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As an educator, understanding the three main types of memory is crucial for successful teaching and student learning. Sensory memory briefly holds sensory information (1 second), short-term memory temporarily stores information (15-30 seconds), and long-term memory permanently stores information for future recall. Each type is important to the learning process.

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Retention refers to the ability to keep information in memory over time. Within a classroom you may have observed that students retain information better when it's meaningful and connected to their existing knowledge. The brain strengthens neural pathways through repeated practice and makes retention more likely to occur.

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Transfer occurs when learning in one topic enhances performance in another topic. As educators, we should create opportunities for students to apply knowledge in different situations and create a space for them to make mistakes in order to learn from it and create new connections/pathways within the brain. This process involves activating relevant neural networks and forming new connections between existing knowledge.

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Transfer of Learning - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics

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Robert E. Haskell, in Encyclopedia of Applied Psychology, 2004

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Trauma can significantly impact memory processing and retention in the brain. The stress hormone cortisol affects the hippocampus, which disrupts memory formation and recall within it. With severe cases of trauma, trauma can lead to memory fragmentation or suppression. As educators, we need to be sensitive to student trauma and what may affect in our students within our classroom and our teaching.

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As educators it is important to create a safe safe and a predictable learning environment, especially for students who have experienced trauma. This includes creating consistent routines, providing choice and control in learning activities, and having a supportive atmosphere that promotes emotional regulation and focusing on being calm and happy and the skills it takes in order to do that if and when a traumatic event occurs.

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An excerpt from the new book The School of Hope looks at how educators can help students who have experienced trauma.

monkeybusinessimages / iStock

To create safety for students we need to make a valiant attempt to listen and respond to the thoughts of every person in our care. When my adopted children arrived, I wanted to have a relationship from the moment they walked in the door. I was unaware of stimuli in the environment that would trigger instability.

The quick way to alleviate possible stressors is to make sure every person has the opportunity to express their needs and concerns as routines, rules, and procedures are developed.

Consistency: Rules, Procedures, and Routines

Routines and norms offer consistency, which conveys safety and stability. It provides predictability that lets us know what's going to happen and when. When going over rules, routines, and procedures, consider allowing people to ask questions and give input in their creation.

As much as possible, co-creating classroom norms allows all students, including those who have experienced trauma, to have a voice in shaping a space that fosters a sense of safety. Creating rules, routines, and procedures with others provides a sense of security, value, and ownership, which enhances personal safety. It gives the person who might have experienced trauma the chance to bring up concerns and helps avoid recreating triggering situations where students felt like they weren't in control. It can stop potential problems from happening.

This safety practice also begins to foster psychological hope in the brain. Setting a collaborative goal gives students ownership of their environment. The class works together daily to achieve the principles set in their goal. Students get to experience how this collaborative goal works to shape the classroom culture. This reinforces the power of setting goals and future planning. This practice shows students they have power to shape and change the world around them and builds hope as students see how their efforts impact the goal principles and classroom culture.

I like to start off the year by having students agree on the community principles they want to use as a goal to create their ideal classroom environment. Students give input on what attributes should form the foundation for classroom interactions. To get them started I provide them with examples by asking questions. Should we be able to trust each other in the classroom? What is necessary to keep you engaged, happy, and safe? From their individual lists, we create a large list of principles on the board. The students then group similar characteristics until we come up with a list of four or five attributes for the classroom.

Classroom ideals might include trustworthiness, humor, collaboration, and kindness. The class then works together to create one rule that will ensure that each of these ideals is honored. For example, trustworthiness might have a rule that we honor each other by being honest even when it's hard. Humor might have a rule that states we use school-appropriate jokes or puns when suitable to make class lighthearted. Collaboration might have a rule that we work together as a class to accomplish goals and to build comradery. Lastly, kindness could have a rule that states we always try to make others feel welcome by acting in a way that shows respect and caring. This allows students to see that the rules work to form a pathway to the goal of keeping them safe, comfortable, and happy.

