Hello, everyone.
This week's post is about Audiobook Sync, a website that provides 2 free audiobooks each week over the summer. They are offered in theme pairs, and you only have one week to download both of that week's books (new books come out each Thursday at 7am EST). The program runs for 15 weeks, which means 30 books altogether over the summer.
The purpose of this program is to get teens reading over the summer and to try to interest them in audiobooks. Listening along to books helps improve reading comprehension (according to one of the statistics on Audiobook Sync's blog by 76%, although that's oddly precise), and it's something you can do while doing other things. Another statistic cited on the blog is that audiobooks increase reading accuracy by 52%, which is something that rings true with me.
I became an audiobook fan a few years ago, after swearing I wouldn't ever enjoy them, and I really have them increase my reading accuracy. I didn't realize it when I was younger, but I had gotten into the habit of mindlessly skipping past any scenery descriptions since I often didn't understand them as a child and going straight to the dialog/action in any book. This made it very difficult to read most of the "classic books" that are required reading in high school and college, and I had no idea why I read often but couldn't read these books that my grades depended on (Heart of Darkness and The Awakening were two books that I just couldn't get through until I discovered audiobooks and retrained myself to read EVERYTHING).
Another plus of audiobooks is that you can do a lot of different things while listening to them. All those activities that don't really require thinking, just movement, I find are perfect for pairing with audiobooks. I use audiobooks when I'm cleaning that way I can take my mind off how much I dislike it. I use them when I'm playing mindless video games (I go through periods where I get addicted to games that don't require much thought, like Farmville 2 and Bejeweled and Bloons TD 5); audiobooks are perfect for letting me play those games without any guilt since I'm still doing something productive by listening to a book and since I'm not thinking while playing, I give the audiobook my mind's full attention. My last favorite is to listen to audiobooks while beading (although once again, any craft that doesn't occupy your mind's attention would work), since it's such a repetitive task that I find soothing and sometimes I can finish an entire book just by working on one bracelet or necklace.
Also I just love the narration of audiobooks, skilled actors who put voices to characters' dialog and thoughts. They add a new dimension to reading that really opens up new possibilities and gives life to the story in a way your imagination doesn't always supply. I think audiobooks are great for a diversified reading life, although they don't replace regular books in my life.
So try out Audiobook Sync and see if you find a new favorite book or a new go-to method for getting chores out of the way. Let me know what you think in the comment section.
Sunday, May 8, 2016
Sunday, May 1, 2016
Pomodoro Technique
Hello, I'll make today's post pretty short. It's about the Pomodoro Technique for staying on-task without getting distracted.
I first heard about it from the book A Mind for Numbers by Barbara Oakley, a book that is full of studying tips and hints along with science information about how the brain works in the learning process (the book's very good about using metaphors to portray the information simply rather than getting bogged down by the concepts like some books do). I highly recommend it.
Back to the Pomodoro, the idea is that you figure out what you need to accomplish, and then you set a timer for 25 minutes (either with a phone, your computer, or a simple kitchen timer which is what I use) and work until the timer goes off. If something tries to distract you, jot down the idea briefly on a sticky note or piece of paper and get back to work. The point is to spend those entire 25 minutes working without distractions, and then give yourself a 5 minute break to relax and re-energize yourself before getting back to work for another 25 minute interval. After 4 poms (pomodoros), it's recommended that you treat yourself to a 15 minute break instead of the 5 minute intervals. And if those times don't suit your needs, adjust them to fit your schedule.
It won't always work for motivating you, but it's worth trying. Here is a Wikipedia article with more information.
Best of luck learning, let me know what you've been up to and what techniques you recommend when learning or doing work.
Sunday, April 17, 2016
Coursera-- Positive Psychology Class
This week something I'm working on is a class on Coursera about Positive Psychology.
Coursera.org is a company that offers free lectures and even assignments from college professors across the world. They are a for-profit company, so they offer paid "verified certificates" and specializations to prove it's you taking the classes, but their core mission is to provide free access to learning materials to anyone who wants to put forth the effort.
The classes on Coursera vary in length, in-depth coverage, and how well they are put together, but I've learned some awesome things from them. Psychology is one of my favorite subjects, so I've taken Social Psychology, Behavioral Economics, Animal Behavior, and Learning How to Learn. Sometimes the classes are taught by top professors in their fields, and in the Social Psychology class the professor actually had a recorded Google Hangout with Philip Zimbardo (from the Stanford Prison Experiment) and a Google Hangout with the Dalai Lama that a handful of students from the course got to participate in. I'd recommend all of these courses if you happen to catch them while they are being offered.
A word of warning with Coursera and other learning websites I'll post here is that you really get out of any of these classes what you put into it. I've signed up for dozens of other classes through Coursera and other sites and haven't finished many because it's so easy to sign up and stay motivated for that first week and then never log on again. It's also too easy to be interested in everything, and dedicated to nothing.
