Bon Air Middle School
Instructional Newsletter - Spring 2019
Teachers Making Thinking Visible
48% of Students Earn Annual Typical Growth in Reading
After School Programs
Building Relationships
Kokomo HS Kat Walk
47% of Students Show Annual Growth in Math
Equitable Education Solutions Blog: Understanding How Students Think
Do you understand how your students think? Most educators would say yes, but for educators to be highly effective with the teaching and learning cycle, they must be able to understand how, why, and when students learn. By understanding the human brain and how memory is maximized with high information retention, teachers can help students build permanent knowledge about a concept rather than just teaching them to “cram” for the next assessment.
The brain is a fascinating part of who we are as humans. Rather than store information as a computer does (such as a file that can be clicked open), the brain embeds memories in networks of perceptions, facts, and thoughts. Slightly different combinations of these perceptions, facts, and thoughts bubble up each time they are drawn on by the brain. Memories do not replace each other, but are instead intertwined and overlap each other.
Some people are born with genetic advantages such as memory capacity or processing speed, but there is no gene tied towards an advantage in intelligence. A brain is a brain, and healthy ones all work the same way. People often think that forgetting information means failure or a lack of intelligence, but do not realize that our brains engage in “focused forgetting” all the time.
To prevent distracting or irrelevant information from constantly leaking out of our mouths, the brain has to filter (or forget) competing information. Psychologist William James once observed, “If we remembered everything, we should on most occasions be as ill off as if we remembered nothing.”
Natural forgetting, also called passive decay, is helpful for subsequent learning. Some breakdown of stored knowledge must occur in order for it to be strengthened when the material is revisited. Forgetting allows knowledge to be built as if it is a muscle to be strengthened. When you lift weights, you are literally exhausting a muscle or group of muscles so they can repair and be rebuilt.
How Environment Can Enhance Learning
Have you ever wondered why so many people work from coffee shops or with music playing? Contradictory to most study beliefs, a quiet environment is not always conducive to learning and retaining knowledge. Having something going on in a study room, such as music, is better than nothing. The experience of studying has many dimensions, and some of these can have an impact on retention.
The number of perceptions connected to any given memory can be multiplied if a person varies where they work or study. Experiments have shown that if someone studies the same concept twice, but in a different location each time, more knowledge is retained. Stimuli such as sound and location can have an effect on memory retention and can help the student with knowledge retrieval. So maybe the next time you are grading papers, you should consider working from a beach! After all, it is research-based.
Another factor impacting retention is time. Examination of multiple studies have shown that when students space out their study time rather than just concentrating on it, they retain information much longer. The distribution of learning can double the amount that is retained. This spacing effect is particularly useful when memorizing new material.
Studying a concept right after it is learned doesn’t do much to deepen the memory either. However, studying an hour or even a day later does deepen the memory. To build and retain knowledge such as scientific definitions or foreign vocabulary, it is best for the student to review the material one or two days after learning it. This practice should continue with the intervals increased over time. With greater intervals of even a month or more, the advantages of spacing are clear as the brain is able to retain great amounts of information for long periods of time.
How Assessments Support Thinking
An assessment is not only a measurement tool; it alters what a learner remembers and changes how the learner organizes the material within their mind. The assessment accomplishes these functions in ways that improve greatly in later performance. Studying of a different and more powerful kind is how assessment could be described. If used correctly, assessments can be an additional study session for learning new material. Assessing is a powerful study technique, and it should be deployed sooner rather than later.
Incorrect answers, or unsuccessful retrieval attempts, are not random failures. These failed attempts alter how the learner thinks about and stores information on the material. Learning can happen from answering questions incorrectly, especially on multiple choice assessments where the answers are given soon afterwards.
Insight problems require a set of mental steps called “stages of control”. The first step is preparation. Preparation includes understanding the specific problem and exhausting every idea on how to solve it. Once all ideas have been exhausted, the person solving the problem is not stalled, they have just reached the end of preparation.
The second step is called incubation. Incubation is when the problem is put aside. As the person solving the problem is focusing on other matters, the brain will subconsciously still process the problem and look for ideas.
The third stage is called illumination. Illumination is the moment when the clear solution to the problem appears to the solver. The fourth and final step is called verification. Verification is when results are checked to make sure that they did indeed work (Carey, 2015).
This process shows that letting something go for a period of time can strengthen the thinking pattern and help the brain look for solutions.
Nap Time = More Thinking
The last factor in helping students retain what they have learned is to make sure that they are getting enough sleep. Sleep deprivation causes people to be more reckless, more emotionally fragile, and less able to concentrate. It can also lower the immune system. The lack of sleep has many consequences not just for the body, but for the mind as well. If sleep is used in the appropriate quantity, it can lead to greater problem solving abilities and the opportunity to grasp unclear concepts.
Sleep plays an important role in flagging and storing important memories. The brain has been found during studies to form connections between ideas and concepts that were impossible during waking hours. Sleep improves retention and comprehension. Sleep is helpful in retaining vocabulary words or forming logical reasoning about a concept.
“Put it this way: I no longer think of naps or knocking off early as evidence of laziness, or a waste of time, or worse of all, a failure of will. I think of sleep as learning with my eyes closed,” (Carey, p. 212).
To dive deeper into helping students learn effectively, learn about thinking routines, (based on Dr. Ron Ritchart’s book), in this post. Maybe you’re specifically interested in brain-based strategies for teaching vocabulary? Check out this post to deepen your knowledge.
Learn more directly from Benedict Carey in his “Learning 101.”
Bon Air Career Middle School
Email: alandrum@kokomoschools.com
Website: www.kokomoschoools.com
Location: 2796 N Apperson Way, Kokomo, IN, United States
Phone: 765-454-7025
Facebook: facebook.com/bacskokomo
Twitter: @bonaircareer