To help your students successfully move information from short term memory, i.e.. what you taught today, into long term memory, i.e. retrieving it during another class, on a related subject, or for a test in a few weeks from now, try these: ​​
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1. Art
Studies have shown, when art is incorporated into content, it increases retention, and retrieval. Think of it this way - you're offering your students a different way to remember the information. Maybe it's a flow chart to visualize process, or a funny comic strip (complete with stick figures) to map out complex sequences.  

Still not sure where to start?

This list of graphic organizers might help.  Graphic organizers help to organize content heavy instruction, into manageable, bite-sized pieces. 

2. Consistent Note Taking

Taking notes is key.  But what does it mean to have good notes? Start with giving your students a format for note taking, outlining the central idea at the beginning of the lesson and the goals for the section. This helps to narrow their focus and outline the expectations.  Recommend a two column method - one column for making notes, and the second for the questions generated by the notes.  Build in a few minutes where students can share their questions; this will help you to understand both their knowledge gaps and their perspective.  

This format is from Cornell University and while it's recommended for high school and up, I think it's easily adapted to early elementary and middle school year.

3. Relevancy and Recall

The more you can connect information to real-world examples, or things that are relevant to your students, the greater the likelihood it will be remembered. Things make more sense when we have some degree of personal connection, we can discern a similarity, or connect it something we already know. That's why, when we are explaining something, we usually say, "It's kind of like...", in an attempt to connect the new, to the known.

In this clip, from the trailer of Grey Matters, at second 0:33, Zoe talks about wanting things to be more connected, to see the bigger picture.  

4. Active Retrieval 

Encourage students to quiz themselves.  Whether it's covering up the information and trying to remember everything on a list or using flashcards where the definition is on one side and the vocabulary word on the other, or whatever the content lends itself. Additionally, work in quizzes into your instruction, as well as, review time.  

Read more about active retrieval practices here.

​When it comes to long term memory incorporate the visual arts into your lesson; offer students a choice of how they would like to demonstrate their knowledge in a visual format - maybe it's a graphic organizer of some kinds, a poem, or a drawing.  Consistent note taking is key; ensure students know the objectives of the unit study. Following on this, illustrate the connection of what they are learning to what they already know. And finally, encourage active retrieval practices or quizzes. 

Share your in-class practices in the comments. 

Recently I overheard a student complain, "I hate Math!" followed by a large, dramatic sigh and an eye roll.

Remind you of anyone in your class?

Deciding to accept the discussion invitation, I responded, "Hmm, Math is a really large subject. Can you possibly narrow down what portion you find distasteful?" 

"Fractions. I hate fractions...I just don't get it," she replied.

"Do you remember long division?" I pressed.

"I love long division. It's so easy," she responded.
 
"You love long division now...you didn't love it so much, when we first started doing it," I gently reminded the not-loving-fractions 5th grader.

"I didn't? Are you sure? I'm pretty sure I loved it as soon as I started doing it," she replied in a puzzled tone. "I'm really good at division," she continued.

"You're right, you are really good at division. And soon, you'll be great at fractions." I high-fived her as she headed to her seat. 

Students often forget how they felt at the beginning of learning a new concept or subject area; focusing only on how they're doing in that moment.  A portfolio illustrates early mistakes, the progress made, ultimately showing their overall grasp of the concepts, and in some cases, the time it took to fully grasp the concept.  

For more on portfolios, check out: ​http://www.greymattersdocumentary.com/blog/grades-versus-growth

Read this for a 3 minute overview on how to enhance your teaching practice to engage your students and help them connect the knowledge:  https://www.teachthought.com/learning/6-targets-teach-way-brain-learns/

Yesterday morning I was chatting with the check out person at our local grocery store and asked after her daughter, who I knew was starting kindergarten.  The mom said that she loved it so much, she would come home, eat dinner and ask if she could go back to school after dinner.  

Cute, right?

Then the mom said with a laugh, “That won’t last long. She’ll hate it.  I hated school.”

“Not necessarily,” I said, “Great teachers help.” 

That 90 second social interaction stuck with me for the rest of the day and got me thinking, “How much of how children feel about school is dictated by their parents’ attitude? After all, children model (unconsciously or consciously) their parents/parental figures attitudes and beliefs. 

