Edumacation

List of episodes that I have
14-44
51-56
58-81

1
Sheldrake- Morphic Resonance

2
carrots dont help your eyes.  its world war two propaganda.  John Cat Eyes Cunningham and his miraculous night vision

3
The McDonalds Shake story
Thickened with some kind of potato product, but it used to be much better for you
They couldn't legally say "milkshake"

The McDonalds Egg White story
According to the name, one would expect a single ingredient.   However it actually had 11 ingredients!

Super Dogs
Whale hunting, ass cancer sniffing

Diagnosing the Fat Albert Gang

Apples are from Afghanistan
They are mostly spitters, bad tasting apple trees.   Grafting is used to improve them
"Mankind has conquered the apple!"
Johnny appleseed was not at the Alamo

4
gross ingredients in cosmetics

5
Superstitions
        Practical origins and ridiculous origins
         Ladders- things could fall and hurt you,
         but also because a ladder was used to get Christ down from   the cross
         all criminals used to be forced to walk under a ladder before hanging

         Bless you after sneezing- a virus killed people very quickly, the pope ordered people to say bless you so peasants didn't die without a final blessing
        
       Unlucky 13?- It comes from Loki and Norse myth.  12 gods were invited but he snuck in

       The crazy fly voice makes a long appearance

6
JFred Muggs
 edumacorrections
are people more paranoid because of more surveillance?
one fifth of all the active cameras are in London (for traffic)
cocaine tooth powder
heroin was a cough remedy, invented by the Bayer company
hair of the dog, an ancient rabies cure
antimony, a hand me down pill that rockets through you

Inventing the British Guys

HOAXES
Rabbit woman
the hundredth monkey effect

Deja Vu
Talking shit about Carl Jung
Dolpihns keep lifelong social memories

7
Barney blockers- Beta blockers are a type of pill to help some to stay calm, McEl's dad was on them but it was incredibly difficult for him to exerciset
ESP vs Microexpressions
Kato and the OJ trial



10
Star wars knowledge.....
meowsic
"Sacres the bejabbers out of me" --- a reference to castrating bulls
Robot and Frank--- Robutt...



11
Robot bees
The southamerican catfish that all penises fear
The squids confusing weapon
Paul Shaffer, its raining fun
The Big bang might not have happened
Gender neutral in Germany
Testicle Size and fatherhood
Wide faces are evil
--------------------------------------------
12

Misheard lyrics are called "mondegreens"
Songs stuck in your head are called

Sci
        Toxoplasmosis- the fearless mice
        Sneezing into the crook of the arm
        Various other sneezing conditions
Why
        Bermuda Triangle Theories
        Sudden release of methane changes the density of water or air
                    Boats or planes would suddenly drop beneath the sea
         Rogue waves, poor Tom Green's fishing story
         AUTECH theory- a testing area for advanced technology

----------------------------------------------------
24
There are many other funny mineral names.   Vaginaton in particular.
Tyco Brahe had a gold nose and a pet moose who he got drunk

Sci
New part of the human body have been discovered, a ligament and a part of the cornea.
extra set of nostrils way in the back
class up your garbage
women can have ribs removed.  Apparently Cher is rumored to have it done.  Rachel Welsch did do it.

Fi
The Science of Batman
Physical Abilities from Scientific American
Strength and Conditioning (3-5 years), Martial Arts (8years), nonlethal MA (12-15 years)
training must constantly continue.......
cumulative effects of the beatings are wildly unreal....
ability to handle ten opponents--BS
The gadgets are almost all nonsense, but it is conceivable that in the future....

Why
Fart science.....   chicken and eggs have sulfur in them
Around a pint of gas a day is the personal average, 14 times a day
Could holding one in hurt you?   Almost certainly not.
(Changing the names of years once society loses faith in God
Imagine signing our checks "dick trickle")

Bye
3d food printer
The Mars Murder Conspiracy-- Driving a van off the side of a cliff.

