Our long-term memory is made up of two categories: explicit and implicit. The explicit memory's main function is to collect information, consciously and the implicit memory's function is to complete a task without having to think about it, like how to brush your teeth or how to put your clothes on when you get dressed.

In the learning environment, the short-term memory allows for the brain to store the concepts being taught in that moment. Forgetting concepts and informaiton that has been taught by the teacher one time is most likely stored in the short-term memory then forgotten about.

Think about when you teach a 3rd grader about nouns.. you explicity go into detail about the types of nouns. The next day they are doing their morning work and there is a question about a noun. They proceed to ask, "what is a noun?" That is explanation of how quickly information can be lost. The students must be able to personally connect with the information before they are able to transfer it from the short-term to long-term memory.

As teachers, our goal is for a student to store the concepts that we teach them in their long-term memory, so they are able to refer back to the information when we ask them questions about it. However, it isn't always that easy for the students. A child that doesn't suffer from trauma is going to have a better chance of retaining information versus a child who has suffered from some type of trauma. Trauma leaves a lasting impact on someone's brain.

While we cannot change the trauma that a child has faced in their lifetime, we can utilize strategies to help them transfer information from their short-term memory to their long-term memory. Some of the strategies that have been supported by research are activating background knowledge, using retrieval practice, contextualizing learning, and using interleaved practice.