Once the rules are created, I print out the principles and rules and give a copy to each member of the class. Each of my six classes creates principles and rules they will follow. It's important to go over rules and procedures often to remind people of the way to act in certain situations, to show the structures of consistency that are in place, and to convey to students and staff that safety is a priority.

We can't mitigate all stressors, but students are more likely to demonstrate resilience if they know they have a say and the support of a consistent, caring teacher. Even with a good foundation, however, problems may arise. The best thing we can do in any situation is reaffirm safety and take the time to be curious about behaviors. When students do exhibit challenging behaviors, we can reaffirm safety by approaching them in a calm, respectful way. Rather than asking, "What's wrong with you?" and labeling a kid, we should remain curious and shift the question to, "What's happened to you?"

My own children kept huddling together in my home. Instead of becoming full of frustration, I asked them questions about the huddling behavior. My oldest son, C.J., later told me that huddle-hugging made them feel safe. I continued asking questions and found out they would group together to prevent severe injury. In the past, their father would isolate one of them to abuse, and they knew if they ran and hugged each other he might still hurt them, but not as much as if they were alone. They shared the pain. My children found safety in the clinging hands of their siblings, so when they arrived at my house they clung to each other not to snub their new life but because they wanted safety. This learned behavior was a way to self-soothe and find security during a gigantic change.

Change is hard, but it's even more difficult for those with trauma. Even though my children were in a safe environment, their brains and bodies did not recognize that there was no danger. Consistency over time helps soothe the brain and gives comfort. After a few weeks of following the same routine, listening to my kids, and setting principles for the household environment, my children started to smile, play, and laugh. Your consistent words and actions matter beyond measure!

Communication: Mental Health Check-In

How do you handle your bad days, when hope is a distant star and "Happy" is just a song blaring from a radio? When you are exhausted, stressed, and just don't want to try? You might play video games or read a book. Perhaps you distract yourself with the Internet, YouTube, or Netflix. A jog in the park might make you feel better. We have ways to cope, but do they solve the problem? They numb the pain, but do they remove it?

Coping mechanisms might get you through a tough spot, but it takes more to help foster healing. According to a study done by Pennebaker, Kiecolt-Glaser, and Glaser, "Simply talking about our problems and sharing our negative emotions with someone we trust can be profoundly healing-reducing stress, strengthening our immune system, and reducing physical and emotional distress."

We need to talk more about mental well-being because a lack of communication will block us and stop us from forming connections. Communication helps people deal, heal, and cope with hurts. It also allows us to show students new ways to channel their feelings.

It's important to have numerous opportunities for every person to check in and communicate their mental state. Each chance creates a net to catch, respond to, and assist in healing hurts as they arise. Mental health communication can be done in numerous ways in the classroom and school setting. Teachers can create spaces physically or remotely where every student can check in. Communication allows teachers to gain insight into student safety concerns, feedback, and traumas.

Consider creating a check-in using a Google Form that asks first about a positive part of a student's day. Then inquire specifically about the student's mental state. Using multiple-choice answers can help students feel less intimidated to complete the check-in. Offer choices such as "I'm great," "I'm OK," "I'm struggling," or "I'm having a hard time and would like a check-in." For younger students, consider using happy/sad faces that show varying degrees of emotion from happy to upset. Use an open-ended question to ask if the student has particular needs that can be addressed. You can make a copy of the Google Form I use with my students. Pass out the link, post it in a digital classroom, or create a QR code for students to scan to allow easy access. Provide a few minutes for students to fill out the chart at the start of class. Quickly scan the results for any people in need of a physical check-in and follow up.

The greatest thing of value in a school is the people. Taking the time to check in and help others shows people that they matter. It allows safety to bloom and alleviates fear. Having open conversations about mental health promotes a school culture of mental wellness. Trauma can touch anyone at any time, but with open communication we can be there when it does.