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

Christmas Podcast (near 18)

1. Christ wasn't born on Christmas
2. The names of the wise men relate to the little drummer boy
3. Christmas was illegal in Boston for many years
4. The first congress deliberately worked on Christmas
5. Washington Irving wrote a book of Christmas stories which created the fervor in America.

------------------------------------------------------
Solos in the Silos 22

snopes quiz 48 minutes in
           RFIDs in students
          
---------------------------------------------------
number 30 swipers existential crisis
Taste can be manipulated.... around 50 minutes in.r  Ham tastes more salty when its cold.  Cold things cannot be tasted as distinctly as warm... cold beer vs warm beer and bitterness.   Drinks in a blue cup were rated as more refreshing than drinks in other colors.    The Blind Wine Taste Test.... One is expensive.  One is cheap.   Surprise they are the same.    We enjoy things more with great adjectives in front of them.   The discussion of savory is a highlight.

ruth's cris steakhouse






--------------------------------------------------------------------------
number 34  Garfield for President

The origins of nursery rhymes.   Humpy Dumpty (a cannon).  Mary Mary Quite Contrary (torturing opponents).   Scientists who experimented on themselves: Albert Hoffman, Jonas Salk, the speed guy.

-------------------------------------------------------------------
number 36- Manhattan mongoose

Invasive species, the starlin importation to America (Shakespeare related), the lionfish, the burmese python, the mongoose

Snopes quiz
      Et games really were in a landfill
---------------------------------------------------------

number 40
Dogs are both left pawed and right pawed.....
In humans it is 10 percent left handed.... dogs are even.

It is possible to tell if your dog is left or right handed....   the dominant paw is the one the dog will shake with...




number 46
The photographic memory dilemma
          One person had promise in one experiment.   The professor who ran the experiment married her and never had her tested again.
          Some people like Marylu Henner have great autobiographical memory.   They can't apply that to books.
          Noone has been apply to use photographic memory in court.
Jackie Gleason- amazing memory for scripts...



The Fear Strength Issue
          One prof says normals go from 60-72 percent of muscle capacity.
           Trained athletes go from 80-92 percent.   The professor was FSU kinesthesiology
           Under extreme fear/adrenaline people can access 100 percent of the potential....
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Edumacation 52
       metal is in our blood
       metal is in our bones
       "Head Game Hunters"

Grocery store marketing tricks
        type and tempo of music
        tile size variation
        narrow checkout isles to avoid putting away stuff
        large carts---more buying
        people only remember four prices---
                               milk, bread, eggs, bananas
        bread in paper bags vs plastic bags
        most items in the circular are not on sale....   people think they are
        10 for ten sale    89 cent tuna marked at 10 for 10 flew off the shelves

----------------
edu number 53
       Head games hunters
       do bees have emotions?   put a can of bees in a paint agitator
       do hamsters and mice love running on wheels--- the forest wheels experiment
       robotic cockroaches
       the joyless mouse without dopamine
       transportation fears are discussed

       
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
54 Guardyloo

That's what people used to say when they were emptying out champerpots in olden times.  




number 55
Smiling in pictures, when did it start and why did it start?
Mind Game Hunters- ideas for a show

Distractify article about timelines- Cleopatra was closer to the Iphone than the pyramids.

--------------------------------------------------
number 56 barbara hershey

regional accents are important because talking in that accent makes it easier to understand the speech in that area.

why do we call only one liquid a gas?

A pill that makes farts smell like chocolate

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

58
53 minutes    closing your eyes to improve memory
                     police bonding with witnesses...

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

number 59
Cognitive biases/Recovered memories/Facial Feedback Hypothesis/ Invisible Gorilla

--------------------------------------
Live at the Ice house 2

     miracle fruit and why sharks are safer that anything.   Vending machines kill 13 people per year.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ugh Math
              Fake drugs vs Real Drugs "Anafranil"   "Bacta"   The Harvey Rant
              at the moment of death human beings do not lose weight...
              Do ostriches put their heads in the sand out of fear?-   checking eggs

              Deck of Cards have infinite orders
              23 people have a 50 percent change of shared birthday, 75 people have 99 percent.

