That’s the question that we always ask, right? So much of the “stuff” that I learn in school makes no sense to me, and nobody seems to be able to answer my question about why its important, and when I will need this information. So, what’s the point of learning it if I don’t need it later? I mean, we have the ability to find pretty much any answer that we need in a couple of seconds courtesy of Google, a fact that seems to make the stuff we are learning silly. BUT, my real question is, why can’t anyone answer the question properly? Or, does what we are being taught need to change so we have an answer to the question? What are we learning in school, really? Is it important “stuff,” or is it simply how to follow instructions?

I think it might be more about the instruction than the stuff.

About me: I go to South Secondary School in London, ON and I have two younger siblings. I have always been a movie guy. But movies aren’t the only thing I enjoy. In the summer I love to bike with my friends down to the Thames River and ride along the trails. The sights and the entire ride are always beautiful. Anyway, hopefully you’ll enjoy my posts! Remember to leave feedback and comments at the bottom! – Dylan.

Kids forget stuff all of the time. Where they left their book bag. What day the next soccer game is. When Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone.

Before writing kids off as hopelessly forgetful, consider that they may have simply never been taught how to remember.

As the World Memory Champions can tell you, there are tricks—simple tricks—that everybody can use to improve memory abilities.

So what’s the secret?

When it comes to improving your memory, the most important secret is … imagination.

And luckily for forgetful students, kids have a natural abundance of imagination.

Telling stories and visualizing details improves the ability to recall details. That’s because visual memory is larger and stronger than logical memory.

The main memory technique involves making visual associations. This is where imagination comes in. The associations do not have be logical or make sense. They only need to be relevant to the individual.

For students, it might be the only instance where being illogical, nonsensical, and random pays off in school.

Here are some of the best tips that filmmaker Josh Freed learned while filming his documentary
Where Did I Put My…Memory?

1. Numbers: Imagine numbers as shapes or common images. For instance, the number 5 could be a snake, the number 8, a snowman. Then, recall numbers by crafting a story around the numbers. This technique could be very helpful in helping young children remember phone numbers.

2. Placement: Always remember where you left something by imagining it blowing up. Rather than dropping off a book bag in the front hall, pause and visualize it blowing up. Or, maybe a less violent image for younger children—perhaps the image of taking a nap would work.

3. Names: Visualize something about a person’s name. Associate the first letter of the name with an object. For instance, the name Laura could be associated with a shamrock because she was wearing green when you met her, and shamrocks are lucky. Lucky and Laura both start with the letter L.

4. Singing. There has been much success with singing instructions and repeating the chorus. The Alphabet Song has been helping preschoolers learn the alphabet for years, while teacher Alex Kajitani has become known as the Rappin’ Mathematician for using rap to teach math skills to students.

5. Making up stories. Making lists and writing things down is a tried and true way to avoid forgetting, but when these sorts of memory aids are not available, making up stories can not only help people remember important tasks and details, it can actually help make the brain stronger, and less reliant on outside tools to aid recall.

Check out the article The Secrets of Mastering Your Memory for more information and for information about how technology will help memory in the future.

How to Study For Long-Term Memory

There’s a big test this week and you stayed up all night last night cramming all the information that you need to remember to ace the test.

Now it’s a week later and you’re wondering what happened to all those facts, figures, and dates that you spent so much energy studying? You did great on the test, but now that some time has passed you barely remember what class you were studying for.

All those eleventh hour study-a-thons and the eventual and inevitable forgetting should be giving credence to what you suspected all along—that when it comes to studying and long-term recall, cramming doesn’t work.

Developing top-notch study skills is one way of combating the so-called forgetting curve. Skills such as starting early, paraphrasing, and active learning can help you avoid a last minute cram-a-thons and hopefully help you remember what you’ve studied for longer than one week.

Planning, organizing, time management, taking notes—Man, studying is a lot of work! Wouldn’t it be great if a computer could tell you when to study so that you never forgot? According to Wired Magazine such a program exists.

The program was developed in response to decades of research into memory and optimal learning. What researchers found was that there is an ideal moment to review material that you have learned so that you don’t forget it. It’s called the spacing effect and it’s the best-known way to remember what you have learnt so that you never forget.

You don’t need a computer to master this skill (although a computer program can help). The trick is to be able to recognize the moment when you are about to forget something and review at that moment so that you don’t spend too long studying something that you might only forget later. If you wait too long to review, then you’ve forgotten the material. Too soon and there’s no point.

Practice the spacing effect and improve your study skills. Here’s how:

• Look up a word that you’ve never heard of
• Write down the word and the definition on a piece of paper
• Wait a day or so and try to see if you can remember
• If yes, choose another word and wait longer
• If no, choose another word and shorten the length of time
• Keep track of how much time passes before you begin to forget

The theory is that if you study at the moment that you are about to forget, you will remember better and for longer periods of time.

Having a great memory can help your child do better in school and on tests and get better grades. Here are 10 ways that you canuse to help your child improve his/her memory, including remembering facts, concepts, ideas, formulas and more:

1. Make certain your child really understands the concept or formula he/she is required to memorize. Understanding a subject means that he/she is halfway to remembering it. Encourage your child to ask questions in class when he/she is unsure of an idea or fact.
2. To remember something such as a name or math formula, exactly, word for word, get your child to make a rhyme or song from the information. Because humans are wired to remember music and its associations, setting facts to music can help children remember them.
3. If they aren’t already, help your child become interested in the subject they need to memorize. Check out books, stories, videos, movies or music on the subject. Or visit a museum or gallery. If your child gets interested in the material he/she is learning, he/she will surely remember it more easily.
4. Make sure the first thing that your child studies is the thing(s) he/she wants to remember the longest.
5. Whenever possible, encourage your child to use mental images to help him/her remember information. Suggest that your child close his/her eyes and get a picture in his/her mind of how the information looks in the textbook or notebook. Ask your child to visualize the notes on the page and see key words that he/she has underlined.
6. Have your child make his/her own examples and illustrations. When your child creates his/her own system for organization (using specific colors for headers, making numbered lists of facts to be memorized, putting information into charts and graphs, etc.) he or she will be more likely to remember the information.
7. Teach your child use a specific picture to represent an idea or concept. Another way is to create a mind map of various ideas and how they relate to one another.
8. Have your child make a list of key words to explain an idea or subject. Then, form associations among the items they need to memorize. The more distinct the associations, the easier they’ll be to remember.
9. Encourage your child to explain the information he/she is memorizing to a parent, sibling or friend without referring to notes. Make it a challenge to see how much he/she can remember. Then go back and study the information again and again to memorize it totally.
10. Your child should study notes by reading them through from start to finish, then focusing on the parts that he/she doesn’t know as completely.