# 52 Memorizing with Mote

Do you know someone who struggles to memorize information, who struggles to pass tests?  If so, then this is the episode for you!!  You will learn how to easily memorize information using a mash up of a Google Doc checklist and the Mote Audio recording app!  Using these 2 resources together can take the struggle out of learning new information for tests, regardless of the material. You can also get a free sample handout of how I used Mote to share the definition of 17 different study tips!

Mote  Recording App

Google Docs

Check Please! Free handout of 17 study tips using Mote

Free ebook: Insights from a Disability Specialist

COLLEGE & DISABILITIES: 9 Changes from High School Every Parent Should Know

Transcript

Mickie  0:00  
Do you know a person who struggles when they study for tests, they study and study and study and they just can't pass? They can't make it happen. This is a complaint I have heard over, and over, and over again, with college students what's happening? How can they fix it? What can I do differently? Today I have what I think is a really great tech resource that will make a difference when you or your kid try to memorize information for a test. So welcome to College, Disabilities, and Success Episode 52: Memorizing with Mote by Mickie Hayes. The opinions in this podcast are my own. But please reach out to your college physicians or legal services for any additional information. Do you Mote? You should Mote. If you don't Mote, you might want to try it.

Mickie  0:54  
I'm always on the hunt for something new and beneficial for college students who are having a hard time. When I first became a college learning disability specialist. That was one of the issues that I had to deal with right out the door. And so I started doing a lot of research on the different strategies and approaches and techniques that a student could use. And as the technology evolved, those strategies and techniques evolved. And the one that I'm going to talk about today was a real lightbulb for me. I came across an article on Edutopia called Seven Clever Teacher Tested Tech Hacks by Paige Tut. And I'll have this link in the show notes. So you can check out the article. But in this article, there are several things listed that deal with a technology that we can use to learn and to study. And there's information about using Google Slides, and putting captions on slides and interactive checklists and ways to stop scrolling, and how to keep your documents clean, and how to liven up Google Forms with audio, and also how to eliminate distractions from YouTube. So there are several different articles within this Edutopia article. And the one that I came across that really spoke to me was how to liven up Google Forms with audio. And in that explanation, they talked about Mote, MOTE, and the link for Mote, for the Mote website, will be also in the show notes. But I was intrigued by the concept of Mote, and so I looked it up. Now the part that intrigued me the most about Mote  is that it was easy to use with Google Docs. And so I went to the website, checked out the price. And by the way, they have a free version for you to get started and play around with it, so that's always a good sign in my book. But anyway, I went to the website, and I started playing around with it, because I thought, Oh, I wonder how this could apply to some of the study techniques that I do with students that I used to teach the students all the time, I started poking around, there's a lot of videos out there that show you how to use Mote, and there's good information on their website. So there's no shortage of information. But I didn't see the one specific way that I wanted to use it. And so I played around with it. And I came up with a way to tie it into one of the strategies that I used to teach to students all the time called Checklist, that was very effective, the old school way, and I believe is going to be even more effective and easier to use the moat way. So that's what I'm going to talk to you about today. I had a student one time who came into my office, asked me for some strategies and some ideas. And I said, great, I've got a bunch of them. And the first thing I told him was, well, you can make this checklist, and this is what you do. And this is how it works. And he said, Great. That's it. I love it. That's all I need. I said, Wait, wait, I have more articles? Nope, nope, this is the one I want. And I realized that this checklist approach that I was sharing with students was actually very, very effective, really more effective than I realized. So what I've done for you today, is I've taken the combination of Google Docs checklist form and the Mote recording system and mashed them together and made what I think is a really, really effective way for an individual to prepare for a test. So here's what you're going to do. You're going to take a Google Doc, open up a blank Google Doc, and up at the top of the Google doc in the toolbar is a checklist icon. You're going to click on the checklist icon and you're going to start typing out just a list of terms. Don't do anything else. But type out a list of terms that you know you need to learn for a particular test. You don't want to see the definition, just a list of terms. So if you're a medical student or a nursing student, a  list of your medical terms that you need to learn if you're in any kind of history class or any social studies class, any kind of science class, any class at all, really, that wants you to learn some detailed knowledge and vocabulary, then this is the ideal tool to use. So once you make this check-off list of terms, that's all you're going to do, you're going to just make a long list of terms, then you're going to go to the Mote app. Now the moat app works with the Chrome browser. And what you're going to do is register for the app, obviously, and you are going to do a recording. So you're going to go to the first term in Google Docs. And you're going to record the definition of whatever that term is. Whatever you need to learn, you're going to record that information using Mote. Now the recording is going to be short. 