Our world is noisy.  Information overload isn’t just a buzz word – it is our reality.  

Unfortunately, determining what to remember (or even notice in the first place) is largely sub-conscious.  So, how can we influence what our students’ brains deem worthy holding on to?  As a parent and teacher, the answer to this question is important to me.

Memory occurs by moving information through three steps, sensory intake, short term memory, and long term memory.

Sensory intake is simply the process of our mind determining what of the huge amount of incoming information is important and ignoring the rest.  Sensory intake is only kept for a moment.  It comes in and most is determined to be unnecessary.  Forgetting is normal and necessary.  None of us really need to remember exactly what time of day we last cut our toenails or what we were wearing that day.  Loosing that information makes space for more important material.

By concentrating on a certain piece of the information students can transfer sensory intake to their short-term memory.  Short-term memory is limited.  There isn’t much space available.  It is used for actively processing data, but decays rapidly.

Then we have the long-term memory, which is our goal with lessons.  It is intended for storage of information over a long time.  Once information is moved to long-term memory it becomes available for use in decision making, comparison, and analysis.

Moving information to long term memory is a process scientists call encoding.  There are a few tricks that help to simplify the process:

Learn Less

Okay, so I know that sounds completely wrong, but hear me out.  It is impossible to remember everything, so be selective.  The first step is to figure out your goals.  What do you want your student to be able to DO with the information you are presenting?  The answer to this question will help you to determine how to best present material.

Generalize

Lots of tiny bits of unrelated information are hard to retain.  Figure out what you can combine.  For example, memorizing number bonds rather than addition and subtraction facts covers the same information with only 1/4 of the memorized material   Generalizing information and intentionally grouping like items can lead to an increase in memory.

Separate

Grouping information into smaller pieces can have a similar effect on memory capacity.  When information can not be generalized, try the process known as closure.  Divide the item into smaller bits.  This is the process we see when we notice that a hyphenated phone number is easier to remember than a single long number.

Remember general principals are easier to use than isolated specific rules, so generalize whenever you can.

So now that you know what you want to teach, how do you prepare your student?

Start from a healthy position

It is impossible for any of us to learn unless well rested, well fed, comfortable, and emotionally supported.  Students receptiveness to material can be bolstered with the proper support.

Exercise

Physical exertion has been found to have amazing effects on learning.  It stimulates the blood flow and the delivery of essential oxygen to the brain, allowing for greater attention.

Sleep

Harvard Medical School researchers found that students who slept after learning a new task remembered more about it the next day than people who did not rest.  The exact process is still being studied, but it is obvious that sleep is essential for our brains to sort information.

Fuel

Healthy eating has often been discussed in relation to brain function.  Hydration is noted less often, however it  may be even more important for proper brain function.  Our brains are 75% water, and dehydration has a negative effect on retention.

Focus

Selective attention is the process by which a person can pick out one message from all of the sensory input occurring simultaneously.  Focusing is one of the first steps to retention.

Be specific

Ask for eye contact when giving instructions, require quiet during study hours, and be intentional about focusing on only one thing at a time.  Guidance is key.

Encourage students to make a conscious effort to take notes and be actively involved in their lessons.

Avoid Multi-tasking

It has been proven over and over again that multitasking decreases retention.  Don’t be tricked into thinkng that your student is the exception to the rule.  They aren’t (and frankly, neither are you).   Interference from distractions causes a disturbance in short-term memory processes and sabotages retention.

Repetition

Our brains function via something called neural pathways.  Just like any other pathway, the more it is trodden, the easier it is to find and use.

The most obvious forms of repetition are simple: listen to audio books repeatedly (Five In a Row has great tips for this), review notes, recite, re-write or re-type.

Summarize

Another great way to repeat material is to summarize what you know, or, if you have the opportunity, teach it to someone else.  The process of explaining what you know helps to cement its permanent place in long-term memory.  This teaching doesn’t have to be person-to-person.  Ask your students to record a you-tube video, write a step-by-step instruction guide, or design a game.

Routines

The easiest way to form habits of thought is to be diligent in following routines.  Reciting the same material daily requires little time but creates deep paths, and diligent adherence to routines allows for the brain to have more free space for other information.  Cleaning for 10 minutes after lunch every day without fail or reciting a history timeline weekly forms strong memories.

Context

Unrelated facts are almost useless.  They give us only one bit of random information.  Our minds are designed to retain meaningful information best, and random facts don’t fit that standard.  Integrating facts into context is vital.

Tell Stories

Stories give facts meaning.  Information is no longer unrelated, but elements of a whole, and therefore much easier to recall.  Give examples, share of your own experiences, or read a book to build context.     Interconnected thoughts make material easier to recall in multiple situations, causing the information to be much more useful to the student.

Use Images

“A picture is worth a thousand words”   This isn’t just a saying.  Scientists have determined that image memory exceeds auditory memory recall.  Photographs offer context, charts are easy to understand, and graphs provide vast amounts of information in a small space. Make your lessons even more effective by allowing children to draw or color related pictures while listening to a story.  This activates many parts of the brain at once, allowing for greater retention.

Explain Why

One of the determinants of how easy something is to learn is how meaningful it is to the learner. The more meaningful it is, the easier it will be to learn.  We, as teachers, need to make sure that our students understand why they need to learn certain material, how it relates to the world around them, and in which situations they might find it useful.

Don’t just explain, but allow your students to discuss and puzzle out for themselves how the information might be useful.  The process of discovery leads to ownership.  Their input is important to integration.

If  integration is successfully accomplished, the brain will file information in an accessible way, and it becomes easier to recall.

Interaction

Interaction with information is critical to retention.  It allows students to use their entire bodies, and all of their learning systems, to take in information.  Movement, listening, writing, and reading all use different parts of the brain.  The more of these paths we use, the more likely the informaiton will be retained.

Rhythm

Mnemonic devices and rhythm increase retention.  This is obvious in most Kindergarten classes, but seems to be forgotten by (or deemed beneath) older students.  This is unfortunate.  The brain is designed to retain music and we would do our students a great service if we encouraged them to use this natural skill.

Movement

Kinesthetic learning is one of the most effective yet overlooked learning styles.  Go somewhere.  Act out or visualize material.  Create.  Using all of these processes allow for a web of learning.

Build a memory.

I’ll be speaking more specifically about how we combine Unit Studies with Classical Education to take advantage of these elements of retention next week.  If you want to make sure you don’t miss it, subscribe to e-mail updates.

Oh, and I appreciate those of you who mentioned the formatting glitches within my e-mails, and I’m working on a solution.  Stay tuned!  I think you are going to like what you see.