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The two main categories for memory are short-term and long-term memory. (Harvard Health Publishing, 2022). Short-term memory is just information you need to recall for a few seconds, but then quickly forget after it has served its purpose, whereas long-term memory can be facts, events, skills, and processes (Harvard Health Publishing, 2022). Long-term memory can also evolve and change with new added information, and these memories are stored away in the hippocampus of the brain (Harvard Health Publishing, 2022). However, the sensory components of the memory, like sight, sound, or smell, are all stored in different areas of the brain, and the emotional connections to the memory are stored in the amygdala (Harvard Health Publishing, 2022). Sensory memory can be stored as short-term memories of stimuli such as sights and sounds or long-term memories such as sensory impressions of sights and sounds (Psychology Today, 2025). The cerebral cortex is one area of the brain where memory components go but are retrieved from there by the frontal lobes when there is a need for retrieval, otherwise the memory will lie dormant until it is remembered (Harvard Health Publishing, 2022).

Harvard Health Publishing, 2022. Memory. https://www.health.harvard.edu/topics/memory

Psychology Today, 2025. Types of memory. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/memory/types-of-memory#sensory-memory

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Retention is the process by which long-term memory conserves learning so that it can be retrieved in the future (Sousa, 2022). For a learner to retain information, they must be conscientious and build a visionary framework that has sense and meaning and the opportunity to process and reprocess, something called rehearsal (Sousa, 2022). Transfer is when learning is applied to situations that students may meet in the future - this affects past learning, current learning, memory, and recall (Sousa, 2022). The quality of transfer during new learning, however, depends upon the quality of the original learning (Sousa, 2022).

Sousa, D.A. (2022). How the brain learns (6th ed.). Corwin.

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What happens in the Brain in Relation to Trauma and Memory/How Trauma affects Memory

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What happens in the Brain in Relation to Trauma and Memory/How Trauma affects Memory

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The brain works differently when a person is calm and regulated versus if a person is stressed and dysregulated (PBS Learning Media, 2025). When a person is under pressure -we will call this dysregulated- parts of the brain can shut down, specifically the top part of the brain known as the cortex (PBS Learning Media, 2025). When a student is dysregulated, they will not have optimal learning ability because they will not be engaged and able to reason with a teacher when she is teaching a lesson (PBS Learning Media, 2025). The process of learning is sequential because information has to enter the lower part of the brain via senses, then is processed and moves on to the middle part of the brain for more processing then on to the top part of the brain known as the cortex (PBS Learning Media, 2025). This can sometimes be an obstacle course if the student is stressed or dealing with trauma (PBS Learning Media, 2025). Stress and trauma can interfere with this type of sequential processing, causing the student to not learn as much (PBS Learning Media, 2025). Stress can also cause a person to be unable to retrieve stored information from memory; this is known as state-dependent functioning (PBS Learning Media, 2025).

PBS Learning Media, 2025. Stress, trauma, and the brain. https://tn.pbslearningmedia.org/collection/stress-trauma-and-the-brain-insights-for-educators/

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Strategies That Can Be Used to Improve Memory, Retention, and Transfer in a Classroom (Including Students with Trauma)

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Strategies That Can Be Used to Improve Memory, Retention, and Transfer in a Classroom (Including Students with Trauma)

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One strategy that I found interesting is the Sequence of Engagement involving Regulate - Relate - Reason (PBS Learning Media, 2025). I learned that you can't reason with someone until they are regulated this goes for the student and the teacher as well (PBS Learning Media, 2025). Educators and teachers have to be regulated themselves, they need to make sure they are well-rested and ready to transfer information to students or teach (PBS Learning Media, 2025). Teachers could start their class with three or four minutes of mindfulness meditation to get everyone regulated. I like the fact that once teachers and students are regulated then the teacher will be able to connect with students. Teachers can use little moments to listen and make students feel respected and rewarded. Relational connections with someone can take only seconds and they will feel the connection too (PBS Learning Media, 2025). Students also watch how you treat other students and feel compelled to treat you the same way. This will allow the cortex to be open and ready to learn. This sequential pattern can work for parenting, teaching, or coaching. I want to try it in my future classes.

Another strategy that interests me is the relationship of sense to meaning because I have to do this to learn new things. Our textbook gives an example of a sixth-grade student trying to memorize a poem that made no sense to them, but once the teacher told them they would have to recite in class, it meant something to them (Sousa, 2022). This shows that we can remember things that don't make sense but have meaning. We can remember things that have meaning to us because we make an emotional connection to them, and these pieces of information will go into our long-term storage due to the connection we have with them (Sousa, 2025). Teachers should be more mindful of helping students instill meaning to what they are learning. (Sousa, 2022). One way a teacher can do this is by connecting new information to what students already know from the past. A teacher could also connect learning across subjects to help students make connections and therefore increase meaning and retention (Sousa, 2022).

Sousa, D.A. (2022). How the brain learns (6th ed.). Corwin.

PBS Learning Media, 2025. Stress, trauma, and the brain. https://tn.pbslearningmedia.org/collection/stress-trauma-and-the-brain-insights-for-educators/

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https://padlet.com/swyatt116/memory-transfer-professional-resource-l7kqy7bknah5uwzo