Brain of "The Bomb": 2014

Friday, December 12, 2014

Studying and Memorizing Tips

This is an excellent web page for making learning easier!!!!!!!!!!

9 Types of Mnemonics for Better Memory

By Dennis Congos, University of Central Florida

"Mnemonics are memory devices that help learners recall larger pieces of information, especially in the form of lists like characteristics, steps, stages, parts, phases, etc. We knew back in 1967 from a study by Gerald R. Miller that mnemonics increased recall. He found that students who regularly used mnemonic devices increased test scores up to 77%!

Many types of mnemonics exist and which type works best is limited only by the imagination of each individual learner. The 9 basic types of mnemonics presented in this handout include Music, Name, Expression/Word, Model, Ode/Rhyme, Note Organization, Image, Connection, and Spelling Mnemonics. "

********************************

I found this website with some Excellent tips on Study Skills!!!

So if you would like to make life easier, more productive, and efficient please go to the links provided and learn more!

I recommend studying these skills and then practicing them with Biology and your other classes. If you can master these skills now, you will be well ahead in your college or future school years!

"Concentration - Basic Guidelines

Divide your work into small, short-range goals

Don't set a goal as vague and large as: "I am going to spend all day Saturday studying!" You will only set yourself up for failure and discouragement. Instead, take the time block that you have scheduled for study and set a reachable study goal (for example: finish reading three sections of chapter seven in my psychology text, or complete one math problem, or write the rough draft of the introduction to my English paper, etc.). Set your goal when you sit down to study but before you begin to work.

Set a goal that you can reach. You may, in fact, do more than your goal but set a reasonable goal even if it seems too easy."

"Control of Study Environment

Studying takes more than just sitting down, opening a textbook, and reviewing notes. If your study environment is not conducive to getting work done, then the retention of information will be severely undermined. Below you will find information on how to choose a study location, structure study time, concentration, retention, and relaxation. All of this will help to control your environment and make it the perfect place for studying."

Setting Study Goals

Before you begin an assignment, write down on a sheet of paper the time you expect to finish. Setting small goals will make the workload easier to split up and finish. Keep a record of your goal setting. This step will not take much time at all, however, it can be extremely effective. It may put just the slightest bit of pressure on you, enough so that your study behavior will become instantly more efficient. Keep the record of your goals as a measure of your study efficiency. Try setting slightly higher goals in successive evenings. Don't try to make fantastic increases in rate. Just increase the goal a bit at a time.

Set small, short-range goals for yourself. Divide your assignment into subsections and set a time for when you will have each section finished. If you are doing math, set a time goal for the solution of each problem, if you are reading, set a goal for each page or chapter. You will find that this is a way to increase your ability to study without daydreaming.

Don’t Force Concentration

If your mind wanders, stand up and face away from your books. Don't sit at your desk staring into a book and mumbling about your poor will power. If you do, your book will soon become associated with daydreaming and guilt. If you must daydream, which we all occasionally do, get up and turn around. Don't leave the room, just stand by your desk and daydream while you face away from your assignment. The physical act of standing up helps bring your thinking back to the job. Try it! You'll find that soon just telling yourself, "I should stand up now," will be enough to get you back on the track.

Relax

Relax completely before you start to study. One approach to concentration is to ask yourself, "Does studying and bookwork scare me?" If you have to do something unpleasant, something that you know you may do poorly, how do you react?

You probably put it off as long as possible, find yourself daydreaming, and welcome reasons to stop studying. If you do react this way, you might suffer from learned book-anxiety. The key to breaking this book-anxiety daydream series is learning how to relax. It is almost impossible to feel anxiety when you are physically, deeply, and completely relaxed. Associate the book with relaxation, not with tension and anxiety.

Note Taking - The Cornell System

The Cornell system for taking notes is designed to save time and be highly efficient. There is no rewriting or retyping of your notes. It is a "do it right the first time" system.

Preparation

Use a large, loose-leaf notebook. Use only one side of the paper (later, you can lay your notes out to see the direction of a lecture). Draw a vertical line 2.5 inches from the left side of you paper. This is the recall column. Notes will be taken to the right of this margin. Later, key words or phrases can be written in the recall column.

