ch.6 and ch. 13

1. We have now moved on to memory strategies to help us move information from working memory to long term memory. The chapter focuses on strategies using mnemonics with imagery and organization. Chapter 13 discussed the memory process as we age. Children actually have really good memories, but they are easily changed if there is a stereotype or suggestion added to the memory. It is important to teach memory strategies to children so they can make use of them.

2. So far we learned that changing information from working memory to long term memory is a process. For students, connecting what they are learning to their lives, the real world, or to past memories, can help them transfer what was learned into long term memory.

3. I am still having a hard time understanding the method of loci strategy. I saw the video clips, but I just don't see how it helps. I guess that it is a strategy that I do not use and maybe never worked for me so it is more difficult for me to understand.

4. After doing activity 13.2 with a few students, I really would like to teach my students memory strategies. I am very interested in finding more research for strategies I can use in my classroom. To me, it is really important to expose them to as many as I can since not everyone will use the same strategies.

5. I am having difficulty seeing the validity of all the studies. I do not see how the researchers could prove that the participants were only using a specific strategy while they were testing them. For instance in the study with the animal names, one group was taught the visual imagery strategy and expected to use it while remembering the names. What if they actually repeated the names in their heads the whole time instead of the imagery? How would the person giving the experiment know? Even though I have a hard time believe that the studies are all 100% accurate, I do think the information is worth researching further and I do believe it is true.

6. The information in these chapters help me understand why I have trouble trying to get my third graders to study for a test. I do not remember being taught too many memory strategies in school, but I learned some from my mom. So as a teacher, I have not thought about teaching my students any before, but now I will. I can't wait to get started.

7. I will start using these strategies at the beginning of the school year next year. Also, I am using the information from these chapters to help me reflect on bad memory strategies, especially with Spelling words, that I have taught my students.

8. By learning new strategies, one will be able to learn new information for a longer period of time. The strategies I used in high school Spanish class obviously were not good because I took 5 years of Spanish and can barely say a sentences. I learned to just memorize words for the test and then end it there. If only a teacher would have stopped to teach me a new way. (Maybe one did, but I don't remember that either!)