Our Theft Proof Valuable

The other day my daughter IM'd me she was having trouble with homework. She is studying auto mechanics and I was an Electric Vehicle Mechanic so I was sure I could help but told her to send me the question. I texted back a single letter and Her replay. Now it seems so obvious how could I have missed it. I told her of the answers it was not the only correct one but the only which would always be correct, a bit of a "trick" question. She followed that up with how do you and your brothers learn so fast and so easily?

I answered that part of it was just genetic but also that part of it was a number of skills. Hundreds of tricks that over the years we aquired that make learning something new easier. Study skills if you will plus something my Grandmother drilled into us. What she drilled into us is what will be the most valuable part of this article. It may be the most valuable thing I have ever learned.

What she said was this. Everything you have can be taken from you. You can lose money, your job, your home your possession even your country and your family. There is however one thing that once you have it only God can take it away. That is your Education. Not the piece of parchment you get as a degree, diploman or certificate. The material you walk out of the classroom with a new skill, talent or bit of knowelege. Once you have mastered this it is yours for life unless you suffer an illness or injury which removes your memory.

In church I was once appointed "Teacher Development Director" the job was to teach others how to teach. It turned out all of my "students" were school teachers. The first week they were all complaining to the Bishop ( before the first lesson ) why is he the one teaching this he is a Soldier we are all professional teachers. Two weeks later I was being asked in class why aren't we taught this in teachers college, we have been using it at school and it works so much better than what we were taught.

I asked a question. "What is the worst consequence if one of your students doesn't master the material you teach in class?" Most answered he or she repeats the year.

I replied, in the Armed Forces if your student does absolutely know what you are there to teach him he will most likely die as a result and likely take others with him. If it is some one under my command very likely I and the rest of my men will be the ones taken with him.

It was a new way of looking at the importance of teaching to them. Until that moment none of them had thought of teaching and failing to do it well could have any consequence for them beyond job loss and with teacher's union here that was unlikely.

I went on you have degrees in teaching. Part of training is in what the Military calls Method of Instruction. I am certified to instruct Rifle, Pistol, Sub Machine Gun, Light Machine Gun, Medium Machine Gun, Rocket Lanchers, Hand Grenades and use of Explosives. I am also qualifed to run the Ranges for all of those. Plus I taught Mountian Climbing and Glacier travel in the Rockies for the Army. Not that the other training we do is not dangerous just these are obviously dangerous. They have permanent physical consequences if someone fails to learn and I and others like me will not pass a person who has not mastered those skills beyond a doubt.

I then went on, you will be teaching spirtual things here in chruch. If you fail to get through to a student the consequences are not physical but eternal. Think about it. From then on I had a very attentive class who it turned out all individually went and appoligized to the Bishop about complaining for his calling me and telling him God must have inspired him.

So the rest of this article is in response to my Daughter's question. Can you tell me some of those tricks that make learning easier.

1st and foremost is motivation. Imagine a chasm with no bridge. You are on one side of it the knowelge you need is on the other. Motivation is what causes you to get across that chasm no matter the cost. In each case the needed motivation is different. Find the right motivation you yourself need and I promise you will find a way to cross.

That is first motivate yourself. Find you buttons and push them and push them hard. Until you have done that all the learning tricks in the world won't help.

That said I will bring up some of those tricks. Some I found by accident some were taught by the few good teachers I was lucky enough to have. The Army taught me a few. Some came from College professors and some the Lord taught me the hard way.

1. I high school we were issued our texts a couple weeks before the school year started. In college I bought them right after enrolling and getting a text list. With the time between getting the texts and the start of school and being insatiably curious by nature I had always read all of the texts through before school started. ( Math was an exception but eventually I learned to force myself though those too ). It gave me a huge edge in class everything was review.

2. A high school chemistry teacher taught me the next one. Ask the instructor what the next few lessons are going to be. Use the text to teach yourself them before the class. Try to stay 2 or 3 lessons ahead. When you do take the class it is a mix of review and filling in any bits you may have missed and you will know what to ask in order to make sure those bits get filled in. Also in the event you get ill and miss a few classes it is easier to catch up.

3. Review the material after class making sure the bits you needed filled in are filled in and stay filled in.

4. Use memory aids. Little sayings to help you remember. In Trigonometry most of you were probably taught SOHCAHTOA for Sine Opposite over hypotenuse, Cosine Adjacent over hypotenuse Tangent opposite over adjacent. Until I brought it up how many of you remembered that? It is too weird too hard to remember. I learnt it this way. We think Sine Cos Tan anyway so that order is not a problem. Use this line. "Only Hippies Are Happy On Acid". Now it is Sine only hippies O/H Cosine A/H Tan O/A. Try to forget that one I haven't in over 35 years.

In other words make sure the memory devices you use work. The dumber and more rediculous you can make them the more likely they are to work.

5. Have more than set of you texts. This can be a matter of cost but with copiers today you may only need to copy relevant passages. Keep a set at home one at school and a spare you can travel with. Until you finish your courses this third set should never be out of reach.

6. I never made notes durning class. If I was making notes I wasn't paying attention to the instructor. I made them right after class or right after school. Went quickly over them again in the morning and before the next class. ( this technique may not work for all of you )

7. Flash cards. Don't buy them make your own or when you do buy them make sure they are relevant. Transparent language has a free language learning download called BYKI short for Before you know it. It not only is it good for languages but you can create your own cards. For my LDS friends they even have available for download a set on Presidents of the Church from Joseph Smith on. Also periodic table for chemistry and others plus the big thing is you can make you own. Then review them on the computer or print them out and make them portable which is the whole point of flash cards. Study anywhere.

8. If your school from public to university has a study skills workshop available take it. Take it at least once a year. Read books on study skills. The ones I covered here are ones I use that I think everyone knows of.

Good luck and may all of you take with you the ability to increase that theft proof treasure. A better Education.