Care: Self-Care Plans and Asset-Based Teaching

When trauma shows up it arrives like an earthquake, which can wreck consistency. Even when it stops, aftershocks occur. Stressful moments are the breeding place of rash decisions. Why? Because without proper planning, we react to the moment. The reality is that over time acute traumas touch all of us: death, sickness, accidents, divorce, and natural disasters, to name a few. Schools prepare and run drills for shootings, fires, and tornados. In California, they even build schools with the knowledge that earthquakes may happen. Addressing mental wellness is just as important as preparing for a fire. It's important to have tools at our disposal to provide care for those we serve. In order to do that, we need to plan for bad days and moments of emotional turmoil.

A self-care plan is an intervention that keeps a person from being completely sucked into an emotional reaction. It can give a sense of control and safety during escalating feelings. Having a self-care plan is like earthquake-proofing a building. It won't stop the earthquake when it hits, but it will give a person a choice in how to respond. Each person creates his or her own self-care plan. It's a preventative measure filled with their favorite self-care activities, self-regulation tools, and ideas for how to utilize the people who support them.

Having a plan takes the guesswork out of what to do and where to turn in a moment of crisis. It helps a person respond instead of react to the situation at hand. It allows them to take time to think about what they want to do and how they want to do it. You can write your own self-care plan and get students to do the same. Having students create individual plans gives teachers tools to support students who show signs of distress and provides teachers with strategies, activities, and tools to help each student.

For example, Jordan struggled with feelings about her dad going back to prison. In her plan, she wrote that her dad being in and out of her life was a stressor and sometimes caused her to shut down. I knew from her self-care plan that I was an adult she relied on and that art was a tool she used to feel better, so after she finished talking, I suggested she take a few minutes to draw when she went back to the classroom. By taking those few minutes, she was able to find a safe space to deal with her feelings. Creating plans with students allows them to utilize their own neuroplasticity to reshape a moment of chaos into one of control.

To begin a self-care plan with a student, have them recognize support structures, people, and hobbies that help them feel better. Start by asking the student to list activities that they currently utilize to help them feel calm or happy. It's best to model an example plan to students as they create their own. I have each of my students fill out this Google Doc when they are creating their plan.

To model, I go through the self-care plan and fill one out for myself. I go through it step by step and explain out loud my thought process for each part. For calming activities, I give students suggestions of activities such as music, exercise, coloring, art, meditation, etc. Next, I have them list one or two people whom they can turn to for help and support. In the same section, they should write down what resources they have access to in the school building. For example, if your school has a school counselor or a focus and recovery (FAR) room, students can utilize those. By writing this list, the student can take mental stock of tools at their disposal in times of turmoil.

Once students complete the support section, they should list stressors or things that might act as a speedbump to their mental well-being. This section will serve as a guide for moments when you might utilize a student's self-care plan. Thinking through a typical school day or school year might help them hone in on specific areas of stress, such as transitions between classes, a specific time of year, or perhaps a situation like a fire drill. Then they should list barriers outside of school that might affect their mental well-being. Lastly, they should create a plan to address each of the stressors and barriers. They can use tools from their feel-good activity list or other strategies they might want to try. Have them list what they could do to cope when they start to feel overwhelmed.

Remind students that they can use their self-care plan even when they are not in your class. They can revise and use it at their discretion as new barriers appear, new coping tools are learned, and new life circumstances arise. That way the next time an earth-shaking moment hits them, they'll have a plan, and it might be just enough to keep their world from crumbling.

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Creating Safe Environments for Students Recovering From Trauma

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An excerpt from the new book 'The School of Hope' looks at how educators can help students who have experienced trauma.

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Within our classrooms you may incorporate multiple senses in learning activities which have been shown to improve memory formation. This includes using visual aids, doing hands-on activities, and movement-based learning. This approach is effective especially within young learners because it engages multiple neural pathways at the same time and creates stronger memory recall. For me specifically I am a English reading teacher so I found this website very useful for some ideas I can try within my own classroom.

