Newsletter 34 - 2020 - Gilson College

Editorial

In ancient times the elders in the community used to sit down at the city gates or in the market square and dispense their wisdom on life, however these days the singer / songwriters occasionally play the part of philosopher. While I recognise that much of what is written (and sung) is a sad reflection of a society that appears to be disintegrating, there are songs whose lyrics are evidence of a person’s deep and meaningful contemplations.

Mark Wilkinson is an Australian singer-songwriter that may be unfamiliar to many of you, nevertheless I must confess that his easy-going folk music sits comfortably with me. Recently I was listening to his song entitled ‘Something Real’ and the opening lines go like this:

Nobody seems to know what’s real
We just keep turning on this wheel
Nobody seems to have a plan
Here on the outside

Nobody opens up their minds
Nobody reads between the lines
There is no doctrine to believe
Here on the outside

Till someone makes a stand
Till someone holds the future in their hands
Till someone tries to change the way they feel
Till someone puts their faith in something real

If you so inclined, you can listen to it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1hztlFNK8c

Have you stopped to consider what is real, and whether there is anything that you can trust or put your faith in? Many people live their lives like the mouse in the wheel – going fast, but really going nowhere. Can you pause and get off the wheel? Can you read between the lines? Can you make a stand?

I would suggest that to find both meaning and purpose you must look for something that transcends ourselves. If you do that you can find that there is Someone who holds the future in His hands and there is a book that tells the story. It’s the only book in the world that has the courage to predict the future – and get it right every time!

The Apostle Paul states in 2 Corinthians 4:18 that the things you can see are temporary and the things you can’t see are eternal. Understanding this will help you if you are looking for what is real and the wisdom of life.

It’s worth a thought.

Mark B Vodéll
Principal

The Writing step involves writing the information down that you selected during the analytical Focused Thinking step. Dr Leaf’s “brain friendly” way of writing is called Metacog. This way of writing down information looks like the branching of dendrites on neurons. Dendrites have an arbour-like structure and look like trees with many branches. Their pattern and shape are dictated by the pattern and shape of the neural network of the memory you are building as you ask/answer and discuss your way through the information.

The process of writing down concepts/ asking/ answering/ discussing process reinforces healthy dendrite growth and forces you to think about your thinking and creating a Metacog. A Metacog is the visual tool that looks like the branching of a tree and its leaves. Its pattern and shape are dictated by the pattern and shape of the actual network being built as a person thinks – putting your mind and brain on paper!

How to Create a Metacog

When you read a sentence, you naturally and instinctively try to workout its meaning (15-35% of concepts per sentence). These concepts or essential information, are what you will end up writing down on your Metacog. If you use more than that, the redundancy will interfere with the memory of what is important

1. Preferably on a blank piece of paper, write the name of what you are working on in the center of your page.

2. Try to print all the words you put onto a Metacog.

3. Each concept word must be on its own line – one word per line.

4. Put the first subheading on a branch that radiates out of the central bubble.

5. Write the rest of the information in concept form- don’t write out full sentences – radiating outward in branch format from the subheading.

6. The information radiating from the subheadings should progress from general to more specific.

7. These concepts must be written on the line, not next to the line or under the line.

8. Once you have selected and written down everything about the subheading, go to the next one and repeat the process until the whole section of work has been written onto the Metacog.

9. The shape you are growing on your Metacog, in a sense, matches the branches you are growing in your brain.

10. Start your Metacog in the top right-hand corner of the circle and work clockwise from left to right.

11. Ask, answer and discuss with yourself.

12. Use colour simply to enhance organisationat the recheck phase.

13. Optional: use pictures, shapes, images.

14. Remember you are building a memory into dendrites.

Metacogs go further than summarising, notetaking or brainstorming. They allow you to extract, store and later recall 100% of the information you need.