Forums IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ PhotoReading, Memory Optimizer Purpose for School Reading

I am PhotoReading a book for my Spanish class called El túnel. Its main significance is that the narrator demonstrates the author's existentialist point of view. We discuss what we have "read" in-class every few days, but a lot of kids in my class seem to have very poor Spanish reading comprehension, so end up doing plodding plot summaries while also mentioning thematic significance. Additionally, my teacher has given us short summaries of all but the first few chapters of the book!

There will be at a few (mostly) True/False questions on plot, and some of the questions are really tiny pesky little details.

I have PhotoRead this book a few times, and I've done 2 25 minute superreading/dipping sessions with it, but my conscious knowledge of the book is still fairly general and limited.

I know that the problem most people encounter with the PhotoReading system is not having a good, focused purpose, and I feel that this has been my case for many of my school reading assignments. I end up saying too many things, and I think my intention gets scattered! I want to enjoy the book, I want to comprehend it sufficiently to ace any upcoming quizzes/tests on it, and I want to contribute confidently and intelligently to in-class discussion (partially because on some level I'm afraid that I don't have the same level of comprehension as the other students in my class because of PhotoReading). I want to have my experience with this book improve my vocabulary and literary analysis skills.

So what is a focused, one-sentence purpose for PhotoReading this book so I can use it and put my doubts to rest?!

This also applies to reading chapters for my AP American class, so appreciate your suggestions!

Sorry if this post was painful to read! I just wanted to make my (somewhat scattered) intentions clear by elaborating as much as I could.

-CameronJ

Hey Cameron-
I took a Spanish course last term, but I'm not sure if it was advanced as yours. I think that photoreading Spanish more times than usual will really help because of the foreign language aspect.

Remember that 2-25 min sessions are probably not enough, thus the reason for your feeling of some lack of comprehension.

Try to get through the book 5-6 times (a lot since it is Spanish) and then if you need to rapid readd more slowly to make it gel, try that as well.

I know the feeling of frustration when you go to a class and everyone else has better comprehension because you photoread and they regular read. It used to happen to me, because I wouldn't activate completely - wanting to spend hardly any time on the reading. Just FORCE yourself to do enough activation layers and understand it well enough before going to class. Maybe make your activation passes shorter if they feel long? (and if it is a smaller book).

Also - are you mind mapping it? Mind map ANYTHING, even if you only have a vague idea of what you read. I cannot tell you how much this has helped me. It forces you to think about what you read and it really is important in the activation process.

If you activate properly and have a good mind map for class, you will be FAR ahead of the kids who are flipping through the book and are frantically trying to remember what they highlighted (although I don't know if highlighting is such a prolific phenemon in your classes - but kids can't get enough of it here, and I am so glad not to have to bother with it). Also remember that activation is about grasping of ideas - focus on that before you get bogged down with minute details like "Juan tiene un zapato que es rojo, tambien Juan tiene una camiseta que es blanco." (sorry had to throw that in there). But my point is - plot at first, then details.

Activation comes in layers - SOO key.

As far as your purpose, I see no problem really. It's very similar to my goals. Most of my course reading I photoread with the purpose, "I desire the information in this book/article for my purpose of understanding it well for class discussions, test and papers so that I can do well in the class" and if you want to state WHY you want to do well in the class say that as well, but it's implied for me.

Finally - I would really suggest you try PR-ing with non-school books. I had a mini "break-through" over spring break because I photoread and activated a few books which were interesting to me, NON-fiction, relatively shorts and no PRESSURE. I ended up "playing" with them and started to understand how easy the system is. The key is to practice PR-ing all the time. E-mails, these posts, the newspaper, class assmts, etc.

Have fun! I love Spanish and hope you enjoy the class for what it's worth.

When I did my PhotoReading experiment/test on a foreign language book. I spent a total of 3 hours activation (6 20 minute S/R & Dip with 5 minutes of mind mapping).

The first 2 passes were less than satisfying. I got a little but it seems like the book would take ages to finish. It was my 3rd activation pass where I felt that I was getting somewhere and it started to make sense.

The method is quite simple really. If it hasn't gelled yet do that one more activation pass. It might just take another 10 minutes of your 20 to 30 minute planned layer to get the whole thing to click. Doing an extra pass, two or three, doesn't mean you goofed it means this time you needed/wanted more information from the book. That's what learning is about chasing for the information you want/need and spending the time so that you get the most out of it.

As for purpose. I think you probably know what your purpose is; Know the plot so that you can correctly answer the questions in relation to the book and mind map those pesky little details. There is nothing against the rules to prevent you from allowing yourself to actually enjoy the story and understand the significance of it.

Alex

[This message has been edited by Alex K. Viefhaus (edited April 08, 2004).]