Mnemonics
I have had success with challenging the class to invent a new mnemonic. It's fun and by the time we're done they won't forget it.
I am a big fan of Mnemonics,e.g.
My Dear Aunt Sally(Multiply,Divide,Add,Subtract)in simplifying an algebraic expression.
Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally(Parentheses,Exponent,Multiply,Divide,Add,Subtract)
Linda,
If you have a mnemonics content you and your students are going to have a lot of fun and you will be surprised at how effective the mnemonics are in getting students to retain keep terms or concepts.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I haven't used mnemonics but it sounds fun and I like the idea of teams and prizes. We play games in class so the students like these new things to try.
Douglas,
Great point about the value of mnemonics. You are right about helping you to remember long after you have learned the mnemonic. I still remember some of my elementary school mnemonics and that has been a really long long time ago.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Mnemonics is a great way to retain information, especially for important information. I've found it very beneficial for short term memory, but then amazingly it stays with you long after you think it would be forgotten.
Mark,
Like your style. By combining a mnemonic with food you are really sealing in the minds of your students the steps they need to work through. Great combination and nothing wrong with a little bribery in the learning process.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Yes, for the OSI model in computing there is the adage:
Please Do Not Throw Sausage Pizza Away
It's a good one, because most students are always hungry and as an added trick to help remember it. I bring in a few Sausage Pizzas to eat after class.
Ok...it's a bribe, but it works not just being a memory trigger, but a stomach one as well.
Mary,
My students have a lot of fun with mnemonics because I let them make up a lot of them themselves. Very interesting what the students come up with but they work that is for sure.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Mnemonics are great for helping the students to remember the material. I have had success in using them.
Nisa,
Mnemonics are a valuable part of my learning process as well. They are fun to create and once we learn one it sticks with us. My students really have fun in using them to learn all of the technical terms required in our field. Many of them don't realize just how much they have learned until they use the mnemonics on the quizzes or out in the workplace.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I teach Anatomy and Physiology.A lot of material to memorize.Mneumonics make learning process easier.Students enjoy using it.It works for me too.
I have found that if students don't use the mnemonics frequently they remember the mnemonic but forget the meaning.
LAWRENCE,
Your comments made me smile because I can only imagine some of the mnemonics that were developed. At least learned something from this effort and that is it doesn't work in your class. This will let you be creative and come up with a method that will help them get the French terms down.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
In the Culinary Arts we once tried usuing Acronyms to remember French culinary terms, However, the outcomes were more comical tahn effective.
Donna,
I think you will like the results you get if you have your students create their own mnemonics. My students love doing them and they come up with some very creative ones to say the least.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I like this very much. I have not had my students invent their own, but I will surely that!
Ramon,
You use of the mnemonic made me smile as I to am a big fan and user of mnemonics personally as well as in my classes. They have saved me on many an occasion over the years.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Shantana,
We have contests for mnemonics in my courses and I find the students are really creative. They come up with some very unusual ones that we all can remember long after the course is over.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
On Old Olympus Towering Tops A Finn And German Viewed Some Hops, for the 12 Cranial Nerves, and I have never forgotten them eversince. Using Mnemonics make learning series of steps easier and more fun for students. I sometimes include diagrams or illustrations with the words.