During the Lecture

Record notes in paragraph form
Capture general ideas, not illustrative ideas
Skip lines to show end of ideas or thoughts
Using abbreviations will save time
Write legibly

After the Lecture

Read through your notes and make them more legible if necessary. Now, use the recall column. Jot down ideas or key words that give you the idea of the lecture. You will have to reread the lecturer's ideas and reflect in your own words. Cover up the right-hand portion of your notes and recite the general ideas and concepts of the lecture. Overlap your notes showing only recall columns and you have your review.

Editing Lecture Notes

There are several good reasons for organizing and reviewing your notes as soon as possible after the lecture. While the lecture is still fresh in your mind, you can fill in facts and examples from memory that you did not have time to write down during the lecture. More over, you can recall what parts of the lecture were unclear to you so that you can consult the lecturer, the graduate assistant, a classmate, your text, or additional readings for further information.

Immediately reviewing notes will result in better retention than reviewing after a longer period of time. Unless a student reviews within 24 hours after the lecture, or at least before the next, retention will drop and result in the student relearning the information rather than reviewing it.

Constructive Suggestions for Motivation

Note Taking and In-Class Skills

Remembering

College students are confronted with two types of memory. The first and more common is general memory, or remembering the idea without using the exact words of the book or professor. General memory is called for in all subjects, however, the arts, social sciences, and literature probably make the greatest use of this particular kind of remembering.

The other type of memory is the verbatim memorization of words by which something is expressed. This type of memorization may be called for in all subjects but especially in law, theatre, science, engineering, mathematics, and foreign language where the exact wording of formulas, rules, norms, laws, scripts, or vocabulary must be remembered.

Below are some tips on how to remember things effectively:

SQ3R - Reading/Study System

SQ3R is a reading comprehension method named for its five steps: survey, question, read, recite, and review. Follow the steps below to learn how to glean as much information as possible from the text requirements from any class.

Remember: The information you gain from reading is important. If you just “do it,” without learning something, you’re wasting a lot of your time. Train your mind to learn while reading with SQ3R.

SURVEY – Gather the information necessary to focus and formulate goals

Read the title – Help your mind prepare to receive the subject at hand.
Read the introduction and/or summary – Orient yourself to how each chapter fits the author's purposes, and focus on the author's statement of most important points.
Notice each boldface heading and subheading – Organize your mind before you begin to read and build a structure for the thoughts and details to come.
Notice any graphics – Charts, maps, diagrams, etc. are there to make a point. Don't overlook them.
Notice reading aids – Italics, bold face print, chapter objective, and end-of -chapter questions are all included to help you sort, comprehend, and remember.

QUESTION – Help your mind engage and concentrate

Turn the boldface heading for each section into as many questions as you think will be answered in that section. The better the questions, the better your comprehension is likely to be. You may always add further questions as you proceed. When your mind is actively searching for answers to questions it becomes engaged in learning.

READ - Fill in the information around the mental structures you've been building

Read one section at a time with your questions in mind and look for the answers. Recognize when you need to make up some new questions.

RECITE - Retrain your mind to concentrate and learn as it reads

After each section, stop and recall your questions and see if you can answer them from memory. If not, look back at the text again (as often as necessary), but don't move to the next section until you can recite the answers from the previous one.

REVIEW - Refine your mental organization and begin building memory

Once you've finished the entire chapter using the preceding steps, go back over the questions you create for every heading. See if you can still answer them. If not, look back and refresh your memory and then continue.

http://www.ucc.vt.edu/academic_support_students/study_skills_information/sq3r_reading-study_system/index.html

Strategies for Difficult Questions

http://www.ucc.vt.edu/academic_support_students/study_skills_information/strategies_for_difficult_questions/index.html

Study Environment Analysis

http://www.ucc.vt.edu/academic_support_students/study_skills_information/study_environment_analysis/index.html

Vocabulary - An Ongoing Process

Developing a vocabulary is an ongoing process that continues throughout your life. As you grow, your method of learning and adding to your new vocabulary has slowed. When you were younger you learned something new day in and day out. You kept squeezing every moment of the day into a new and different learning situation. You continually asked questions and drove yourself to learn more. Look at the following examples:

http://www.ucc.vt.edu/academic_support_students/study_skills_information/vocabulary_an_ongoing_process/index.html

Writing Papers

http://www.ucc.vt.edu/academic_support_students/study_skills_information/writing_papers/index.html

Online Study Skills Workshops

Cook Counseling Center provides in depth information on different topics that will improve several crucial aspects of academic strategy and knowledge. These Online Study Skills Workshops gives students the tools they need to study and test better.

