Renowned author, presenter, and memory expert Brad Zupp rarely forgets things. Since 2009, Zupp has been dedicated to testing the limits of his own memory while helping others learn the benefits that come from memory improvement.

Zupp shows both adults and children how to supercharge their memories to improve grades, relationships, productivity, and peace of mind while remembering more of what they see, hear and read. One might even call Brad Zupp a memory athlete; he’s a two-time American record-setter at the World Memory Championships and is going for another record this month.

In Episode 62 of the Hack Learning Podcast, Zupp, author of Unlock Your Amazing Memory, shares 3 surprisingly easy ways to remember things and provides right-now solutions for improving memory at home and in school.

The Problem

Teachers and learners can’t remember valuable information: It’s not that the brain is incapable of remembering, Zupp explains. Both adults and children struggle to remember because they are often too distracted by outside stimuli and don’t realize where the problem with memory lies. Zupp explains the problem this way:

We have to figure out where we’re struggling. We have to focus. There’s so much going on, and we don’t have a system.

The Hack

Focus on 3 easy steps tricks: Sure, it’s easy to say, “I need to focus and be more organized,” but Zupp suggests that physical factors can also inhibit memory-things like lack of sleep and stress. If we take care of the physical part, memory can be improved with these 3 hacky steps:

1. Focus-Declutter the brain and actually say, “What is it I’m trying to remember”?
2. Organize-Create a simple memory system, like self-talk and dialogue with peers about what you want to retain.
3. Recall-Once people clear away the distractions and integrate a simple system, recall becomes easy, according to Zupp.

What You Can Do Tomorrow

Teach students to ask, “How am I going to remember that?” According to Zupp, this simple question helps eliminate distractions and focuses kids on what they are attempting to remember. While this may not be possible with every lesson, when there is something new and critical to remember, Zupp recommends a dialogue with students that begins with simply asking them to explain their system for remembering.

Create an internal dialogue. When receiving new information, Zupp says to apply it to a creative, even bizarre, self-dialogue. For example, if you struggle to remember someone’s name, you might tell yourself a story about the name that is so outlandish that it becomes easy to later equate that name to the story and to the face that the name accompanies.

Discuss forgettable information with friends and families. Encourage students to talk about skills and concepts that they learned in school at home with family and with friends. Zupp says that this conversation tells them that it is important and to move the information into long term storage.

Record setter?

Brad Zupp is attempting a new memory record, by memorizing the first 10,000 numbers of Pi. Watch for updates on Twitter at #HackLearning, and on this post in the comment section below.

Please leave an honest review of the

Hack Learning Podcast on iTunes

Brad Zupp is a world-renowned memory expert and author of Unlock Your Amazing Memory. For information about Zupp’s keynote speeches and seminars, coaching, or for memory improvement tips for adults and students, visit www.BradZupp.com. Still need more? Connect with Zupp via Email at [email protected].

Subscribe and Never Miss an Episode

Be Our Guest

Got something hacky to share? Learn how to be a guest on the Hack Learning Podcast.

Please support our sponsors; they help us keep the lights on

Jon Harper admits that in more than a decade in education, he’s made plenty of mistakes. Some might call Harper a mistake guru. He interviews experienced education stakeholders about their mistakes on his popular Bam Radio podcast, My Bad.

In Episode 61 of the Hack Learning Podcast, Harper shares his journey to becoming a mistakes expert and provides steps for leveraging the power of mistakes, so we can become better teachers and learners.

The Problem

Teachers fear mistakes: Most educators don’t want to look bad in front of students or colleagues, so they keep their mistakes hidden. Jon Harper says that owning his mistakes has taught him many valuable lessons and helps him create a classroom environment that eliminates fear.

In order to forward the conversations that are taking place in this country, we have to accept the fact that when we have these tough conversations, we’re going to make mistakes.

Harper shares a powerful story (time index 4:00 in Episode 61 embedded above) that demonstrates improbable courage and how owning his mistake and sharing it helped him overcome a potentially negative image.

He says that people are conditioned to “want to show the world our best side.” Then, when mistakes inevitably happen, people feel guilty, instead of realizing that they’re no different from everyone else.

The Hack

Leverage the power of mistakes: In classic Hack Learning style, Harper says that the best thing to do with colleagues and with students is remarkably simple-admit your mistakes. When educators and parents share our failings and discuss how we’ve moved beyond them, people, especially kids, appreciate this honesty and learn more readily.

What You Can Do Tomorrow

Harper has learned from experienced educators how to embrace mistakes and leverage their power, in order to help kids improve. He suggests three simple strategies for getting started tomorrow:

1 - Have a “Family” Meeting: Bring students together and begin the conversation by telling them that you’re going to share a mistake you made with them. (Listen to an excellent example at time index 10:50 of the podcast.)

The more mistakes we share, the more powerful we become.

2 - Discuss student mistakes as a group: It’s easy to minimize a mistake by inviting the class to discuss it. Harper suggests beginning this discussion by explaining that the student is human and that we all make mistakes. Then, emphasize how we can learn from the error.

3 - Blog about mistakes: If both teachers and students write about their mistakes and lessons learned from them, they can share with peers and with the world, which can be cathartic for the blogger while making readers who may have made similar mistakes feel better about themselves.

What they will find is that pushing Publish is difficult. But once they do they will have legions of others thanking them for sharing. Not only that, they will also realize that they are not alone in making whatever mistake it is that they shared.

Jon Harper was a National Board Certified teacher before becoming an elementary school principal in Cambridge, Maryland. He is the host of the popular Bam Radio Network podcast, My Bad, where he interviews experienced educators about their mistakes and what they learn from them. Follow Jon’s work at his My Bad podcast and on his Bam Radio Blog.

What do you think?

It’s time to embrace mistakes, but how do we do it? Please share your thoughts in comments below, on Twitter at #Hacklearning and on our Facebook page.
Subscribe and Never Miss an Episode

Be Our Guest

Got something hacky to share? Learn how to be a guest on the Hack Learning Podcast.