Back to the Positive Psychology class, it's taught by Barbara Fredrickson who has written two books on Positive Psychology (Love 2.0 and Positivity). I watched the lectures and read both of her books last year and I credit them to helping me make the changes I needed to pull myself out of a depression and becoming a happier person. This year, I'm retaking the course with a family member who is going through a hard time and I'm making more of a point to do the projects.
One of the cool suggestions from the Positive Psychology class is the idea to create Positivity Portfolios that you keep updated and fresh as sources to pull you out of a funk when you feel one coming on. Lately I've been trying to cultivate a Reading List, Music List, and a Dvd/Movie List of things that make me happy that I can turn to if... when life gets tough again. Maybe someday I'll even add an on-going list here on my blog if anyone's interested.
If you check out Positive Psychology, let me know what you think of it. And if you find another course you'd recommend, be sure to tell me and there's a good chance I'll take it.
Coursera.org is a company that offers free lectures and even assignments from college professors across the world. They are a for-profit company, so they offer paid "verified certificates" and specializations to prove it's you taking the classes, but their core mission is to provide free access to learning materials to anyone who wants to put forth the effort.
The classes on Coursera vary in length, in-depth coverage, and how well they are put together, but I've learned some awesome things from them. Psychology is one of my favorite subjects, so I've taken Social Psychology, Behavioral Economics, Animal Behavior, and Learning How to Learn. Sometimes the classes are taught by top professors in their fields, and in the Social Psychology class the professor actually had a recorded Google Hangout with Philip Zimbardo (from the Stanford Prison Experiment) and a Google Hangout with the Dalai Lama that a handful of students from the course got to participate in. I'd recommend all of these courses if you happen to catch them while they are being offered.
A word of warning with Coursera and other learning websites I'll post here is that you really get out of any of these classes what you put into it. I've signed up for dozens of other classes through Coursera and other sites and haven't finished many because it's so easy to sign up and stay motivated for that first week and then never log on again. It's also too easy to be interested in everything, and dedicated to nothing.
Back to the Positive Psychology class, it's taught by Barbara Fredrickson who has written two books on Positive Psychology (Love 2.0 and Positivity). I watched the lectures and read both of her books last year and I credit them to helping me make the changes I needed to pull myself out of a depression and becoming a happier person. This year, I'm retaking the course with a family member who is going through a hard time and I'm making more of a point to do the projects.
One of the cool suggestions from the Positive Psychology class is the idea to create Positivity Portfolios that you keep updated and fresh as sources to pull you out of a funk when you feel one coming on. Lately I've been trying to cultivate a Reading List, Music List, and a Dvd/Movie List of things that make me happy that I can turn to if... when life gets tough again. Maybe someday I'll even add an on-going list here on my blog if anyone's interested.
If you check out Positive Psychology, let me know what you think of it. And if you find another course you'd recommend, be sure to tell me and there's a good chance I'll take it.
Sunday, April 10, 2016
TypingClub
My most recent project has been to increase my typing speed. I was clocking in around 40-50wpm (words per minute), but I wanted to increase it to at least 75 or maybe even 100 if possible. I like to write stories, so increasing my wpm would ideally help me get my ideas out of my brain and into the computer faster.
Back when I was in high school, I took an online class that required me to practice touch typing instead of the hunt & peck method I had always used. The work was due on Saturdays, and it would usually require a few lessons a week. Since I was adjusting to a whole new way of typing, those few lessons could take up to 12 hours for me to get a "pass-able" score... and being ever the procrastinator, that's how I spent a large portion of my Saturdays every week until I finished with the class. I wanted to throw my computer out the window. Why was I being required to do this when it made me slower? In the early stages, my typing decreased to 10-15wpm, hence my long struggle to pass the lessons. By the time I finished the course, my typing had only increased to 30-40.
My hands had gotten the basics down and move pretty quick on the keyboard, but for certain uncommon letters and symbols such as a comma and question mark I still had to do a quick scan of the keyboard to use.
Then I discovered TypingClub.com, and now I'm finally able to make that high school teacher proud of my typing skills. This is a FREE website (most of the resources I talk about on this blog will be free, since I know the desire to learn doesn't always come with an endless pocketbook to support that desire). They do have a paid model for school districts/teachers, but the average user won't have to worry about that. Speaking of which, if you are a teacher, they offer a way to monitor your classes' progress on the website, you can read more about it HERE.
TypingClub is set up to teach anyone to touch type, in 100 lessons. It starts with the very basics and does a great job slowly introducing you to each new hand movement. The interface is very simple and effective; it shows you which lessons teach what so you can always return to them if you need more practice on specific things (for me it was those stubborn commas).
When I started this up, I expected to grudgingly practice just like I had back in high school and hate it every step of the way, but the stats and graphs they show on each lesson and overall really help encourage me. There are some lessons when my speed goes down to 30-40, and other lessons when I almost manage 70, but I'm able to keep working for progress rather than get discouraged by being so slow at times. I'm really enjoying it, and even though I only commit to 30 minutes a day, I often push myself a bit harder by saying I'll quit "after I get this level perfect" or "once I beat my best time" or "once I reach the next set of 5 lessons".
