Category: Storing memories
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Understanding forgetting
Students are returning to school after a long summer break. What will they remember from last year? What happens if they’ve forgotten a lot of it? In this blog, let’s focus on forgetting: what it is and what to do about it.* But first, we need to reset our understanding of forgetting. Forgetting is a…
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Forming meaning
Exposition… explanation… ‘I do’… The parts of the lesson where we introduce new ideas, concepts or processes may be the most perilous of all. They may determine the fate of the new memory trace (at least until recall) (Albo & Graff, 2018). Let’s say I’m teaching Romeo and Juliet and I’m explaining what’s meant by…
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Catalyse learning using schemas
Teachers are in the learning business. One way we learn is by storing knowledge for the long term through a process called ‘consolidation’. Consolidation has been dubbed the “core force of knowledge accumulation” (Shing & Brod, 2016, p.4). Consolidation = learning. Memory consolidates into networks called schemas. Schemas = our prior knowledge. In this blog…
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How we learn
One of their biggest challenges is that teachers can’t see learning happening. However, we can understand what happens in the brain when pupils learn. In this blog we’ll find out how learning happens. This gives us insights we can use to make better decisions about pupil learning. Defining learning You might’ve heard learning defined as…
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Creating ideal memories
What do you want your pupils’ memories to be like? Perhaps your wish list looks like mine: Contain important subject knowledge (not irrelevant contextual details, e.g., the bee that flew into the classroom!). Allow for flexible thinking. No misconceptions. Let’s find out how memories form in the brain and how teachers can help pupils create…
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Principles of memory
Why does retrieval practice benefit memory? How about elaboration? Using teaching strategies without understanding the landscape in which they operate prevents teachers using them optimally. Teachers need background knowledge of how memory works. Armed with this, teachers know more about why, when, and how strategies, like retrieval practice, spaced practice and others, work. They can…
Evidence for Educators 