Online Study Skills Workshops

http://www.ucc.vt.edu/academic_support_students/online_study_skills_workshops/index.html

Steel Cut Oats recipes and links

From RaNae:

This one is our favorite, toasting seriously makes it taste better. Obviously with the oats that I gave you this recipe would cook it way too long, but at least you can sort of get the idea of putting it together.

http://www.organizeyourselfskinny.com/2013/02/14/clean-eating-coconut-steel-cut-oats/

Here's a few others:

http://www.organizeyourselfskinny.com/2013/04/17/blueberry-lemon-steel-cut-oats/

http://www.organizeyourselfskinny.com/2013/06/16/peanut-butter-and-jelly-steel-cut-oats/

Obviously, you can put whatever in these things, whatever your favorite flavors are. I really like banana and toasted coconut in the first one, I don't usually like coconut, but if it's toasted, then the texture changes and I can manage it.

I also really like doing salads in a jar that she has on her website.

Sunday, November 30, 2014

"I, Pencil" video

Here is a great look at economics. The booklet by the same name is even better:

Friday, November 7, 2014

Flag info

here is an amazing site about the evolution of the American Flag. --Ashlie Jackson
http://www.ushistory.org/betsy/flagfact.html

Producing a Play tips

Here is an email I sent to a friend who had asked me advice on what I have learned after doing plays over the years:

I have been seeking more and more to bring strong principles into plays: what they practice becomes a part of who they are. The play becomes a part of them, and even if they are playing the villain, they feel the message during rehearsal as the evil plays opposition to the good.

I have not had a lot of luck finding plays. I have written practically all the plays I have directed. The only one that I did not adapt or write was "The Very Best Christmas Pageant Ever." I was new back to the community, was told what a wonderful play it was, and took it on without reading it. (I would have changed it...there was a lot of rudeness and sarcasm that I didn't like.)

I have taken "classics" (personal choice) and adapted them to plays. A good source of inspirational stories is the Book of Virtues. Perhaps you could google play adaptations of those stories?

I have mixed feelings on Shakespeare. There are great messages and questions posed through some of his works. I feel that he also often strongly presents the negative effects of bad morals and leaves it for the audience to interpret. Many of the adaptations of his plays tend to emphasize the secular/relationship part of his works, leaving out the great one-liners that are so often quoted in conference. If you can find parts of his plays that bring these great moral dilemmas to the front and where the characters stand up for what is good, that is where I would start. I feel some of his plays are pretty trivial (the comedies) and are funny, but really don't do more than entertain. However, perhaps that is because I need to read them more deeply. I do not claim to be any type of expert in that area. :)

Just a re-cap/checklist of what I learned doing plays:
1) What do I want my youth to come away feeling? (William Tell: courage in standing up for what is right; strong family connections)
2) Try to know the actors and actresses: some are great at memorizing but not great at expressing themselves or speak quietly; some are fantastic at acting things out but really struggle to memorize...things like that. Then give them appropriate parts. It is fine to have a lead role who has a lot of short lines :).
3) I wrote William Tell knowing the actors I would have. I could picture them saying their lines, fitting timidity with inherent shyness and solid character with steady personalities, etc. I wasn't perfect at it, but felt I was able to allow their natural personalities to accentuate their parts.
4) Make most lines just one sentence. Try not to have duplicate seeming sequences (like I accidentally did with the "family telling the story" out front. They had a hard time remembering which similar line to speak :)...).
5) Don't have long stretches when people are just standing around. Try to think of actions that "background people" could be doing while perhaps some of the dialogue is not on them.
6) Simple scenery
7) Have the parents commit up front to help in different areas: many hands make light work! I have attached the areas where people helped me.
8) Give them the scripts at least a month before the first rehearsal. Be clear that they have to have their lines memorized by a certain time (I had it the second rehearsal, using the first one as a dry run to give them the feel of it for the next week). Just tell them that you may have to have someone else take some of their lines or just take them out. It may seem harsh, but if you do not, you will spend the entire seasons with scripts in their faces and not be able to work on the presentation or acting skills. Memorization is do-able at home. If you do it this way, you can have the play done, start to finish in 8 weeks (we did 9 and then took a week off). Even then, I think we could have cut out a week of rehearsals and done 7 weeks. If you rehearse for too long, they get bored with it and cannot keep up their energy and enthusiasm for it and the rehearsals feel like a waste of time.
9) We put together that little audio cd for them to listen to, which also helped (and was surprisingly fun to put together!).
10) Have the building for performing reserved up front and the schedule to the parents along with the script. There is nothing worse than having to send out "last minute changes" and hoping everyone can make it happen! (And you, as a parent, know how frustrating it is on the other end, I am sure!)

