Trebekistan Step 1 -- Pay Attention to the Obvious

{C-Span Nerd}
Self: Request unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks.
Chair: Without objection, so ordered.
{/C-Span Nerd}

Learning stuff is not that hard.

Really, it's not.

You may be studying for a test in school, trying to do well on a game show, or simply expanding your horizons. Whatever the reason, or even if you don't really know the reason, you want this information to get into your head and stay there until you need it later.

The good news is you have help.

Anytime there is communication, there are two parties at work -- the one listening, and the one talking. And in normal communication, both parties have the same goal, namely to transfer information from one person to another. We both want the same result. So the communicator -- the teacher, the author, the movie director, the artist, whoever they might be -- has a vested interest in your learning what they want you to know. So, there are certain steps they are going to take to make sure that you get what they want you to have.

Unless their name is J. J. Abrams, in which case all bets are off. "Lost" is, after all, an apt description of what it's like to try to understand what's happening on that island.

As a student then, if you know what the teacher is trying to do and how they are trying to do it, you can pick up on certain clues the teacher is giving you about what she wants you to know. A capable teacher knows how to make the most important parts of the lesson the easiest to learn, and how to put them in front of the student over and over and over again.

It may seem blatantly obvious that that which is most important is what is going to be most frequently emphasized. It's also human nature. Placing a higher priority on something calls it to mind more often. As teachers, we just can't help ourselves.

But that's the point. The important stuff is supposed to be the easiest, because later on when we talk about connections we'll see how to use the obvious to teach us what is harder to see. But that's Step 6. We're not there yet.

Students, then, can make themselves "smarter" simply by noticing what comes up most frequently. Pay attention not only to what is said, but how and how often. Put yourself in the teacher's shoes and try to figure out what is front and center in his mind. If you're willing to be on the receiving end of the communication and simply pay attention, even if you don't understand or follow 95% of what's being, you'll get what the teacher thinks is important.

As a student, if you will make your education a team effort and cooperate with those who are trying to teach you, you can be smarter than you think.

Introduction to Trebekistan

In 2005, Bob Harris wrote a groundbreaking book on learning theory called Prisoner of Trebekistan.

OK, the learning theory part is only a few chapters early on. The rest of the book is how he used what he learned on Jeopardy. And some of the language is . . . well . . . let's say not what you'd want repeated at your church-based co-op. Millard Fillmore's middle name is especially colorful.

But it's also especially memorable. And that's exactly the point.

The Trebekistan method teaches how the mind prioritizes information and how to use that knowledge to make what you want to remember memorable. It's useful for test-taking, studying, and especially quick recall in high-pressure situations.

There are eight steps to the process. I'll treat each step as a separate blog post as I have a chance to write them.