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Short-term memory refers to the information that doesn't need to be held onto longer than a couple minutes. This information quickly becomes something that isn't needed, so the brain discards it (Marshall, n.d.). When students are first introduced to information, if it isn't rehearsed within a few minutes, it will be part of the short-term memory and will not be learned/committed to the long-term memory. This is why it's important to keep students engaged in learning and make sure they are actively participating in lessons to help ensure they're continuing to recall or rehearse the information being taught to them.

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Long-term memory is the information that is held onto for a longer time. This can include facts learned, events that have happened, and skills that have been learned and are memories that can be changed over time (Marshall, n.d.). Things can be committed to long-term memory through different types of rehearsal- rote and elaborative. Rote rehearsal is simply memorizing the information, but with the potential of not understanding it or being able to apply it to solve problems. Elaborative rehearsal is when information is really learned through connections to prior learning and will help students solve problems and answer more complex questions (Sousa, 2022). Making those connections to other learning at the beginning of lessons will, ideally, help students to truly understand the information and learn it well rather than just memorizing facts.

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Sensory memory refers to the sights, smells, sounds, tastes, and feelings that were going on when a memory was created (Marshall, n.d.). Because memory isn't just stored in one specific area of the brain, these sensory aspects are often helpful in recalling a memory due to the closeness of the hippocampus and the amygdala. The hippocampus stores the different parts of the memory, while the amygdala uses it's emotional control to decide which memories are important (Marshall, n.d.). Teachers could always try different ways to incorporate the different senses into their teaching. There is a model of teaching called the CRA (concrete, representation, abstract) which says that new information should be taught starting with a concrete model (Savas & Beverly, 2024). This means the sense of touch needs to be incorporated through using manipulatives or another model before using any written method to learn the information. This is easy to do with math, though it can be tough in other subjects.

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This image shows the ideal (prime) times within a 40 minute lesson for peak retention of information (Sousa, 2022).

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The retention of information is a critical part of learning as it is the ability to actually hold onto information and not forget it immediately. Sousa (2022) explains that the best time for retention of information is during the first 20 minutes of a 40 minute lesson, followed by the last 10-15 minutes. In order for students to use their learning in more complex ways i.e. solving more complex problems through applying their knowledge to different scenarios, they need to be retaining what they're learning and making connections to other learning they have.

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Building on the last image, this shows the typical prime times for learning for 20, 40, and 80 minute lessons (Sousa, 2022).

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Prime-times for learning refers to the window of opportunity within a lesson where students are likely to be paying the most attention and are most likely to walk away with the information taught in those windows (Sousa, 2022). The image above shows these times for 20 minute, 40 minute, and 80 minute lessons. The "down-time" part of the graph refers to the chunk of time where students brains may not be as focused, leaving them less likely to pick up on as much of that information (Sousa, 2022). This graph would suggest that the ideal lesson length would be closer to 20 minutes since more of that time is likely to be prime time with only about 2 minutes being down-time. The prime-time at the beginning of the lesson is the most important time for new information to be taught, so it is recommended not to be wasted on things that can be told to the class later such as announcements; this time should be reserved for new information to maximize student learning (Sousa, 2022).

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Teaching something to another person or group of people helps the brain retain information better. Having a student put information into their own words helps them process the information and make connections which keeps the information fresh and makes it harder to forget (LLU School of Medicine, n.d.). This can be a good way to get all students involved and even give them opportunities to relearn information another way from a peer. The idea of presenting to peers can make students feel nervous which may activate different aspects of the senses at the time of the presentation which can also help improve learning and retention. Students sometimes enjoy learning information from other students more than teachers, so it is a way to include a variety of learning needs.

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Every student has different learning needs for teachers to take into consideration. Some students may do best learning auditorily and may not need as much written or tactile practice, while some students may do their best learning with hands on experience with the content they're learning. Other kids may need visuals to help them learn while others may do their best learning by writing information down. (LLU School of Medicine, n.d.). While it isn't always possible to hit 100% of those needs every single day, it is important to keep each student in mind throughout longer-term planning to try and help each student with their own learning and keep them engaged as much as possible (Sousa, 2022).

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According to Harvard Medical School (n.d.), physical health has large impacts on memory and cognitive functioning. Their studies showed that those with more weekly exercise and strong diets full of heart healthy foods (nuts, berries, fish, etc.) had higher cognitive functioning and less loss of memory. This is something teachers can take into consideration for their students so they can encourage them to eat healthy foods and avoid sweets and fatty foods more often than not; they can also use this information to guide their own diets and model a healthy lifestyle for their students. Keeping healthy is a sure way to keep the memory going strong (Harvard Medical School, n.d.).

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When something traumatic happens, the brain goes into survival mode and only focuses on the traumatic event. Stress hormones are released, and fight/flight/freeze mode is in full swing. Due to the anxiety and stress in play during these events, the brain will hold onto these memories and the amygdala will sometimes recognize other events as the trauma event and put the body back into defense mode; this is why PTSD happens (Lebow, 2021). These events continue to have lasting impacts on several other parts of the brain as well, and these can have an impact on learning. For example, both the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex are impacted. The hippocampus, which is where most learning happens, can be smaller in size in those with severe trauma compared to those without. This causes it to do it's job less, which directly impacts learning (Lebow, 2021). The part of the brain that is able to make decisions and think rationally is the prefrontal cortex which is also less active in the brains of those with deep rooted traumas (Lebow, 2021). This can lead to struggles with thinking and processing in a logical way which, again, impacts learning. If the brain is unable to make logical decisions or learn as well as less traumatized brains, it makes sense that learning is less likely to happen the more trauma that person has experienced. All of this can lead to negative feelings and higher levels of anxiety, which then creates another distraction from learning and can stand in the way of retaining information and truly being able to learn (Lebow, 2021).