Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Post number two for today

Hello everyone again,
It is now Tuesday afternoon and my day hasn't gone as planned. I said in my last post that I was going to start with my EWU first off today to get it under way but I got a little over whelmed with it. So have popped it aside for now and will go back to it. I am thinking that maybe I just don't have my essay writing hat on today. Really I am probably being a big girl and I am letting it be bigger than it actually is. But anyway I think a fresh, clean mind tomorrow will give it a new lease of life.

So today instead I have begun my PSU and this weeks module is all about active reading and listening. I have written a little list of tips about how to read selectively and it is:
  • Write a list of what I need
  • Check reading lists provided
  • Check dating of material
  • Check authenticity
  • Look at and read back cover, contents list and indexes.
  • Keep word limits in mind.
According to the evaluation lists in Cottrell (2008, p. 116-118) I am not a very smart reader. And that is no surprise to me. I often find myself reading and reading information and not being able to take it in. So I really enjoyed this exercise to give me some strategies in this area. I will start breaking my reading down into smaller more manageable chunks (there is that strategy again for reading - it seems to keep popping up- breaking things down into more manageable chunks - I think it might be the key to life itself lol hehehehehe). And I will also start to summarise more. I already use high lighters and pencils for marking important points but I will go one step further and use more colours and different marking patterns for easy identification.

The next part of this module is the SQ3R strategy and this was a bit confronting to me because I have covered the SQ3R technique for EWU but I couldn't remember what it stood for - urgh how frustrating. Maybe I just don't have my brain attached today - or I left it somewhere hehe. Anyway I now remember (after looking it up) it stands for Survey, Question, Read, Recite and Review. This is a very valuable tool that I should keep in mind for all of my studies. I especially need to ask questions and try and answer them and review again and again. I often put my notes away - never to be seen again but I have really taken this on board as a way of remembering and linking to newer information that I gain. I already know that if I read my study materials again within 48 hours that they stick in the old gray matter better.

Ok well I am off to go cook some dinner for residents of Smithville oh how I hate cooking!!!!!! I think it will be chicken tonight.
 ok talk soon
x joy

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