              Why do people like bubble wrap?

              Kevin's I am no doctor seuss rant.    Fatwa



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



Facts from unknown episodes

Fuck was first used in a hater poem from 1537
(which means that anyone who is a fan of dirty talk is also a fan of poetry)
Slang terms for lady parts.   He includes lots of them.  Here is a highlight
            AM- "The parenthesis"
            KS-  "They should have called it the exclamation point."
            AM- "As long as you don't call it the period."

            AM-"The goat milker"
            KS-  (isn't it obvious where he will go with this one)

Blowjob first appeared in print in the 1960s.   The source is that blow was a synonym for "come" for many years.


probably from 59
Bader-Meinhoff Phenomena
Hindsight Bias
Forer Effect-  (horoscope trickery)

Cracked Podcast Notes

Hostage negotiators---

The power of yes primed vs no primed questions
Two examples:  "Do you like money?"  (an obvious manipulation) vs "Do you like leaving money on the table?" (a less obvious one, that might seem obvious based on pride)

The problematic effect of why questions....
The helpful tactic of how and what questions







Movie Effects on the Real World

Harry Potter---- owl pets
Movie places-------place stereotypes
Foreign movie people------ people stereotypes

The CSI effect---- Juries are demanding lots more evidence than they used to
What a scientist says about science-------  automatically taken as true
Slipping on a banana peel--- Has this ever actually happened?   People often try to fake b. peel accidents

Why are Versaci and Armani suits so popular?   Partially because G. Gecko dressed like that.   His wardrobe was completely a random choice.

There is no such thing as an anti-war movie.   War looks exciting at all times.
Mario Puzo made up the term "Godfather"

--------------------------------------------------------
Colors-
Baker-Miller pink is connected to drunk tanks.   It pacifies us.
The color of pills has an unreasonable effect on us
Impulsive red.
Russian language study of blue


Podcast #22 Bad ideas that control the world
The Structure of English makes it easier to blame people.
The Peltzman Effect-- changes that decrease risk, cause humans to increase risky behavior.   Anti lock brakes let to more crashes.   
English Language's encoded tendency toward blame
episode 22 36 minutes in
Police Lineups Do not Work
           Describing a face increases witness confidence
           Confidence from the witness during testimony is one of the most important factor's for a jury.
           Having a witness look through a book with a large number of photos of felons is better.
                         (this relates to the racist "they all look the same to me" effect too)
Speedbumps Kill
          There are very few car accidents in neighborhoods at low speeds that hurt/kill people.
           There are a number of life or death medical issues that require ambulance rides.
           Ambulances must slow down to go over the bumps.    Multiplying out the number of medical emergencies which require ambulances, the number where a few minutes are the difference between life or death, and the actual amount an ambulance slows when hitting a speed bump, many many people die.

-----------------------------------------------------------
Real life conspiracies

The conspiracy to kill streetcars
The business plot (smedley butler)
Dropping 300000 mosquitos on Georgia
Releasing bacteria in cali


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

We have an addiction to competence

The peltzman effect- why safety devices don't work.   Humans have a comfortable level of danger.  When something gets safer, we push the envelope.

the flynn effect- people are getting smarter

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

The Health Podcast

Obesity is pretty incurable without surgery.  The relapse rate is higher than heroin.

The dairy industry led to government programs to encourage use.
The only time US obesity dipped was the mil rationing years
Taco Salad has "salad" in it
Bran Muffin has "Bran" in it (but it's cake)
Vitamin water has vitamins in it, but it also is worse than a soda

Dual product lines---
Healthy stuff, then you deserve the bad stuff we sell



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

White People and Their Racist Ideas

This American Life episode about teachers and expectations sounds awesome.  Look it up.
"School is the absolute worst place to learn about racism."
He interviews some minority podcasters from Denzel Washington is the Best Actor of All Time, The Read, and Is this Racist?