Some notes: I've only worked on this for 5 days so far (nearly 3 hours typing time), and I'm only at lesson 60. I will update you when I finish all 100 lessons, especially since lessons 70-75 (numbers) and 91-100 (symbols) will be completely new to me. Also, as I've been doing each lesson, since I'm already somewhat experienced, to make it more challenging I practice the lesson until I do it without any mistakes (red are for complete mistakes, orange for fixed mistakes, and green for perfect). Other ways I will practice will be to restart lessons 1-60 from the beginning and either try to beat my fastest time or just practice any weak spots I notice over and over again.
So what's your average wpm time? Take the test at TypingTest.com and share your results. Here's mine currently, and I'll share again once I've finished all 100 lessons on TypingClub.
Back when I was in high school, I took an online class that required me to practice touch typing instead of the hunt & peck method I had always used. The work was due on Saturdays, and it would usually require a few lessons a week. Since I was adjusting to a whole new way of typing, those few lessons could take up to 12 hours for me to get a "pass-able" score... and being ever the procrastinator, that's how I spent a large portion of my Saturdays every week until I finished with the class. I wanted to throw my computer out the window. Why was I being required to do this when it made me slower? In the early stages, my typing decreased to 10-15wpm, hence my long struggle to pass the lessons. By the time I finished the course, my typing had only increased to 30-40.
My hands had gotten the basics down and move pretty quick on the keyboard, but for certain uncommon letters and symbols such as a comma and question mark I still had to do a quick scan of the keyboard to use.
Then I discovered TypingClub.com, and now I'm finally able to make that high school teacher proud of my typing skills. This is a FREE website (most of the resources I talk about on this blog will be free, since I know the desire to learn doesn't always come with an endless pocketbook to support that desire). They do have a paid model for school districts/teachers, but the average user won't have to worry about that. Speaking of which, if you are a teacher, they offer a way to monitor your classes' progress on the website, you can read more about it HERE.
TypingClub is set up to teach anyone to touch type, in 100 lessons. It starts with the very basics and does a great job slowly introducing you to each new hand movement. The interface is very simple and effective; it shows you which lessons teach what so you can always return to them if you need more practice on specific things (for me it was those stubborn commas).
When I started this up, I expected to grudgingly practice just like I had back in high school and hate it every step of the way, but the stats and graphs they show on each lesson and overall really help encourage me. There are some lessons when my speed goes down to 30-40, and other lessons when I almost manage 70, but I'm able to keep working for progress rather than get discouraged by being so slow at times. I'm really enjoying it, and even though I only commit to 30 minutes a day, I often push myself a bit harder by saying I'll quit "after I get this level perfect" or "once I beat my best time" or "once I reach the next set of 5 lessons".
Some notes: I've only worked on this for 5 days so far (nearly 3 hours typing time), and I'm only at lesson 60. I will update you when I finish all 100 lessons, especially since lessons 70-75 (numbers) and 91-100 (symbols) will be completely new to me. Also, as I've been doing each lesson, since I'm already somewhat experienced, to make it more challenging I practice the lesson until I do it without any mistakes (red are for complete mistakes, orange for fixed mistakes, and green for perfect). Other ways I will practice will be to restart lessons 1-60 from the beginning and either try to beat my fastest time or just practice any weak spots I notice over and over again.
So what's your average wpm time? Take the test at TypingTest.com and share your results. Here's mine currently, and I'll share again once I've finished all 100 lessons on TypingClub.
Thursday, April 7, 2016
Hello
Hello, my name's Becca and I'm going to try this blogging thing. I've got a lot of random information about learning resources and I would love to share it, so I figure I'll blog about it and maybe my information will help someone out there in the world.
Please forgive the messy look, I will work on that as I go along. I've never really experimented with blogs, and the only reason I'm trying now is due to learning the Bullet Journal system and searching for information on it from blogs.
So, what is this blog? To be honest, I'm not sure yet. I plan to write a post about each of the different websites I frequent and things that have been useful to me, and I hope it'll be useful to someone. I also want to use it as an accountability tracker since I haven't been very disciplined in the past. I'd love to someday build a community of people learning together. If you're reading this, I encourage you to go on an adventure and learn with me. Until then, I'll just pretend that someone's reading this.
I want to build a better life, even though I have no idea how, so I'll just take one step at a time and see where life takes me. I hope to build this blog into a great learning resource for others.
Please forgive the messy look, I will work on that as I go along. I've never really experimented with blogs, and the only reason I'm trying now is due to learning the Bullet Journal system and searching for information on it from blogs.
So, what is this blog? To be honest, I'm not sure yet. I plan to write a post about each of the different websites I frequent and things that have been useful to me, and I hope it'll be useful to someone. I also want to use it as an accountability tracker since I haven't been very disciplined in the past. I'd love to someday build a community of people learning together. If you're reading this, I encourage you to go on an adventure and learn with me. Until then, I'll just pretend that someone's reading this.
I want to build a better life, even though I have no idea how, so I'll just take one step at a time and see where life takes me. I hope to build this blog into a great learning resource for others.
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