Teaching With the Brain in Mind

Teaching with the Brain in Mind
terms or ideas. Build a working model that embodies
the key elements of the main ideas presented.
Use dramatic concert readings: Read the key points
you want to recall with dramatic instrumental
music as a backdrop. Make up a story using the
key items; it will supply a meaningful context for
the items, and the plot provides an associative
thread of ideas so that one triggers the next. The
studies in this area are numerous; they include
Bartlett and Santrock (1979) and Bower (1981).
Reflexive Strategies
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The fill-in blank on a written test can be the
prompt for semantic or reflexive retrieval, depending
on how the material was learned and how
much review was done. The more the practice, the
more “automated” the learning, the more likely it
will become reflexive. Flash cards, games like hopscotch,
and other quick-reaction activities can help
store and retrieve memories. The automatic nature
of a rap means that it can also trigger implicit
memories through both the physical motions and
the auditory cues. Many students who would fail
miserably with attempts at semantic storage and
retrieval are real successes with the use of rap and
other reflexive strategies.
Certainly, there’s more to a better education
than memory. Larger issues include questions such
as, “How much should schooling require the need
for memorization?” Or, “Is the teacher’s role essentially
content-driven (and leave it up to the students
to figure out how to improve their recall) or
catalytic (to empower students how to learn by
teaching them these strategies)?” Although there’s
certainly less emphasis on the necessity to memorize
volumes of material—except at the university
levels in science, medicine, and law—it’s still a critical
skill. And as long as it remains critical, educators
have an obligation to share the strategies
described in this chapter with students.