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Why You Have No Idea What You Look Like

Given a set of slightly altered photos of ourselves and one real one, most people fail to pick out their actual face.
Michael Jackson is a good example because he had the power and ability to do whatever he wanted.

Freud has mostly stupid ideas.   The one good idea that he had was the idea of therapy, having a total stranger hear the true details about your life and give a response.  

We are literally the worst at judging ourselves....

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cracked- tipping points
Predictions about the future
tequila
helium
chocolate/cocoa
seafood
car culture in america

------------------------------------------------------------------
The Memory Podcast-
Source Amnesia  (the need for works cited pages)
Elizabeth Loftus  (she is the source of my red van example)

-------------------------------------------------------------
Actor auteur theory

Tom Cruise runs in all his movies
Brad Pitt eats in all his movies
Tom Hanks pees in all his movies
            Gump, Castaway, The Money Pitt, A League of Their Own

Most superstar-focused movie posters show alarming common elements.
 ----------------------------------------------------


Notes from the Cracked De-Textbook

Cool language facts
Aborigine Super Scouts  pxii
Russians with a super sense of blue pxii

Crows hold a grudge p30
 Shakespeare was a sick dude  p44

Training montages fuck up our expectations

Caffeine, Going green, Magnets, Facial Expressions can turn you into a dick  p184
Most people survive plane crashes  p198
The Peltzman Effect, why safety improvements don't save lives p206

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

Unknown podcasts

Movies have a weirdly specific format
Certain things happen at 15 minutes, 60 minutes, et cetera....

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

Bad Ideas That Control the World

Police lineups
               lineups don't work
               photos of felons do
               describing the face increases witness conficence
               confidence from the witnesses during testimony is one of the most important factors for juries
Speed bumps
               the delays they cause kill lots of people each year.....    paramedics take too long to get to
                hospitals
                there are VERY few accidents in neighborhoods of a serious nature.   They are seen as much
                more tragic, so they get the priority


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

LBJ

He was a womanizer.  He taped everything.   He loved to talk about his balls.   He peed on a secret service agent.   He really, really wanted to be president

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

7 ways to get free stuff from companies just by lying (this is the title of the video about complaint letters)

Hypnosis Podcast

Dr Mike Mandel

youtube.com/user/drmikemandel

Bypass the critical faculty
Confusion as a doorway
embedded commands
stacking negatives
Analog marking (tone or nonverbal marking)
pattern interrupts
presuppositions (loaded questions)

Eps I've Watched and Here are my notes

Ep3-
Calcium turnings
5 water glasses
the "Acid test"

Ep4- Hidden object finding
the hellstrom method

ep5- explains the trick

ep6/7
anchoring states to throat clearing/forgetting
pattern interrupts
handshake inductions
double blind statements
     either/or presuppositions

Ep8-  Hypnogogic states
            Reality tunnels
            The power of intentino

Ep14- Hypnotic phenomena
            Start with traditional pain reduction methods and gradually wean clients

Ep15-  Conversational Hypnosis
             Combines priming an embedded commands
              Everyone is an "expert"
             The example of the forgetful waiter

Ep 20
Clear Your Mind
Imagine a Calm Backdrop
Transmit a thought
one shape
no.... now I want you to think of a second geometric shape
how many did a circle in a triangle?
how many a triangle in a circle?

Two digit number
2 odd numbers
less than 50
different digits
37

Master of Memory- Podcast Notes

Teaching Students to Create Mnemonics

Restrict the student options.    Memorize this number using this room as a memory palace.

"Name an object."
           vs
"Name a reptile"

For most people, the second one is a much easier question to respond to.   Why is that?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

158  Improving General Reading  Skills     (16, 39, 152 are other relevant episodes.)

Don't passively go over the text.
Reading for one of two reasons
1. pleasure or 2. information

For nonfiction books, create a one page mind map.