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Sand or shaving cream writing

Air writing (also called sky writing) reinforces the sound each letter makes through " muscle memory." It can also help reinforce commonly confused letter forms like b and d. Kids use two fingers as a pointer (keeping elbows and wrists straight) to write letters in the air. They say the sound each letter makes as they write it.

Encourage kids to imagine the letter as they write it. They can also pretend they're writing in a certain color.

Letters cut out of sandpaper can help kids retain a tactile (touch) memory of letters and their sounds. Kids trace each letter with their fingers while saying the sound of the letter out loud. They can feel the shape of the letters as they write.

Kids say each letter's sound as they lay it down. Once they've built the word, they read it out loud.

Read it, build it, write it

You can use this technique to teach sight words to one or more kids at a time. Kids each have a piece of paper with three boxes on it, labeled "Read," "Build," and "Write." They also have cards with sight words, magnetic letters (or tiles), and a marker.

Have kids read the sight word that's in the "Read" box together with you. Then have them build the word in the "Build" box, using their letters. Finally, have kids practice writing the word in the "Write" box.

Take the word bat. Kids tap an index finger to their thumb as they say the b sound. They tap their middle finger to their thumb as they say the short a sound. And they tap their ring finger to their thumb as they say the t sound. Then they put the sounds together to say bat.

Story sticks can help kids who struggle with reading comprehension visualize the elements of a story. Use a different color craft stick to represent each element. Yellow sticks might ask the question, "Who are the characters?" while blue sticks ask, "What is the setting?"

While reading together, hand kids a stick and ask them to answer the question on it. Or ask kids to highlight the elements of a printed story using the proper colors.

During shared reading, kids can use printable books. Printable books leave a space for kids to write in sight words or draw pictures to match sentences.

About the author

About the author

Amanda Morin is the author of "The Everything Parent's Guide to Special Education" and the former director of thought leadership at Understood. As an expert and writer, she helped build Understood from its earliest days.

Reviewed by

Reviewed by

Ginny Osewalt is a dually certified elementary and special education teacher with more than 15 years of experience in general education, inclusion, resource room, and self-contained settings.

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Multisensory instruction can help kids with reading issues like dyslexia learn to read. Here are a few examples of multisensory reading techniques teachers use.

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Making Meaningful Connections To Student Learning

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Making Meaningful Connections To Student Learning

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We educators we must ensure that we are helping students connect new information to their prior and existing knowledge as well as their personal experiences to increase memory and its transfer. Students may choose to create thinking maps, share their personal experiences related to the topic, and/or discuss real-world examples. This strategy helps with trauma-affected learners because it gives them a sense of choice, independency, and own sense of learning and recall from memory. It is also important to understand our students trauma and make connections to our students and how we can best support their learning (Edutopia, 2018).

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Connections Go a Long Way for Students With Trauma

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Initiating short personal interactions may help students cope with adverse childhood experiences.

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Students learn better when learning is spread out and not crammed all into one day or one lesson. It is important to give our students materials and lessons within small intervals that get increasingly longer and more intense. This approach will help to create a stronger neural connection within the brain and improve students long term recall. This is especially important for our students who have experienced trauma because it reduces stress and gives them multiple opportunities for success and opportunities to learn through mistakes.

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What is Spaced Practice?

Spaced practice is one of the most effective study strategies, in which learners review the learning material over an extended time. This provides time for their minds to make connections between different concepts and ideas so the learners can build upon learning and easily recall the knowledge in future. How does spaced practice work?

The main purpose of the spaced repetitions is to give a chance to the learner to (nearly) forget the previous learning before revisiting the same material. It may sound like a bad idea, but forgetting something to remember leads to long-term retention of learning.

After having to almost forget something, a human brain works even harder to recall the same information. Spaced learning and effective retrieval practiceoffer a workout to the learners' brains each time they revisit the material.