11) I reserved 3 hours for performance at the library to accomodate set-up and take down, although the 2 hours for the last one wasn't bad. I liked the length of 30 minutes for this age. 45 minutes should be the limit. They simply cannot keep the energy up for a full hour, I feel, at this age.

Anyway, hope this helps. It was so fun to spend our rehearsals working on facing the audience, developing personality into their characters, work on volume and diction, and just give them a change to make the transitions smooth. Another thing I learned was to try and get the props there a little earlier for them to practice with so it is not so awkward come stage time.

Depression insights

Even though some of yu may or may not suffer from severe depression this is just an important thing to know. People out there love you and want you to succeed and if you ever meet someone who may want to take their life, just let them know this message and try to show your love to them.

http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=3851853843001&cid=HPTU102114502

Kel

Quotes on Education

John Taylor, The Gospel Kingdom, p.275

You will see the day that Zion will be as far ahead of the outside world in everything pertaining to learning of every kind as we are today in regard to religious matters. You mark my words, and write them down, and see if they do not come to pass. We are not dependent upon them, but we are upon the Lord. We did not get our priesthood nor our information in regard to his law from them. It came from God. . . .

I remember talking with some celebrated scientists from Europe some time ago, and I explained to them some of the principles relative to the heavenly bodies that were revealed through the Prophet Joseph Smith. They were astonished to know that ideas so grand could be developed through one that was comparatively unlearned. One of them remarked that they were the most magnificent principles he had ever heard of. Another one said that he had read and studied a great deal, but he had a good deal more yet to learn. We are, as the French would say, en rapport, with God; that is in communication with God. Let us live so that we can keep that up, so that angels can minister to us and the Holy Spirit dwell with us. -- JD, 21:100, April 13, 1879.

Discourses of Brigham Young, p.331-332

The Latter-day Saints realize that there is no period of man's existence not incorporated with the plan of salvation, and directly pointing to a future existence. Consequently, when we stand here to speak to the people, let every man speak what is in his heart. If one of our Elders is capable of giving us a lecture upon any of the sciences, let it be delivered in the spirit of meekness -- in the spirit of the holy Gospel. If, on the Sabbath day, when we are assembled here to worship the Lord, one of the Elders should be prompted to give us a lecture on any branch of education with which he is acquainted, is it outside the pale of our religion? I think not. If any of the Elders are disposed to give a lecture to parents and children on letters, on the rudiments of the English language, it is in my religion, it is a part of my faith. Or if an Elder shall give us a lecture upon astronomy, chemistry, or geology, our religion embraces it all. It matters not what the subject be, if it tends to improve the mind, exalt the feelings, and enlarge the capacity. The truth that is in all the arts and sciences forms a part of our religion. Faith is no more a part of it than any other true principle of philosophy. Were I to give you a lecture today upon farming, would I be speaking upon a matter that transcends the bounds of our religion? Agriculture is a part of it as well as any other truth. Were I to lecture on business principles of any kind, our religion embraces it; and what it does not circumscribe, it would be well for us to dispense with at once and forever. 1:334.

“True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and

behavior.

“The study of the doctrines of the gospel will

improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior

will improve behavior. … That is why we stress so

forcefully the study of the doctrines of the gospel”

Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

(“Little Children,” Ensign, Nov. 1986, 17).

https://www.lds.org/bc/content/shared/content/images/gospel-library/manual/09411/09411_000_089_handout.pdf

"Material objectives consume too much of our attention. The struggle for what we need or for more than we need exhausts our time and energy. We pursue pleasure or entertainment, or become overinvolved in associations or civic matters. Of course, people need recreation, need to be achieving, need to contribute; but if these come at the cost of friendship with Christ, the price is much too high.

