PSI Tutor: Academic Mentor

Damien Riley is an author/teacher in Southern California. He writes on psychology
and inspiration and keeps an online diary.  Many of his writings are based on
experiences as a teacher.

 Have you heard the story of the lumberjack who cut more wood by taking
 breaks?  If you know the tale, you know the secret: he was sharpening
 his axe.  Like chopping wood, studying and reading are activities that
 we actually do better when we take breaks.

Whether you are in school or at work, it’s important to not to
 overwhelm your brain. Science tells us that the mind cannot usually absorb more
 than three things at a time. So, if you are reading, take breaks and
 remember the tendency of the brain to retain 3 things in one sitting. <a

 href=”http://www.postcardsfromthefunnyfarm.com/2007/09/19/yellow-pad-and-a-soft-lead-pencil-possibility-thinking-for-today-part-ii/“>Yellow
 pads are an excellent resource for this</a>, as simple as that sounds.
  You’d do well to “space out” the time you have to study as well.  The
 <a
 href=”http://saddleback.edu/faculty/caltman/onlineeng220/learningstyles.html“>theory
 of time spaced learning</a> got me through College Algebra at the
 junior college. I struggled with math up to then and a teacher shared with
 the class about it. My life has been improved ever since!

The theory is as follows: instead of studying to absorb new material
 over the course of an hour, break up your time into 15 minute increments
 (suggested). The data shows that memory is imprinted strongest when you
 start and stop a study time. Therefore, instead of having strong
 memories only twice in an hour, you will have them at the start and stop of
 each mini session. This equals more knowledge! Now this was great news
 to me, because I loved taking breaks from math!

When it comes to studying for memory, less is more and quality is
 better than quantity. Slow down and take more breaks, you’ll be amazed how
 much more you retain for life!

(guest post info …)

<img src=”http://www.postcardsfromthefunnyfarm.com/images/gravatar.jpg”
 alt=”Damien” align=”left”>Damien Riley is an author/teacher in
 Southern California. He writes on <a
 href=”http://www.postcardsfromthefunnyfarm.com“>psychology</a> and <a
 href=”http://www.postcardsfromthefunnyfarm.com“>inspiration</a> and keeps an
 <a href=”http://www.damienriley.com“>online diary</a>.  Many of his
 writings are based on experiences as a <a
 href=”http://www.dynamitelessonplan.com“>teacher</a>.