When a person crams in frequent study sessions, all the knowledge is saved in his short-term memory (which he quickly forgets). The use of gaps between study sessionsis an effective learning strategy that, allows the material to store in the pupil's long-term memory instead.

This is the main reason for spaced retrieval practice to work. Ultimately, the learners won't need to work harder to recall the information leading to the intense period of learning -they will be able to recollect the information quickly from their long-term learning.

In the first few learning sessions, the learner's mind would be working hard to recall the information. As he revisits the information, it will become easier to recall and build upon.

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What are the steps of using spaced practice?

Spaced repetition can practiced in the following four steps:

1. Planning: Plan the regular intervals of study sessions;

2. Study and review: The information must be studied and reviewed for the first time.

3. Recalling: Recall the learned material at the first spacing interval.

4. Continue to recall: The learning material must be recalled at adequate spacing intervals.

Cognitive science has seen a resurgence in recent years as curriculum content in schools has placed larger demands on memory. If your colleagues are interested in building robust knowledge as the basis for memory consolidation that you might be interested in learning about our graphic organisers and building block methodologies. Educators need to consider careful curriculum design when thinking about the retention of knowledge. Many of the schools we work with are thinking about the encoding process more carefully. As Daniel Willingham points out, memory is understanding in disguise.

Curriculum subjects are full of complex ideas and students now have to embrace the science of learning in order to remember the important information. The Education Endowment Foundation now hosts hundreds of studies in this field and our own repository of landmark research will prove a good starting point for any educator interested in effective study skills.

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What are the best ways to plan a spaced repetition schedule?

In secondary school classroom practices, establishing a spaced repetition learning schedule will help students better remember what they have learned. This will prepare children to build upon the knowledge being learned so they have a solid foundation for formal assessment and future classes.

1. Planning frequent and short review sessions: Rather than trying to learn everything at once, short and regular study sessions are better for giving learners a chance to remember what they have understood and made new connections. These study sessions with spaced retrieval practice must be used throughout the year, not only at the study time for an upcoming test.

2. Review for a longer duration: Rather than cramming the whole day in one or two study sessions, take out a little time to review the material each day. A learner may divide the learning material into smaller topics and complete each topic in a couple of weeks. He must switch between topics, with a longer gap between practice sessions, focusing on a specific topic.

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For instance, if a learner starts to read a new unit in Science, a study session must be devoted to it. Then, the next day the same topic of Science must be reviewed again. Later on, he must wait for 3 days and review the Science topic once again. The pattern may change for each learner, but this is how a typical retrieval-based and spaced practice schedule might look:

Day 1: First session of study;

Day 2: Review & Revisit;

After 3 days: Review & Revisit;

After 1 week: Review & Revisit;

After 2 weeks: Review & Revisit.

It is recommended to review older material first and frequently receive assessment feedback from the teachers.

When a learner reads something from the most recent class, he must review and read the important information from the older class to keep it fresh in mind. With retrieval-based and spaced practice, it is better for the learning process to forget a little. Study becomes more effective when a child starts to study, nearly forget, and study again. The main purpose is to refresh what was learned in the last few training sessions. The harder a child's mind is challenged to remember past material, the better he would be able to recall in the future.

1. Mix old information with new material: As a learner revisits previous material, he would be learning new information. It is a chance for a child to mix old and new concepts. While a child is reviewing and revisiting old material, he must be encouraged to think about how it connects with other topics of long-term learning.

2. Preparing summary and checklist: In each spaced retrieval practice study session, a summary or checklist must be created. Whenever the child revisits the learning material, these checklists and summaries will jog his memory. By doing so, a child will be able to incorporate old information into the new one he has learned. It will also allow the child to keep on track with the increase in learning.

3. Practice to Master Study Skills: One cannot deny the benefits from retrieval practice and spaced repetition. As a child makes a habit of using retrieval-based and spaced practice, he would be able to create a strong foundation for performing better on tests or in class.

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What is Leitner System?

