Improving My Feedback Focus

The first technique I tried was reading out loud. This definitely helped to improve my focus. I often have trouble staying focused. Especially when I'm reading, I will often notice my mind drifting. Whenever I am reading a textbook and notice that I am not paying attention, I will usually go back and re-read that portion out loud. Reading aloud slows me down a lot, so it isn't something that I will use all the time. But if I need to be re-focused, this is a good tool to get my mind back into what I'm reading.

Next, I tried the copy-and-delete strategy. I loved this strategy! It was very similar to taking notes, but I liked the organization of this method a lot better than typical notes. What I ended up with was similar to a summary. This would be very helpful for a lot of my classes.

Lastly, I tried setting a timer and spending 10 minutes reading a story. This method really surprised me because I read the story a lot faster than I thought I would. This made me realize that I was rushing through it and not taking enough time to really appreciate the story. I think that setting a timer is great for things that I really need to make myself slow down on, especially this class! I think that this strategy will help me give a lot better feedback to others' stories.

-------------

Overall, I think that the copy-and-delete strategy was my favorite. This strategy would be especially helpful for longer readings. Reading out loud is really only helpful for me with shorter readings or just to get my mind re-focused. I think that the timed reading will be especially helpful for this class, but I'm not sure when else I will use it. I think that all three strategies are very helpful, but all in different contexts!

(This rabbit seems very focused...he's probably reading out loud. Wikimedia)