The Power of Paraphrasing

I try to have a inspirational quote when my classes come in each day at school. I address them to the quote of the day and tell them to tell me what it means. They struggle to tell me what it means without just repeating it. This is a test for them. Eventually someone comes up with a way to rephrase it in their own words or "paraphrase" it. When this happens, I am convinced that at least that kid gets it. Chances are a few others get it now too because of the kid's paraphrase.

That is the Power of Paraphrasing.

It teaches us to add our original thoughts to a older one. It helps us to adopt the saying of another as our own because we use our own words. As the wise philosopher Solomon said, "There is nothing new under the sun", but there are new people. You are different and your mind is not exactly like anyone else's mind. The best way to understand anything is to simply be able to put it into your own words. Learn to paraphrase things you want to understand and you will learn to truly grasp the concept of anything you wish to learn.

Don't just repeat things, put paraphrase them to understand them more!