“For my people have committed two evils,” said the Lord to Israel; “they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.” (Jer. 2:13.)

The substitutions we fashion to take the place of God in our lives truly hold no water. To the measure we thus refuse the “living water,” we miss the joy we could have."

- Marion D. Hanks , Joy through Christ

https://www.lds.org/ensign/print/1972/07/joy-through-christ?lang=eng&clang=eng

“A man may possess a profound knowledge of history and mathematics; he may be an authority in psychology, biology, or astronomy; he may know all the discovered truths pertaining to geology and natural science; but if he has not with this knowledge that nobility of soul which prompts him to deal justly with his fellow men, to practice virtue and holiness in personal life, he is not a truly educated man. "Character is the aim of true education; and science, history, and literature are but means used to accomplish the desired end. Character is not the result of chance work but of continuous right thinking and right acting.

"True education seeks, then, to make men and women not only good mathematicians, proficient linguists, profound scientists, or brilliant literary lights, but also honest men, combined with virtue, temperance, and brotherly love-men and women who prize truth, justice, wisdom, benevolence, and self-control as the choicest acquisitions of a successful life.”

― David O. McKay

Quotes on Evolution and God in Science

John Taylor, The Gospel Kingdom, p.52

If we take man, he is said to have been made in the image of God, for the simple reason that he is a son of God, and being his son, he is, of course, his offspring, an emanation from God, in whose likeness, we are told, he is made. He did not originate from a chaotic mass of matter, moving or inert, but came forth possessing, in an embryonic state, all the faculties and powers of a God. And when he shall be perfected, and have progressed to maturity, he will be like his Father -- a God, being indeed his offspring. As the horse, the ox, the sheep, and every living creature, including man, propagates its own species and perpetuates its own kind, so does God perpetuate his. -- MA, 164-165.

Man is a dual being, possessed of body and spirit, made in the image of God, and connected with him and with eternity. He is a God in embryo and will live and progress throughout the eternal ages, if obedient to the laws of the Godhead, as the Gods progress throughout the eternal ages. -- JD, 23:65, April 9, 1882.

When we study science we are studying a testimony that there is a God!

All creations testify of Him.

We are learning about and admiring His artwork, His handiwork, His gallery.

By studying scientific laws we are studying His tools.

All things testify God is!

Please watch the following clip:

We Lived With God (4:00) | Gods Plan

A renowned scientist testifies of our premortal life, our divine Creator, and the limitless perspective of eternal life.

http://www.mormonchannel.org/our-heavenly-fathers-plan?v=1834798902001&lang=eng#video=we-lived-with-god&cid=HPMO102714514

“The universe is God’s handiwork. Therefore if the scriptures are God’s handiwork and the universe is God’s handiwork, then science and religion represent two independent witnesses of God’s creation.

And we are told throughout the Old Testament that two or more independent witnesses are required in order to certify the truth.

They are not opposites, but they are like the vision seen from your two eyes. If you close one eye then close the other, alternate back and forth, you don’t see the same thing from those two eyes.

But, it is the combination of those two views that gives you three dimensional perception and shows you a lot of things that neither eye by itself sees. ”
******************
Jordan Housholder shared this insight:

"Following our evolution discussion yesterday, I remembered an article that my boss, Delose, wrote about Darwin. It is titled, Darwin Was for Intelligent Design.

I would recommend reading it. He's very to the point, and he cites the part of Origin of Species that discusses his belief in a creator. I thought some of you might appreciate it!"
***************************

“We have enough and to spare, at present in these mountains, of schools where young infidels are made because the teachers are so tender-footed that they dare not mention the principles of the gospel to their pupils, but have no hesitancy in introducing into the classroom the theories of Huxley, of Darwin, or of Miall, and the false political economy which contends against co-operation and the United Order. This course I am resolutely and uncompromisingly opposed to, and I hope to see the day when the doctrines of the gospel will be taught in all our schools, when the revelation of the Lord will be our texts, and our books will be written and manufactured by ourselves and in our own midst. As a beginning in this direction I have endowed the Brigham Young Academy at Provo.”

-Brigham Young