Having trouble memorizing hard to learn information? Use acronym sentences!

This easy to use strategy is a great tool to help you in any class that you need to memorize information in.

How you use it:

When you have information that you need to memorize, first list out all of the words you need to memorize (and the order if there is a specific order).

Then highlight the first letter of each word you have.

Next create a sentence to help you recollect the words by using the letters highlighted.

*remember the more unusual the sentence the easier it will be to remember*

How I used it:

I used this strategy in my HTW 318 and WGS 203 classes. For HTW I had to memorize the stages of addiction. I first listed out all of my words: expiriment, misuse, abuse, dependency. I highlighted the first letter of each of the words to help me look at them better. I then thought about a sentence that would help me recall these words in this order during the exam. I cam up with the sentence Everyone Must Always Dance . Now during the exam when a question is asked about the stages of addiction I will have this sentence prepared and be able to recall my words.

I did this as well for my WGS 203 class. The words I were trying to memorize were poverty, population, advances, decline. This time there was no specific order. I again highlighted the first letter and created my sentence. I came up with Dance At Peoples Place. Although this is a weird sentence it will stick with me and help me remember these phrases.

Who this works for:

This is a great strategy for visual and kinesthetic learners. I am a kinesthetic learner so this tool helps me visualize and do something with my material. Making acronym sentence can only help one in memorizing hard to learn information and it is a fun and easy memorization strategy!

Fritter Finder

My Fritter Finder
I am blogging about the topic Fritter Finder today. I used this method this week to help me better organize my free time. I have a lot of breaks in my schedule throughout the day and so this method helped me get work done during those breaks so I would not have to stay up late at night doing it. I used the fritter finder to help me in all of my classes, especially WGS 201 and HTW 318.

For WGS 201 we have to do a lot of reading and write papers. To help me spread this out I chunked the task and then looked at the free time I had on my fritter finder to decide when to do the different parts. I spend some of the free hours I had in between classes Wednesday and after classes Thursday reading and then had the weekend to write a draft of my paper. The fritter finder gave me a visual representation of how much free time I really had so that I was able to sit down a know when I was going to actually do things.

I also used this strategy for HTW 318. This class has a lot of textbook readings due before class so I used the fritter finder to help me see when I was going to sit down and read them. I chunked the task as well for this class so I did not have to read a lot of dense material in one sitting. I did this around 4:00 tue-thursday because this was a good time for me to focus since it was usually after I had eaten lunch and had a little break from class. This helped me get the reading done a lot quicker and actually pay attention to it.

I think the fritter finder is a great strategy for visual learns and people with schedules that have big breaks at different times in the day, like me. It can work for any type of work because it just lets you know when a good time to do it is. It has already helped me so I think that I will continue to use it when I get a new schedule and classes, as well as throughout the remainder of this semester.