10-15 seconds, 20 seconds, minute, two minutes, whatever it needs to be to get the point across. Now think about how you're recording. If it's one of those vocabularies, lessons where the teacher wants you to know the exact definition, then that's how you're going to record it. If it's a paraphrased definition that works better for you, then you're going to record a paraphrase definition. So you record the definition that you want in the method and approach that the professor expects. Then what you're going to do is you're going to link that recording to the term in your Google Docs form. You're going to link that recording to the term on your checkoff list, and then you're going to continue next term, speak the definition of the term using Mote stop, link it to the word, go to the next one. So each one of those terms that you have on your checklist will have an audio Mote recording attached to the term that tells you what the definition is, when you're finished, you're going to use that list of terms to study from so you look at the first term and you try to explain it verbally out loud to yourself or to anybody or anything that will listen. And then you're going to play the mote recording for that term so that you can give yourself an instant check, you will know right away if you hit the nail on the head. And if you got that term exactly correct. If you left anything out, you're going to know immediately and if you feel comfortable with it, check off the term and go to the next one. If you get to the next one, you go I don't remember what that one is. Skip it, you get to the third one. Try that one. Well, no, I'm going to skip that one too. Alright, go to the fourth one. Oh, that one, you know, okay, you're going to say it, play the note recording and check yourself, check off the term because Google Forms, the checklist term will cross off the term, check it off, like it's done deal. And when you get done going through that form, you're going to know exactly which terms you knew upfront right away, no problem in which terms you still need to study and go back and review. And then you can go back and you can play those Mote recordings as many times as you want, so that you can get the information that you need to learn so that you can go back to your study list and check yourself again over and over and over until you feel really really comfortable with the material. Because it's auditory, you should be speaking these out loud, because that's how you know that you know the information. When students get to the test and they fall apart. They don't know what happened. I knew it yesterday. How come I don't know it today? Well, chances are you probably didn't really know it very well yesterday, think of it like smoke, you can see it, you can smell it, but you can not grab on to it. But I believe studying with this system, the Google Doc checklist system attached to the Mote recordings system, those two partnered together are going to give you a very, very effective way for you to be able to repeat verbally, the information that you are going to be tested on, so that when you get into that test the next day or whenever you get there, you're going to have an auditory memory of what that definition was and what that term was. And everything will be retrievable, because that's what you need. You need something to retrieve and the Mote recording is going to give you something that you can retrieve. Now you can also make a transcript with Mote recording. And you could have a printed page with all the words and their definitions. But keep that printed page separate from your checkoff list. You don't want to see that when you're doing your checkoff list, because if you see those definitions in front of you written down on paper, you're going to think you know it and you don't know it. Not until you can recite it without seeing it, then you know, you know it. I hope that makes sense. And that's what happens so many times when kids study for tests, they read and read and read and read the definitions. But then they get fooled. It's that smoke again, they're fooled into thinking they know it, but they don't they read it, they understand it, they sort of get it. But they're not clear they can't repeat it without looking at it, you need to be able to repeat the definition without reading it. And that's why the mote recording system is so effective with this check off form. When I discovered the Mote recording, I decided to play around with it a little bit. And so I made a list of 15 different study hacks, things that I used to teach the students to do to help them study for their tests. And so I created my own checklist of study hacks. If you're interested in getting my checklist, my Mote checklist of study hacks, I will have that link in the show notes. So you can get the Mote  that I created with my study hacks on it, and see exactly how the system works is very easy to do. And it's very, very easy to use. Now, there's a kazillion ton of different things you can do with Mote as well. This is just one suggestion, and I'm sure once you start using it, you're really going to enjoy it. But I think combining the visual of the checklist and the auditory mode of the explanation together will make a difference in helping you finally learn and memorize the information you need to know you in essence, become your own teacher, because you've already established that audio recording that Mote recording to go along with the information you need to learn. Now you can take that list also to a professor, and show them the list of terms that you're studying for the test. And then ask the professor if that is a complete list, if they have any other suggestions of terms that you should add to the list or hey, is there anything I can take off of this list. So once you get your list compiled, and you know exactly what you are going to study, then you go ahead and record your Motes,and by the time you're done, you're really going to have a good study tool that you can use anywhere. And when I went to the website, as I said earlier, they do have a free version. But quite honestly, their yearly price for Mote is not very expensive. I think it was about $40 for a year. And then some of the schools have their own contracts with Mote as well. So your school may even have a contract with Mote. So even if you're familiar with it, and even if you've used it, I think the checklist study hack using Google Docs, check forms, and the moat recording system can make a huge impact in on your productivity. I hope you found today's podcast worthwhile. As soon as I saw Mote, I decided I needed to share it with you because it was just too good to pass up and it works so easily. So check it out. Check out the list of study hacks that I've created for you to see exactly how Mote works. So it's super easy to use. It's a super good value, and there's 1000 different ways you can use it. In the meantime, if you have any questions, my email address is mickieteaches@gmail.com. That's Mickie MICKIEteaches@gmail.com. And you can also stop by my website at mickieteaches.com. Have a great rest of the day and enjoy your next Mote. I'll talk to you again soon. Bye.

Mickie  13:36  
 Information contained throughout this podcast has been gleaned from my own personal experiences, but to ensure accuracy, please contact the Disability Services at the college of your choice to have firsthand information and the most up to date policies and procedures followed by your particular institution of higher education. The content in any of these podcasts is not intended as a substitute for information from legal, educational or medical professionals. Always seek the advice of your attorney or qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have with regards to legal, educational, or medical concerns.