Speed reading is about  1.focus and 2.the motor skill of not going back up the page
Spreeder.com (speed reading site)
                                                                                                           


---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The mind remembers events better than ideas

Emotions are the glue that cements memory

To remember a thing, first put it in a memorable way.

Make it a visual image
   -include color, movement, and sound

----------------------------------------------
The suggested repetition schedule is
One day
Three days
One week
Two weeks
four weeks latere

--------------------------------
O'brian (this might be the podcast author or the book writer) says that association and two other factors are key.   Those other factors are imagination and sensation



Other Key Memory Resources
Repeat to Remember- Brain Rules Video
Remember to Repeat- Brain Rules Video
Ted Talk- Joshua Foer
Ron White- Superhumans
Dominic O'brian- One of the most popular books on memory
Derren Brown- Tricks of the Mind  (memory is the secret behind some of his tricks, i.e. the chess games)

Grammar Girl- Best Podcasts for Students

grammar girl is an online expert on grammar who gives free instructions and advice.

Her podcasts can be found at itunes or at quick and dirty tips.com.

Check out the podcasts with these numbers
400
399
397
395
390
388
381 participles and gerunds
380 gerunds
377 Royal We
371
367

A Way WIth Words

This podcast is all about words.   It has a focus on explaining the history of weird words and expressions.

Have you ever wondered why people describe giving up drinking as "going on the wagon"?

Relevant Episodes:
10-29-07   Dangerous Books
6-28-08 Paper to Pixels
8-11-08 Language Headlines (there are a number of eps with this title)
1-31-09  Riddled with riddles
6-6-09 Falling off the wagon
6-24-09 Serial Comma Usage
9-5-9 Texting, A Language Expert's Perspective
3-5-10 Write it Right (Ambrose Bierce)
1-22-10 Jack Lynch
4-24-10 Self Selected Reading
7-24-10 A Whole' Nother (Style Guide)
7-7-12 Forensic Linguists
10-27 12 FANBOYS and beginnings
9-17-13 Up Goer Five

Practice- Podcast Notes

What do we know about practice?

1. Ericcson's study of human expertise finds that the biggest contributor to human excellence is deliberate practice.

2. Csikszentmihalyi's study of flow says that we must attempt tasks of appropriate levels of difficulty in order to get "lost" in an activity, in order to get flow.

3. Practice must be deliberate. Practice must be toward a goal.

4. Practice must be regular. You can't cram for a physical fitness test.

5. Practice must have feedback.

6. You can practice too much.

7. Practice is not self-motivating.

MLA Podcast Notes

MLA Podcast

Like a secret handshake for English teachers.
Like showing up to a job interview in a business suit.

I. Who?


II. Why?
a. Accidental standard - ("proper English" was one dialect that became privileged)
b. Deliberate Standard - When websites became important, a standard needed to be developed.

