Your Mind and How it Remembers You have one million, million brain cells in your brain. That looks like 1,000,000,000,000. Your brain is also split into two hemispheres which do different things.

People misspeak, when they say that they are left brain or right brain because they are both they just choose to exercise certain hemispheres more than the other. To use your brain better, you need to incorporate both the left half and the right half of your brain together.

The Psychology of Learning We remember: What is taught at the beginning of a lesson What is taught at the end of a lesson Things that we can easily make associations with Items that appeal to the five senses Anything outstanding or unique Things that are interesting to YOU

To really understand something beyond the literal you have to be able to conceptualize it. This requires multiple senses. If the human body holds one to two gallons of blood and 3000 English soldiers were murdered by Indians in “The Last of the Mohicans”, then the blood spilled would fill a 15 foot round pool that is four feet deep.

So…what do we need to do to make great notes? 1. Language: Words and Symbols 2. Numbers of all kinds 3. Logic: Sequence, Lists, Time, Associations 4. Rhythm and Rhymes 5. Color 6. Imagery : Visuals 7. Spatial Awareness: A whole picture So, why does this work? The answer is because it forces both parts of your brain to take a role in learning.

So, Why Should YOU Do This? It works! Leonardo Di Vinci did it. Pablo Picasso did it. It helps with creativity, thinking, and problem solving

Why Standardized Notes Don’t Work They obscure the key words with pages of less important words. They make it difficult to remember because they are monotonous. They waste time They fail to stimulate the brain in more than one area. Thus We lose our concentration We fail to make our own notes (since you’re just copying what I do) It kills the love of learning

What is a Mind Map The mind map is an expression of radiant thinking. For example: Write the word Happiness Now, write ten words that come to mind when you think of that one word. This is radiant thinking

What is a Mind Map

In order to work, it needs to follow these 4 principles. 1. The subject of attention is crystallized in a central image and word. 2. The main theme of the subject radiate from the central image as branches. 3. Branches comprise a key image or key word printed on an associated line. 4. The branches are connected to one another

Images work too! It is true that a picture is worth a thousand words. In a study done by a psychologist, Ralph Haber, Haber found that “recognition of pictures is essentially perfect”. He had people look at 2,560 pictures over the course of 7 hours and then had them see how many they could recall; what he found was that even when showing them an additional 1000 unrelated pictures, the participants had 85 to 90 recall. That is AMAZING!

Exercise Start with the image of the word home Have at least 4 branches come out of the picture Have two or three sub-branches come out of each main branch. You are not allowed to use any words! Example: You draw a picture of your bedroom for your main branch and then draw pictures of items or events in your room

Advantages of Mind Maps Time saved by noting only relevant words Time saved by reading only relevant words Concentration of real issues is enhanced Essential key words made more easily discernible. Essential key words are juxtaposed in time and space on the MM Clear associations are made between the key words. The brain will actually be stimulated by the multicolored and multidimensional MM MM allow an infinite # of associations This is how the brain actually learns.

Rules for Mind Maps 1. Use Emphasis: 1. Central image 2. Multiple images throughout 3. Multiple colors 4. 3 Dimensions for big ideas 5. Various sized words and images in relationship to importance

Rules for Mind Maps 2. Use associations 1. Use arrows when you want to make connections 2. Use colors 3. Even if they are absurd, if your mind went there, it’s a valid association 3. Be clear 1. Only one word per line 2. Print all words 3. Print key words on lines 4. Make line length equal to word length 5. Connect lines to other lines 6. Make central lines thicker 7. Make the boundaries of each branch “embrace” the theme of the branch 8. Make the images as clear as possible

Other Tips Add blank lines when you don’t know what to put there. Make some associations and come back when you figured out what you want to go there. Ask Questions! Review your mind maps from time to time. (this is the only way to keep them in mind)