On Remembering What We Read

A common despair among students in my online education courses is that the amount of reading is TOO MUCH!

Dr. Bill Klemm, professor Neu­ro­science at Texas A&M Uni­ver­sity Texas A&M University addresses this stressor in his article, “8 Tips To Remember What You Read”

Dr. Klemm explains, “Despite tele­vi­sion, cell phones, and Web “twit­ter,” tra­di­tional read­ing is still an impor­tant skill. Whether it is school text­books, tech man­u­als at work, or reg­u­lar books, peo­ple still read, though not as much as they used to. One rea­son that many peo­ple don’t read much is that they don’t read well. For them, it is slow, hard work and they don’t remem­ber as much as they should. Stu­dents, for example,may have to read some­thing sev­eral times before they under­stand and remem­ber what they read.”

Dr. Klemm advises middle-school teach­ers (see http://peer.tamu.edu) and these educators report that “many stu­dents are 2–3 years behind grade level in read­ing pro­fi­ciency.” All forms of media— tele­vi­sion, cell phones, and the Internet, lack of family example and reading emphasis, and ineffective reading programs have been blamed for the decline in reading. Dr. Klemm predicts that the decline of reading fluency will “appar­ently get worse if we don’t empha­size and improve read­ing instruction.”

Dr. Klemm sum­ma­rizes 8 practical ideas to help with both reading speed and comprehension. Click this link to read them.
http://sharpbrains.com/blog/2009/05/14/8-tips-to-remember-what-you-read/

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