III. Why? Audience Issues
a. students
b. English teachers

Podcast about Introductions- writing center

Hello. I’m Jeff Cook, one of the tutors who works at the writing center in the Center for Access and Transition, and I’m about to give you my suggestions for writing an introduction for a college-level paper. First, get out a piece of paper and a writing instrument. At the top, I want you to write Introduction in big letters. Now you are going to spend a minute writing everything you know about introductions. I’m asking you to do this because this is the way that all learning works. You will understand more of what I say and remember it longer if you do this. The more you do, the more you know, and the longer you remember. This is the way all reading and listening works. If you tried this trick with all your reading assignments, you would be amazed how much more you remember when the test comes around. Ok. So I want you to pause this podcast and write everything you can think of about introductions. I’m going to pause for ten seconds, then I’ll start my explanation. [Pause] Since most of you aren’t finished writing, pause the podcast now and restart it once you are finished. Did you do it? Good. If you didn’t, you are probably wasting your time listening to me talk. People who listen to talks without applying them are like people who go to the gym and don’t work out. While I talk, I want you to take notes on anything that seems unfamiliar or anything that seems really clear. In other words, don’t try to remember everything from this, try to learn something from what I have to say. [Pause] Ok. Now imagine that you are in a public place. Maybe it’s a restaurant. Maybe it’s a shopping mall. Maybe it’s a baseball game or a church service. Now at this place, a stranger walks up to you to start a conversation. Other than whether that stranger is good looking, ask yourself this: what are the things that I want the stranger to do, in order to pull me into that conversation? Well, the stranger would have to get my interest in the subject, give me a little background, and let me know where the conversation was going. It has to be in that order. If the stranger can’t get my interest, I will ignore him. If the stranger gives no background, I’ll be confused. If the stranger gives too much background, I’ll get impatient. Have you ever listened to someone who made no attempt to talk about what interests you? Have you ever listened to a story where someone felt they had to explain WAY too much in order to understand a story? For me, this happens when my girlfriend tells me stories about the people at her work. Suddenly, I need to know someone’s whole dating history to understand a prank involving her car. Have you ever listened to someone talk about something and had no idea why they just told you that? Those situations aren’t fun when you’re face to face with a person. They are even less fun when you are dealing with writing. So English teachers got together in our secret island lair many years ago and created a simple set of ideas that cover how to write introductions. Not everyone of us uses the exact same words to describe the ideas, but the ideas are always the same. An introduction, in its simplest explanation requires three things. A hook. Background information. (and almost always) A Thesis The hook is where the writer grabs the reader’s attention. In the opening few sentences, the writer must convince the reader that the topic is important. There are dozens of techniques for doing this, and we’ll be covering some of them in another podcast. The background information section is where the writer builds context for his/her audience. Knowing what to include and what is unnecessary is an art. Is the paper intended for an audience that knows the subject? Or is the paper intended to introduce the audience to the subject? For example, a narrative about one’s own life will require a lot of background information because few readers directly know what the author’s life is like. However, a paper written about the Cincinnati Bengals will probably find a very knowledgeable audience here in Cincinnati, Ohio. The third part of the introduction is the most important, the thesis statement. The thesis statement is a single sentence that introduces the controlling+ idea of a paper. Finding an appropriate thesis statement is very tricky, and for this reason, it will be covered in its own podcast. Those are the main three concepts that you need in a piece of writing. Those are the same three concepts that a stranger needs to use when starting a conversation. If you notice, these concepts start with something broad, and then they get more and more specific until the paragraph reaches the thesis statement. And that’s all you need to know about introductions. The unfortunate thing is that, you guessed it, knowing is only half the battle. In order to get any use out of this information, you will have to apply it to something. Take the piece of paper with your notes on it, and turn it over. Imagine that you have been asked to write a persuasive paper about a topic of your choice. Spend a few minutes and ask yourself how you would write the three main sections of the introduction. Ask yourself, how am I going to interest the reader in my subject? Ask yourself, what does the reader need to know about my subject in order to understand the basics? Ask yourself, what do I want to convince the reader of? I’m not suggesting you write an introduction right now. What I am saying is that you need to immediately use this information in order to remember it. So simply write down an answer to those three questions. The topic can be anything you want. Ask yourself, how am I going to interest the reader in my subject? Ask yourself, what does the reader need to know about my subject in order to understand the basics? Ask yourself, what do I want to convince the reader of? I’ll wait. [Pause] Have you got your answers written down or in your head? If so, you have just done the hardest part of writing an introduction. Review what you wrote down before this podcast and see if your understanding of introductions has changed at all during these few minutes. If you need more practice, try examining old papers of your own to see what has gone wrong with your introductions. There are also additional resources and examples in this folder for those of you who want them. You only get better at things that you practice. So, once you practice this, the introductions to your papers will be more entertaining, more informative, and more convincing. And, oh yeah, Your teachers will love you for it.

