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What is Sensory Memory | Explained in 2 min (Whaling, 2022)

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Sensory memory is immediate memory. These memories happen with things we see, hear, touch, smell, or taste. The memories can be stored if there is a strong feeling or meaning tied to them. Sensory memory is an offer to other areas of the brain to connect to the memory. If there is no connection or meaningfulness, the memory will be forgotten rather quickly.

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What is Sensory Memory | Explained in 2 min

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Memories are stored in different neurons located throughout different areas of the brain. New information is searching for connections. When a connection is made, more recollection is made. This leads to more neuron activity. The more neuron activity you have, the more likely you are to store that information into long-term memory (Sousa, 2022).

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Memory makes us individuals. Memories shape us as people. We tie memories together to enhance learning like branches of a tree. The more we can connections we can make to past experiences, the fuller our learning will be. Our brain has an unlimited space for storing information. Brain cells are not increased, the branches off of the neurons are. First, information is brought in through our senses, stored in short-term memory in hopes it will connect to long-term memory experiences.

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What is Short-Term Memory | Explained in 2 min (Whaling, 2020).

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Short-term memory is also known as our working memory. The capacity for this memory is limited (Di Tullio, 2021). As educators, we hope to tie information students learn into long-term memory. However, students will not retain information we teach them unless there is a connection of meaningfulness, repetition, and recollection.

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What is Short-Term Memory | Explained in 2 min

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What is Long-Term Memory | Explained in 2 min (Whaling, 2020).

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Long-term memory has an unlimited capacity! The hard part is getting the information there. Connections need to be made for information to be retained. There are 2 types of long-term memory: explicit which is effortless recall and implicit which is automatic procedure memory (Sousa, 2022).

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What is Long-Term Memory | Explained in 2 min

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There is not one teaching strategy that reaches all your students at the same time. Mix it up, don't stick with the same strategy too long, variety is key because you have a variety of learners filling your room and waiting for you to fill them up.

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Retention is the ability to recall and use past experiences to make new knowledge stick. Students need to be interested, motivated, repetitional practice, and information has to have meaning in order for students to retain information.

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Transfer is the ability to apply that knowledge in new situations and connect what was learned to new scenarios (Sousa, 2022). In order for students to solve problems, transfer needs to take place.

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Teachers are the the gateway of knowledge for their students. We are the key component of transferring information for students. Setting a positive classroom climate is key. A warm, safe classroom built on trust and compassion allows students to learn successfully by the release of endorphins and stimulating the frontal lobes instead of a stressful climate which releases cortisol and activates defensive behaviors (Sousa, 2022).

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A strategy I favor is I do, we do, you do. I feel modeling is essential no matter the age. Expectations are set when I do. The information being presented is not an overload of information. It is a small amount. Confidence is built with we do. By practicing skills together, repetition is implemented and guidance is essential in getting them ready for success. Skills are mastered with you do. During the you do time, I am still present walking around the room, giving positive feedback to students as needed to keep motivation lit. Pair and share is also beneficial for students to "teach" a classmate the skill.

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There are layers in the brain that result to learning. The bottom of the brain is the emotional part of the brain. The top of the brain is the cortex where learning happens. Teachers have to make their way through connections with the students to reach the cortex of the students (Perry, 2025). Trauma shuts down the cortex. A calm state creates an open door for learning. With stress, unpredictability, chaos, and anxiety learning will not happen for that student. The teacher is key to implementing a calm classroom environment.

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Teachers have power. We need to help students feel regulated, feel belongingness, feel wanted, feel welcomed so they are able to learn. Teachers are a constant model in and out of the classroom. Our interactions, our reactions, our word choice, and how we carry ourselves creates the positive classroom environment needed for learning to be successful.

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Even as adults we get bored by just listening to someone speak for long increments of time. Keep instruction short and sweet. Prime time and downtime occur during a lesson (Soussa, 2022). The beginning of a lesson is prime time #1: here the students are engaged at the highest heights, they are locked down and focused. During this time, introduce new material. The middle portion is downtown: this is where students practice what was just introduced or review. The final portion is another dose of prime time, just not at the height of the first ten minutes. During this time, we focus on closure with exit tickets or journal writing.