Teorías del desempeño docente

reading. Instead, locate material on diabetes that is written for the general public, by the American Diabetes Association, for instance. After a while, you can graduate to those more challenging trade journals in the topic area you're interested in.

3. Keep a jargon notebook. If you really want to become well versed in a particular subject, then keeping track of the jargon will give you a personal dictionary for study, review and reference.

In the notebook, write down acronyms and new words on the left margin of your paper. Then try to determine their meaning (either from the content or a dictionary) and write it next to the term.

(Acronyms and jargon are usually defined the first time they are used in a reader-friendly article.) 4. Use speed techniques. Once you find information on your level, use your speed techniques to quickly help you get what you want without wasting valuable time.

Turbo Comprehension: Nine Guidelines for Critical Reading

From the nine guidelines below, choose several or all of them you want to remember and write them down. Tape the paper on a desktop where you read or post it on a wall nearby. By re- minding yourself of these guidelines, you increase your comprehension and understanding of the author's message while becoming a more critical reader.

1. Be open-minded about new ideas.

2. Don't argue about things you know nothing about.

3. Know when you need more information.

4. Be aware that people have different ideas about the meanings of words.

5. Know the difference between something that must be true and something that might be true.

6. Avoid hasty generalizations.

7. Question anything that doesn't make sense.

8. Separate emotional and logical thinking.

9. Develop your vocabulary in order to understand others and to make yourself understood.

(From Critical Thinking Book 1, by Anita Harnadeck, Midwest Publications Co., Pacific Grove, California, 2976. Adapted by Louise Loomis, director of The New England Cognitive Center, Hartford, Connecticut. Used with permission.)

Critical Thinking: Engage the Author

Throughout this chapter, I have discussed several ways to hone your critical reading skills.

Another way to become a more critical reader or increase your knowledge base is to correspond with an author. For example, let's say an article strikes your interest. By the end of the article, you either like or dislike the author's point of view. Since you are already having a mental conversation with the author concerning your likes and dislikes and/or questioning her point of view, why not engage her in person? I'm not saying to actually meet her, though sometimes it may be possible, but rather to get in touch with her via e-mail or letter.

As an author, I enjoy receiving communications from people who have read my articles or books.

The communications range from kudos to negative criticism, and often there are questions about information I have included. This feedback helps me know more about my audience. Usually, I correspond with an individual once depending on the inquiry, sometimes more. Keep in mind that while not all authors will be as receptive, most do write back to their readers to share their expertise, raise their profile, or generate public interest in their field.

As a reader, I have corresponded with authors on several occasions when I have found an

author's work stimulating and interesting. From their responses, I have learned more about their work and have found more resources in the same content area. In turn, this has increased my background knowledge. This process enables me to read an author's work critically and with increased

comprehension.

Start Your Engines: The Pen Push

There are two ways to perform the pacer known as the Pen Push. Choose a page in a magazine, newspaper, or this book to experiment with. Make sure it is on a flat surface, not balanced upright in your hands.

The first method is pen down (the other is pen across). Take a closed top pen, not a pencil, and place it vertically on top of and in the center of the paragraph you are going to read. Your eyes are a line or two under the pen tip. Push the pen down as you begin reading, stopping your eyes only two, maybe three, times on each line, seeing more at a glance. Remember to use key words, phrases, or key phrases to help you go even faster. As you get accustomed to the method, try moving the pen a little faster.

In the pen across method, you place the pen in a horizontal position above the line you are going to start reading. Cover the words you already read and leave open where you are going. This is similar to the white card method.

Gauge Your Attitude

Let's take an attitude check. Mentally fill in the blank of the following statement:

I am a(n) ________ reader.

Pit Stop: Tip of the Day

Leaf through a magazine looking for advertisements. Choose one and create a mental dialogue with the advertiser. What is he trying to tell or sell you? How does he do it? What do you think his hidden strategy is for getting you to buy? The more you practice this healthy skepticism, the better you will become at asking thought-provoking questions in other reading contexts. Your answers will help you become a more informed, critical reader.

]Day 7 will continue to give you tips and strategies on how to take a large pile of reading

material and select and make decisions based on its value, your time, and interest. You will also learn how to control the incoming flow of your reading material so it becomes more quality, not quantity.