Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Memory

Using what we know about memory is one of the most practical ways to immediately improve learning gains in my estimation.  The transfer from short term, into active and then long-term memory is a delicate patterning of rules and procedures.  However, if applied effectively could significantly impact learning.   
What if one whole group intervention we put into place were lesson plans that followed the rules and procedures for efficient memory processing?  What would those lesson plans look like?  How would lesson plans designed to capitalize on transferring information from short-term to long-term memory impact instruction and learning? 
I know personally when I start teaching I quickly get lost in the hustle and bustle of the day.  Some of the best advice I got as a new teacher was "more is less".  Although I would like nothing more than to teach my students the things they need to grow quickly I know from experience it does not work.  I find the more intentional I am and the less I try to "cover" the more students seem to learn.  What has been your experience transferring information from student's short term memory to their long term memory?   
-RThorp

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