The Leitner system is one of the retrieval based educational practices involving a basic flashcard to perform spaced repetition. In the 1970s, a German Science journalist, Sebastian Leitner proposed 'The Leitner System for classrooms with flashcards involving the act of reviewing flashcards from a Leitner Box in extended intervals. For example:

Level 1: cards every day;

Level 2: cards every 2 days;

Level 3: cards every 4 days;

Level 4: cards every 8 days, and so on.

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According to an independent study, providing students with retrieval opportunities through flashcard apps improve recall and retention. Flashcards are considered to be ideal for practising the foreign language vocabulary, retrieval of facts, terms, and concepts. For some topics, like foreign languages learning, some specialized flashcards apps will help learners through digital flashcards (e.g. Quizlet, Memrise ). Regular retrieval practice and spaced repetition are two of the most effective study techniques students may use but, manually planning retrieval-based and spaced practicecan be very overwhelming. Flashcard apps and software provide an effective learning method and an ideal opportunity for the learners to recognise the sweet spot of optimal learning. Whenever a student's forgetfulness increases to a certain level, these flashcard apps pop up and bring their mind back on track.

There is no doubt in the effectiveness of retrieval practice and spaced learning. Clearly, the spaced regular retrieval practice is much better than cramming the learning material in just one study session. Learning and memory go hand in hand, and the main objective of every learner is to transfer the classroom material of learning into his long-term memory which leads to an increase In memory recall. When a learner can absorb the information better, he can build a deeper understanding and use these learned concepts in meaningful ways.

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Spaced practice is one of the most effective study strategies , in which learners review the learning material over an extended time. This provides time for their minds to make connections between different concepts and ideas so the learners can build upon learning and easily recall the knowledge in future.

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According to a Harvard study, memory is an ongoing process which holds and retains information overtime. Memory plays a crucial role in teaching and learning. Our memory is a framework for making sense of the past, present, and future. As teachers we need to understand the processes of encoding, storage, and recall.

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Memory is the ongoing process of information retention over time. Because it makes up the very framework through which we make sense of and take action within the present, its importance goes without saying. But how exactly does it work? And how can teachers apply a better understanding of its inner…

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Why is memory important in an educational learning environment? 

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Why is memory important in an educational learning environment? 

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In an edutopia article written by Blake Harvard in 2022, he explains that the most important aspect of student learning is understanding the humans memory and how it works. As teachers it is important to understand that we are focusing mostly on long term memory and having our students store the information taught into their memory permanently. Within long term memory we need to focus on sensory memory and how students are processing what is being told and shown within our lesson(s). It is important to create a learning environment where this is as easy as possible for students to do. Also, we need to make sure we have their attention. Engagement is the most necessary brain stimulation and learning. Finally, we need to understand the difference between long term and working memory. Working memory is how students can encode information, is short term, and plays a key role in the steps to long term memory; whereas long term memory is where information is stored permanently for a lifetime.

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A knowledge of how we store and use information is invaluable for teachers in helping students to internalize lessons in long-term memory.

One of the most important aspects of learning that might be least understood is human memory. We are tasked with passing on skills and knowledge to students-it's the most important aspect of our job. Yet how many educators have earned degrees and teaching certificates without any mention of how memory works? How often is human memory a topic of a book study or professional development session? I earned my teaching degree 15 years ago and don't remember one session of any class on the topic. Any professional development I've received on the topic of memory has been rare, or I've had to seek it out on my own.

I don't know of any teachers who don't want to do what's best for their students, and being able to produce instruction and a learning environment that are efficient and effective for learning requires knowledge of memory processes and a basic understanding of how to work within the constraints of human memory.

So what do teachers need to know about memory?