Introduction to Podcasts

Introduction to Podcasts

Hello. My name is Jeff Cook, and I’m one of the tutors that works in the Center for Access and Transition, a place I will often refer to as the CAT.. I tutor writing, and I spend most of my time in Sander Hall room 110, the tutoring center.
In this podcast, I’ll be explaining…. Well… podcasts. I’ll tell what they are, what they are not, and how to get the most out of them.
So lets begin.

What is a podcast?
A podcast is a downloadable sound file that can be played on a computer or an mp3 player. The podcasts will cover topics in writing and mathematics that students in the CAT courses struggle with.
Each of these podcasts will include an explanation of a concept, the reason why the concept is important, and some instructions for students to follow while they listen. After listening to a podcast, opportunities to practice applying this concept will be given.
Ok. To review. We are going to explain a thing, tell you why it’s important, then give you a chance to practice it.

Now lets talk about what a podcast isn’t.
A podcast is not a homework helper. We will not be covering how to do a specific paper for a specific teacher. We will be covering general ideas in writing and math.
A podcast isn’t a teacher. You cannot ask it questions or receive feedback from it. Learning something new is almost impossible without the chance to do that.
A podcast isn’t a substitute for a professor’s explanation. Since your professor gives the grades in your class, you would be crazy to skip class and think this will make up for what you lost. We might not explain a concept the same way as a professor.
Do you hear me? you’d be crazy to think that is a substitute for a professor’s explanation.
A podcast is a way to get reminded of what you already know. When a professor covers a subject and you can’t remember how they explained it, turn on a podcast.

A podcast is like getting golf tips from tiger woods.
A podcast is like getting swimming tips from Michael Phelps.
A podcast is like getting guitar playing tips from Eric Clapton.
A podcast is some advice from an expert. Just listening to it won’t help you much.
Just listening to a podcast is like watching tiger woods play. It won’t make you a better golfer. It’s like watching other people exercise. It won’t help you lose weight.
In order to get the most out of these. You will need to do three things. You will need to remind yourself of what you already know about the topic. You will need to take notes while the podcast plays, then you’ll need to try to apply the concept to your specific class.
In other words, this is a recipe. But you have to do the cooking.
With these podcasts, you will have all the basic information you need to succeed in the CAT writing and math courses. It will be available to you at anytime, from anywhere with internet access.
So look over the list of available podcasts. Ask yourself, “ is this a concept I know well?”
Then get to work.

