Chapter 6 Question 2

How might your knowledge of the memory processes guide your instructional decisions?

I have learned many adaptations I can make to my instructional style since learning about the memory processes. I have learned that in order for a memory to form, the individual must pay attention to the stimuli in the environment. For this reason, I will try to present the material in multiple ways so more of my students will have a better chance of encoding the information. For example, during a math lesson I will instruct students to read all the information in the chapter before I lead the class in a discussion as I solve the problem. Presenting the material verbally, visually, and textually will accommodate the different learning styles of my students and will help more of them take in the information.

During our lessons on the memory processes, I also learned that students must rehearse and encode working memory for it to become long-term memory. We learned many methods during Amy and Jordan's teaching project that I can use in my future classroom to help my students more easily encode the information into long-term memory. One of the methods they discussed was elaboration, which is a strategy that involves assigning meaningful information to something you wish to remember. To help  my students elaborate and store the information in long-term memory, I will try to use as many authentic connections as I can during my instruction. Linking the material to the real-world will help students make a personal connection and relate to the material. Amy and Jordan also discussed the importance of organization, which is when students make connections among various pieces of information they need to learn. To help my students organize information and store it to long-term memory, I will try to incorporate graphic organizers into my instruction. This will help students visualize how different concepts fit together and will help them organize the material that we are learning. The final method Amy and Jordan discussed was visual imagery. To incorporate more visual imagery into my instructional style, I will try to model my thinking for students and describe exactly what I visually imagine as we work through concepts and how it helps me remember information. I will also encourage students to use visual imagery and will have them draw what they see in their heads so they recognize what visual imagery is and how it can be helpful for them to encode things into long-term memory. Hopefully, by adopting the strategies that Amy and Jordan discussed during their teaching project, I will be able to adapt my instructional style to help improve my students' memory processes.

Because visual imagery is such an abstract concept, it may be difficult to explain to younger students. I found a great website that explains exactly what visual imagery is, why we should use it in our classrooms, how to use it, examples for incorporating it in our classrooms, children's books to use with the strategy, and research that supports the use of visual imagery.
http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/visual_imagery/