Why would you, as a parent, have the expectation that school is something that all kids will eventually hate?

Research studies indicate parents and parental involvement in school are the biggest contributors to students’ academic success. More than what school, how we teach, and what we teach.  Parental involvement matters.  Annie Murphy Paul, author of Brilliant: The Science of Smart writes more about this here: http://ideas.time.com/2012/10/24/the-single-largest-advantage-parents-can-give-their-kids/

And this isn’t just about showing up to the Parent-Teacher conference or jumping on the PTO; rather it’s about getting involved in your child’s learning journey - knowing what they are excited to learn and why, understanding the things that they are struggling with and directing them to extra resources. Helping them connect what they know to what they already know.  And above all, continuing to talk to them about the process of learning.

Learning isn’t something that stops.  It’s a continuous process, filled with moments of frustration, “I don’t get it”, “Oh this is kinda like”, and that beautiful moment of “I totally get this”.

If you believe the learning styles theory, you’re showing up to class with 3 different versions of your lesson plan - one for the kinesthetic learner, another for the visual, a third for the auditory, right? 

No, you’re not doing that?

But…but what the different learning styles of your students?? 

Clearly, no one is showing up to class with three lesson plans.  (Unless you are, in which case, please comment below…I’d love to talk about what you’ve found).

In 2008 four psychologists collaborated and cohesively studied the existing literature on learning styles; they concluded that there was no strong evidence to support the learning styles theory but they didn’t completely rule it out. You can read the paper by Pashler, McDaniel, Rohrer, & Bjork, here:  https://www.psychologicalscience.org/journals/pspi/PSPI_9_3.pdf

Yet we continue to talk about learning styles in education.

Veteran Baltimore City Public Schools educator, Dr. Mariale Hardiman, now Professor of Education at Johns Hopkins University, recommends teachers think big picture learning goals and let those learning goals drive the activities and assessments, “When teachers focus solely on the individual points students often miss the larger concepts or the “big picture” essential for deep understanding and memory.”

I look at it as giving the main idea rather than just the bulleted points, as in, “Here’s what you’re going to learning in this section/unit building on previous knowledge of x,y, and z.” I also like to outline the takeaways, as in, here’s what you’re really learning to do.  If you’re more of a sports analogy person, think big play, instead of move by move.  

But, what about my kinesthetic and auditory and visual learners, teachers will say at this point.

Vicky Krug, a college professor at Westmoreland County Community College, featured in Grey Matters, says, “I take a multi sensorial approach to what I teach and I design the learning experience using multiple senses. I know that getting students up and about in class helps their engagement and focus so I incorporate that.  Some material naturally lends itself to movement and with other stuff, I find a way to work it in.  I add visuals, I have students repeat things out loud”  

Want to try a multi sensorial approach in your classroom? Try backwards planning.  What are the key things your students need to master at the end of the unit?  Then, think about the best ways to make that happen from both an activities and assessment perspective.

Invest in planning
When Jeremy Mettler planned a unit on the importance of the Suez Canal he started with an in class unit to give him an idea of the collective knowledge base of his students, incorporated flash cards with vocabulary cartoons to help students quickly grasp the basics, and then designed an experience that brought home the differences of travel pre-canal and post-canal.  “The biggest thing fear for teachers is the lack of content time but when I invest in planning and using some kind of visual organizer to highlight the key concepts of the unit, it strengthens my teaching practice in class.  I teach, instead of just covering content”.

Mix it up
Krug teaches college level developmental reading and writing; she often chooses different instruction materials to help her students grasp concepts simply because they’re more interesting.  It’s not uncommon to hear Dr. Seuss or debates on the 14th Amendment in her classes. “I’m a big believer in fun and I give students multiple ways to experience the material so that they have multiple ways to retrieve the material”.

Incorporate Real Life
Justin Holbrook, a 4th grade STEM teacher at Roland Park Elementary, tries to show the real life applications of things, “When students see what I’m teaching them is applicable in the real world, they pay more attention. Place value translated nicely into pay cheques; calculating area was a great way to weigh in on some of the proposed changes to various spaces to our school”.

You can see Mettler, Krug, and Holbrook in the education documentary Grey Matters: Teaching The Way The Brain Learns.  
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