Why Key Words Will Open Doors for You-Podcast

Why Key Words Will Open Doors for You-Podcast

Ok. Imagine your favorite song. If that's tough for you, imagine a song that has recently been stuck in your head. Now ask yourself, what's the first thing you think of? If you're like me... If you're like most people, you thought of the part that they repeat, whether you focused on the beat, the riff, or the lyrics. In the music business, they call that part of the song the chorus. In this podcast, I am going to take a lesson from the music business. I'm going to explain how to use key words in order to keep your audience focused on your message and to keep yourself focused on that message. First, however, I need to provide you with some warning. This podcast is based on my experience as a student, a writer, a reader, and a teacher. I am going to offer you some advice, much like Tiger Woods might offer advice about hitting a golf ball. However, like hitting a golf ball, advice isn't much good without practice. Learning to apply my advice to specific writing situations will take work, just like learning from this podcast will. I can tell you what to do and why to do it, but learning how to do it means considering how to apply this advice to your situation. You are a specific student with a unique language background, writing for a specific professor in a specific discipline on a specific topic. Listening to this is an investment. Learning from this requires a larger investment. When you apply it, you will need to think about all the specifics of your own writing situation. For the next few minutes while listening, you will need a pen, some paper, and a place where you can be distraction free. [Pause] Writing has its origins in speech making. To understand this, lets imagine what it was like in the past. In 500bc, in order to make a complicated point, it was impossible to write it down and publish it in the newspaper. All writing was done by hand, on fragile paper, and trying to write a hundred identical letters to pass around would have been dreadful. So the intelligent guys in 500bc decided they needed to gather a large group of people together and speak to them all at once about the topic. It would save time, money, and a whole lot of ink stains on togas. But speaking presented a second problem. People tend to jump around to different topics while they talk without noticing. A conversation about Michael Jordan quickly changes into a comparison between Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan. Or how about this example. When a couple has a fight, sometimes a fight over dirty dishes turns into a fight about sleeping too late, obnoxious friends, and watching too much sports. (I confess. I'm talking about myself here). When the couple fights, the phrase "dirty dishes" will stop appearing in the conversation rather quickly. When my girlfriend and I fight, after about the first minute, she will never bring up what started it again. She starts bringing up other things that the first thing reminds her of. I believe that my experience is typical. Topic jumping is common in conversation, but it makes it impossible to make any complicated point. This was a problem for our friends in togas, so they made an informal rule which is still followed. A speech should be about one thing. It can be a big, complicated thing, but it should be about one thing. So they invented a trick to keep themselves on topic. In English class, we call it a thesis, and they insisted that it be referred to at the beginning and the end of the speech. But that wasn't good enough. They found out that it was very hard to stay on topic for ten minutes if they only stated the topic in the first and last minute. So they came up with something called topic sentences. They insisted that every new point, every new section, begin with a statement of how that section relates to the main idea. And one crucial part of topic sentences is key words. (The other parts of topic sentences will be covered in later podcast.) Here is the part where you will want to get out the pen and write this down. Take, for example, the thesis that says, "Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time." The key word for that thesis is greatness. A paper with that thesis should never stray from the topic of greatness for for long, and an easy way to make sure of that is to make sure the word greatness comes up in many of the topic sentences. Notice. I didn't say every single topic sentence. It is perfectly appropriate to have parts of your paper provide background information, but most of it should stay focused around a few key words. If your thesis doesn't seem to have key words, search the instructor's assignment sheet. Instructors try to let you know what they want as clearly as they can. They choose their words carefully, so using those key words are a great idea. So let's imagine that you have picked a key word from your thesis or the assignment sheet. You work hard for a couple of hours, and you write a paper about Frankenstein, but it is very late. You aren't sure if you stayed on topic. In 30 seconds, you can use the find function on microsoft word for the exact words of your thesis. An on topic paper will find the key words throughout the paper and in several topic sentences. To summarize my first point. You have only two things to remember. Use the key words from your thesis in most of your paragraphs. Particularly be sure to use them in topic sentences. This small effort is a way to be certain you don't drift off-topic. Going off topic means failing an assignment. That, by itself, should be motivation enough to think about key words while writing. But there is another advantage. Key words will keep your audience from forgetting your topic. Speakers aren't the only people that have trouble staying on a topic. Your audience will also have trouble staying on topic. Many of them will internally react to what you say. They may be confused, agree, disagree, or simply be reminded of something else. They may think of other people who have written on this topic, or they might start to wonder what they are going to have for dinner that night. This drifting is as natural and switching topics is, and when they bring their attention back to your paper, the key word acts like a memory aid. Seeing the word "greatness," brings the attention of the audience back to your thesis, and helps them easily recall what you have already said about greatness. Seeing the word "excellence" does not have the same effect on the audience. When the reader can recall your main idea consistently throughout a paper, it creates the impression that the writing was well planned, and that the writer carefully thought out what was being said. Have you got that? Using a single, simple trick while writing will keep your paper from going off topic and give the impression that you have carefully planned your paper in advance. The first benefit is that you wont go off topic and fail your paper. The second benefit is that is makes your audience more likely to trust what you have to say. So take out a paper you are writing. Look at the thesis statement. Underline what the key concepts are. Then make sure you use those keys. Those keys will open the door to your readers trust, and they will keep you from getting locked into a terrible predicament. Basics: Use key words from your thesis or the assignment sheet to stay on topic and to keep your audience focused.