"Teachers who are new to
brain-compatible teaching are often in awe of how the brain remembers, and of
how many different memory systems there are," explains BrainLady"
Marilee Sprenger. "Although many brain-compatible principles are followed
instinctively, once teachers know why and how the principles work, they are
much more likely to use those principles again."
Often, discarding techniques that
don't work is as important to improving teaching and retention as adopting
those that do work. Neuroscience expert and BrainLady Marilee
Sprenger tells Education World that if teachers keep in mind that students have
a limited focus time, they can chunk their lessons into purposeful time slots.
"Focus time is generally said
to be the students' age in minutes. For example, rather than teaching twelve
year olds by lecturing for twenty minutes, lecture for ten or fewer minutes and
then have students discuss the material with one another in a think-pair-share
arrangement," suggests Sprenger. "Lecture is effective, but we must
give up the lengthy speeches with too many points covered. Retention is low
unless students are using graphic organizers or guiding questions to take
notes. The time limits still must be adhered to."
Similarly, assigning whole chapters
to read without specific guidance as to what to look for also will result in
low memory. The more actively students are involved in their learning, the more
likely they are to remember it. Sprenger reports that the most effective
strategy for retention appears to be teaching others.
"Rote rehearsal needs to be
replaced with elaborative rehearsal," she advises. "Instead of
memorizing lists, students can use some of the mnemonic devices, such as Peg Systems, to help
them visualize and remember."
BRAIN-FRIENDLY STRATEGIES AT WORK
In practical terms, brain-friendly
learning works at different levels through varying strategies. With the goal of
having students truly master and remember the material, an elementary grade
teacher might tackle the common assignment of a weekly spelling list through
mnemonic devices (memory strategies), which are brain-compatible ways of
storing information.
"Some of those involve thoughts
and many include actions as well," Sprenger shares. "Singing spelling
words has been effective for many students, and tunes such as Row, Row,
Row Your Boat often are used."
Pairing students with one as the
"writer" and another as the "paper" is a different
technique that improves memory. The first student writes the spelling word on
the back of his partner by using his finger as the writing utensil. The "paper"
partner must visualize the word in order to pronounce it. For kinesthetic
learners, Sprenger suggests an alternate activity that makes us of a
"hopscotch" board with enough letters for students to hop to each
letter of the spelling word.
"My favorite strategy for
teaching literary terms for older students is to use a mind map," says
Sprenger. "This is a web of sorts. In the center of a piece of paper, the
student writes Literary Terms and puts a cloud around it. This
is all done in one color. Then, using another colored marker or colored pencil,
a line is drawn and the literary term such as simile is
written on the line. Below the line, the student creates a picture or icon
representing the definition. Perhaps she draws two stick figures, puts an arrow
between the two, and writes like or as above the arrow. My students loved
making the maps and got very creative with their pictures. Visualization is an
important component of memory and students visualized their maps and pictures
to access their terms and definitions."
AVOIDING "SENIOR MOMENTS"
Knowing what she does about the
brain, how it learns, and how it functions, Sprenger recognizes that every
person can take better care of his or her brain to improve memory. That
includes getting enough sleep, which means eight hours for adults. Eating right
and including Omega 3 fats in the diet help too, as does lowering stress
through exercise, meditation, or making life changes.
"Write things down,"
advises Sprenger. "Often we forget because we are using our memory spaces
with information that we can take off of our minds by jotting it down. That
frees working memory space and makes it easier to remember what we have
completed, where we have put things, and what we need to remember or do
next."
What other things can teachers do to
stay on top of their own memory challenges and avoid the stereotypical senior
moments," especially in the classroom? Simply spending time with
interesting people keeps the mind young. Reading the newspaper, discussing what
is going on in the world, and social contact are all positive experiences for
the brain.
"It is vital as we age that we
keep our brains challenged and busy," Sprenger states. "Playing
bridge, chess, and other intellectual games is helpful. Learning new skills
such as playing musical instruments is a wonderful way to challenge your brain
and keep it making connections. Crossword puzzles, Sudoku, and reading also are
helpful."
Source: educationworld.com
