MarvinByrd.com

Teachers Are Leaders

A picture is worth a thousand words

By

A picture is worth 1000 words

In September of 1940, Archaeologists discovered a series of paintings on the wall of caves located in the Southwestern portion of France. They were estimated to be up to 20, 000 years old. Many of these paintings depict animals that were present at the time. There are also human figures as well as images that can’t be explained. What was amazing about this discovery is how clear the images were. They were filled with numerous colors and clarity. The obvious question is: Why did they do this? The answer is simple. Although they weren’t able to communicate verbally with a well defined language, they still desired to tell a story. They were aware that one day, they would no longer be on this earth and so they created these paintings to tell their story. Before there were textbooks, there were pictures. A picture is worth a thousand words.

Painting is just another way of keeping a diary — Pablo Picasso

a picture is worth a 1000 wordsI encourage you to think about this if you are looking for a new way to help you study. The traditional flash cards system works for many people, however it can help to change it up by using a new technique. The paintings on the walls of these caves were left behind to remind people of the the past so that it won’t be forgotten. Essentially, that is what you are trying to do when you study for a test. You want to be able to remember what you studied in the past.

Here is how you can do this:

The picture below is of Neville Chamberlain (Prime Minister of Great Britain) after he came from meeting with Adolf Hitler (Chancellor of Germany). His mission was to prevent war between his country and Germany. He did this by allowing Hitler to take only a portion of a country that didn’t belong to Germany. This portion was called The Sudetenland. Chamberlain’s strategy was called appeasement because he gave Hitler something in hopes that Hitler would be finished taking over other countries. It did not work. Hitler broke the agreement and took all of Czechoslovakia. We can use this picture to remember and recall the whole story.

chamberlain

His necktie and shirt collar stick out —-> Neck —> Neville

He just came back from Berlin—–>berlain —-> Chamberlain

His eyes are looking at the paper because it represents peace—–>pease—-> Appeasement

Appeasement didn’t work —–> Never Neville

It Can Be Done

Marvin Byrd (c/o 98)

More Study Tips

By

I have mentioned before that over $10,000 is spent each year to educate each public school student per year. Total, the US spends over $500 billion dollars a year to run public schools. Therefore, you can understand that people around the country including the President are very concerned with the result of their investment. Think of this the next time you decide to procrastinate studying for your exams.

I came across an interesting blog post that I would like to share with you. It is titled, “5 Ways Students Can Improve Study Habits”. I love this title because studying must be an habitual act. There should be a time of the day when you know you are doing nothing but studying. Your study time should be very predictable. Here are the two tips that I really like:

1.  Break big jobs into little jobs. 

Break down big jobs into smaller tasks that are more manageable, to lessen the chances of feeling overwhelmed. Accomplish one task before moving on to the next.
Arrange time and work space to keep interruptions at a minimum, and take breaks when you need them.

2.  Eliminate distractions — Focus. 

Arrange time and work space to keep interruptions at a minimum, and take breaks when you need them.

You can find the full blog post by clicking here.
MB (c/o 98)

Prime Time!

By

Prime TimeIn the Television business, it is well known that there is a time in the evening (Monday-Friday) when the number of people watching TV at one time is at its highest. That means a lot of people are watching TV. This makes sense because most people are off from work and at home settling down. As a result, advertisers pay a great deal of money to run their commercials during this time. The ratings (How many people are watching) of each show makes a huge difference. High ratings means that the show is liked by many and advertisers will pay more to run commercials during the show. Low ratings means that the show will eventually be cancelled because advertisers realize that there aren’t enough eyeballs watching their commercials during the show. This time in the evening is so important that it is called Prime Time!

The hours between 3 and 7 is Prime Time for many middle/high school students to complete their homework and study. What you do with that time matters. Advertisers take that time very seriously and they are sure to pay close attention to the ratings. Just like advertisers monitor Prime Time, you should be monitoring how you spend that time between the hours of 3 and 7. Time spent on working, organizing, and studying yields the “high ratings” that you are looking for. High ratings in this case equal a GPA of 3.0 and above. Time spent achieving that numerical goal is time well spent. Time spent sleeping, texting, and playing yields “low ratings.” I’m not saying that you shouldn’t do these things, but you need to make sure you balance your time so that you are not sacrificing your grades, future, and potential for short term satisfaction.

Marvin Byrd (c/o 98)

It Can Be Done

How your brain is like a computer

By

I am a true believe in the importance of studying. Throughout many of my posts, I will encourage you to study appropriately. I go into great detail about how to study in my new book which is now on sale. One of the components of studying involves reflection. To reflect is to think, ponder, or meditate on something. Notice that reflection doesn’t necessarily require that you do something with your hands. Many students believe that they have studied by simply doing a worksheet or writing down some definitions that they can’t recall. Many students just want the grade without the knowledge. However, on the day of the test, you have to reflect the information by “mirroring” that information. Your ability to mirror the information on test day is based upon how much reflection you have done throughout the unit. On the day of the test, YOU are the information.
Your brain works much like a computer memory chip. Some computers have a lot of memory and some don’t. Memory allows a computer to store more information and access it quickly. Computers with a lot of memory can withstand a lot of programs and Internet browser windows open at the same time. On the other hand, computers with little memory can’t.When you study by reflecting on the information, you are increasing your ability to store and recall information in your brilliant mind. So think about this the next time your teacher asks you to study. Studying does work if you do it right.

MB (c/o 98)

It Can Be Done

 
Member Section