Guiding Students to Move Their Learning to Long-Term Memory

Senses and sensory memory: This may seem obvious, but the very first step to remembering is sensation-students have to sense the material. Most of the time, in school this equates to seeing and/or hearing the information. This is a necessary first step, but it is quite fleeting on its own. For instance, right now you are sensing a large amount of information. Practically, in the classroom teachers need to create an environment where it is as easy as possible for students to sense the material. While it's not currently the most popular idea in education, I have all of my students face the front of my room, where information is mostly presented. This increases the odds they will visually sense the necessary material.

Attention: This brings us to attention. If students don't give attention to those sensations, memory is null. To use a current education buzzword, this is engagement. Engagement is what the brain attends to. It is an act of cognition. Obviously, this is of extreme importance with respect to learning. Where students place their attention is where they have an opportunity to learn. Is it focused on the necessary stimulation for learning or on a phone screen? Or is it split between multiple sensations?

In my classroom, I want to make it as easy as possible for students to spend their attention on what's most important for learning. This means I create an environment as free from distractions as possible, by considering what manipulatives they may have on their desk, what decorations I have on the walls, how clearly and concisely I present material, and the physical setup of desks and chairs.

Working memory: If students sense and attend to the learning material, the information may be understood and encoded in their working memory. To put it simply, the conscious thought you are having right now is what is present in your working memory-it is the information you are cognitively working with. But again we see that although this is a very necessary step, it is not sufficient for long-term retention of material. Working memory is quite fleeting both in its capacity to process information at any given time and in how long it will hold that information without rehearsal. To a certain degree, it's a bit like a funnel for information-only so much material can make its way through without being lost, so it's imperative that teachers carefully monitor the cognitive complexity of our classroom and the lessons we design.

For instance, in my classroom this means keeping the main thing the main thing-what is absolutely necessary for my students to encounter and understand for learning? For the most part, everything that our students attend to and engage with places a load on their working memory. If instructional design is too complicated, or not explicit enough as to what students should focus on, they may not have room in their working memory for the necessary stimulation for processing because they are focusing on the wrong information. Instructional design should remain simple, especially for new and/or complicated material.

I'm not saying that classrooms and lessons should be almost depressingly bland, but with every new piece of information or diagram or manipulative that students encounter, the load on their constrained working memory is increased. Choose wisely.

Long-term memory: As best we know, unlike working memory, long-term memory is limitless both in its capacity and in the length of time it can hold memories. From a practical standpoint, this should be a goal of the educator: getting the pertinent information to the students' long-term memory. While it would be fantastic if the memories of classroom material automatically processed into long-term memory, that is usually not the case. For most classroom material, this requires effortful processing.

Two of the best evidence-based learning strategies for this are retrieval practice and spaced practice. These strategies require, at differing times, for students to access their memories of the material and effortfully use and apply their knowledge. What's quite interesting about this is when students retrieve these memories, they are now in working memory.

Generally speaking, the more we rehearse the recognition or recall of memories, the stronger and more efficient they become. Even though a student may remember something from one day to the next, indicating it's part of their long-term memory, that doesn't mean it is necessarily accessible forever-an unused memory may be forgotten or irretrievable. Practicing utilizing knowledge is imperative both as an assessment of learning and for learning.

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What Do Teachers Need to Know About Memory?

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A knowledge of how we store and use information is invaluable for teachers in helping students to internalize lessons in long-term memory. One of the most important aspects of learning that might be least understood is human memory. We are tasked with passing on skills and knowledge to students-it's the most important aspect of our job.

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What happens in the brain when memories are established? 

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What happens in the brain when memories are established? 

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When memories first occur in our brain our neurons fire and create new connections using the synapse helps the brain store information. When our memory has a stronger synapse fire then it makes the memory easier to recall later on. According to Hopkins Medicine, whenever we learn something new we make new connections between neurons in our brain. The number of connections in our brain "gives the brain unfathomable flexibility - each of the brain's 100 billion nerve cells have 10,000 connections to other nerve cells" (John Hopkins, 2019).

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Just how are memories formed? And what can strengthen the connections in our brains? A Johns Hopkins expert shares what research shows.