was able to add humor to some lectures to keep students stimulated to enjoy the learning experience.


My teaching of classes in life-long learning was cut short by surgical accidents in 1994 in Tampa, Florida , but from 1977 to 1993, I’ve enjoyed teaching over 8,000 people in the US. Since then my courses have been published in Beijing China, and the US and Mexico and shipped electronically and in printed form to 27 countries throughout the world to those wanting improved education and the educational tools for success. The most popular of these courses is speed reading which I’ve written books in English, Spanish, French, German, Dutch and Chinese. All of this came from from classes I have taught to eager students and adults wanting a better life for themselves.


About The Author


Dr. Jay Polmar is a retired university instructor, and educational therapist. He’s taught over 8,000 students to improve reading, study skills, and motivate them to achieve success.


Since 1977, Dr. Polmar traveled from Florida to Hawaii to teach courses on speed reading and study skills.


Now retired, he has written more than 30 books to help others succeed in life.


You can find him at http://ift.tt/1pADCtJ or write to him at drjay@speedread.org


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