Memory by

What is Memory?

mcarrillo62_1 — 2024-10-09 11:14:28 UTC

A person's memory is part of what shapes us as individuals. It helps to make us unique. A memory forms in the brain when a group of neurons is activated and fires together. This starts a process of the brain making a determination on how long it should keep the memory (Sousa, 2022).

Long-Term Memory

mcarrillo62_1 — 2024-10-09 11:23:20 UTC

Our long-term memory is kept indefinitely, and while it is being stored, it can be changed based on new experiences. Long-term memory travels the channels of the thalamus and hippocampus and eventually lands in the cerebral cortex. When these memories need to be extracted, the frontal lobes go to work (Marshall, 2022). Long-term memory is essential to education. This is how students build upon their learning and progress successfully through school. Educators need to make sure the information they are teaching makes sense to the students and helps the students to find value in the information as these two things are necessary for the brain to file information into the long-term category (Sousa, 2022).

Short-term Memory

mcarrillo62_1 — 2024-10-09 15:43:53 UTC

Short-term memory is for information the brain assumes is only needed for a few seconds or minutes. The memory starts in the thalamus, but if the brain decides the information is not important, it will be dropped out of the memory pathway. In the classroom the teacher needs to find a way to make the information both make sense and have value for it to move from short-term memory to long-term memory. Information will also need to be taught more than once in order to move on from short-term memory (Sousa, 2022).

Retention

mcarrillo62_1 — 2024-10-09 15:52:22 UTC

Retention is the process of the long-term memory area of the brain being able to locate, identify, and retrieve the information needed. Retention is absolutely essential to classroom learning. For students to be able to build skill upon skill they need to have good retention. For a student to retain information it must make sense and be of some value to the student. The student must also be exposed to the information multiple times (Sousa, 2022).

Transfer

mcarrillo62_1 — 2024-10-09 16:04:22 UTC

Transfer happens during and after learning. Transfer during learning occurs when prior knowledge has an effect on the acquisition of new knowledge. The after learning process is the degree to which the person or student uses the new information in future circumstances. Transfer is important in the classroom because it is constantly happening. Students are consistently processing and receiving new information during the school day (Sousa).

Trauma and the brain

mcarrillo62_1 — 2024-10-09 16:10:45 UTC

If a person experiences trauma to the brain, the brain will shut down all unnecessary systems. When that happens, it also activates the sympathetic nervous system. This activation releases stress hormones and your body will enter survival mode. When the body is in survival mode, the brain spends so much energy on trying to protect one from unfounded threats that your memory will suffer. The brain is basically being overloaded and can no longer remember properly (Lebow, 2021).

Meditation

mcarrillo62_1 — 2024-10-09 16:15:59 UTC

Meditation is one strategy that can be used by teachers to help improve the memory, retention, and transfer for their students. Meditation takes practice, so for younger students teacher can begin with guided meditation. Meditation is proven to increase blood flow to the brain which leads to enhanced memory capacity. For students who have had trauma it has extra benefits. Meditation is also shown to relieve stress and worry so this will help a traumatized student to be more comfortable and open to learn (Mendel, n.d.).

Making connections

mcarrillo62_1 — 2024-10-09 16:22:33 UTC

Making connections is another strategy that teachers can use to improve memory, transfer and retention. Making connections helps the brain transfer information into long-term memory effectively and allows the working memory to relax a bit. To make connections for the students, a teacher must find ways to relate the information to a students life. This can be done orally, or through activities the teacher has the students engage in. Making connections helps to keep the students involved and more engaged allowing the memory and retention to be enhanced (DiTullio, 2021).

References

mcarrillo62_1 — 2024-10-09 21:19:47 UTC

DiTullio, Gina. (2021, September 9th). How to engage students' memory processes to improve learning. Edutopia.

https://www.edutopia.org/article/how-engage-students-memory-processes-improve-learning

Lebow, Hilary. (2021, July 2nd). The science behind PTSD symptoms: How trauma changes the brain. PsychCentral.

https://psychcentral.com/ptsd/the-science-behind-ptsd-symptoms-how-trauma-changes-the-brain#trauma-and-the-brain

Marshall, Mallika. (2022, March 21st). Memory. Harvard Health Publishing.

https://www.health.harvard.edu/topics/memory

Mendel, Bart. (n.d.). Does meditation improve memory? Mindworks.

https://mindworks.org/blog/does-meditation-improve-memory/

Sousa, David A. (2022). How the brain learns. (6th ed.). Corwin Press Inc.

https://bibliu.com/app/?bibliuMagicToken=mVBSpFNm2jlMPur6bO3sKAodlVGrcSi4#/view/books/9781071855348/epub/OEBPS/toc.html