How Good Is Your Memory?

Did you know that the average human being can only hold and process between three to nine instructions at a time? After that most of us start to struggle with remembering.

Think about it.

If I asked you about your zip code and address, you'd recall them instantly from memory because you are living in this place. These details are part of your working memory. 

If I asked you what you ate for dinner last Tuesday, you will probably find that harder to remember. That dinner happened a week ago and it's now in the past. Your brain doesn't need to remember every single dinner you ate in the past. We simply don't need to retain that memory, and so we forget.

How about if I asked you about how to drive a car. You've probably been driving for decades, and driving is so ingrained in your mind that you don't even think about it. You just drive. This is called automated memory. We know how to do it without thinking about it because we do it all the time.

The neuroscience of learning is the study of how the brain learns, involving the physical and chemical changes in the neural pathways and connections as we learn new information and skills.

I'm an elementary school teacher and often teach kids about a new subject for the first time. I find it fascinating to learn about how our memories are formed and integrated in the brain.

I'm a better teacher from understanding how the brain retains learning. I can help kids remember what they've learned through strategies that I use every day in class.

The brain is a complex organ, which controls everything about us. It's responsible for our conscious and unconscious bodily functions whether it's moving an arm, or simply breathing. Our brain controls all of our thoughts, emotions and memory.

Learning is for everyone. 

It doesn't just happen in schools and colleges. Learning happens to all of us, every single day when we have new experiences and learn new skills. 

We are all life-long learners.

We learn the best by experiencing something with all our senses. Through sight, sound, touch, smell and taste. If our learning environment is multi-sensory, our success rate increases in retaining new knowledge and skills. 

All elementary school classrooms are full of stimulating props to help with learning. If I teach my class about the world, I spread the learning across subjects to maximize the exposure and associations. This multi-faceted approach creates pathways for the kids to remember new things. 

Kids don't yet have much lived experience and so teachers have to be creative in order to make learning fun and engaging.

How we learn to remember new skills is fascinating. It's just as important to understand how we keep our memory in good order.

Let's face it, we all forget things. I'm sure you've lost your keys when you rush out the door in the morning - only to find them somewhere obvious. 

We are human beings and forgetting things is just part of who we are. The good news is that anyone can learn to improve memory, not just geniuses. 

What if I tell you that there are a number of ways to train your brain to remember things better? 

People who use strategies to remember things often perform better than those who don't. Some strategies may stay with you for years.

Here are a few memorization strategies:

1. Understand what you are learning. Read it out loud. Then read it again.

2. Visualization - Using visual props like images or flash cards can improve memory recall.

3. Multi-sensory learning. Try and use all of your senses when you are learning. In elementary school, we encourage students to make models of our learning like the planets. Then say the names of what you've made.

4. Songs and Jingles. Make up a song of the body parts or find one on YouTube. My kids love a good song that keeps the learning way beyond the classroom.

5. Metaphors and analogies. Create connections to new vocabulary, math and science concepts so that they are impossible to forget. 

6. Link it to something you already know and it will help you remember.

7. Write notes. When we write down new knowledge we embed the learning because there is a direct link between the brain and the hand.

8. Sleep. Believe it or not, getting good sleep during learning is vital because the brain is still processing and stores new information while you sleep.

9. Self-test. Testing testing testing. The more you practice, the more efficient you will be at remembering.

10. Rinse and repeat. Repetition is important to move a new skill from your working memory to your long term memory. The more you expose a new skill, the quicker you will learn it.

11. Create groups that simplify the learning. Let's say you wanted to learn about trees. You could then put those trees into groups according to their characteristics; for example evergreen and deciduous trees. 

12. Use Mnemonics. Mnemonics are systems that makes new information memorable. For example you could use the first letter of words from the order of operations in math: Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally (parentheses, exponents, multiply, divide, add, subtract). Or you could use your knuckles on both hands to remember the number of days in the months. 

13. Talk to yourself about the learning. Yes, really! Talking out loud is much more conducive to learning than simply reading or thinking.

14. Exercise. Yep, really that also works. Exercise can help create neurons in areas that helps memory.

15. Interleaving. Interleaving mean that you mix the learning, skills and concepts rather than focusing on one thing. For example you might study the US presidents, followed by Geography then some math before going back to the presidents again. This might sound confusing at first but I promise, it works for me.

Memorization strategies can help anyone learn a new skill or concept. 

What new skill will you learn next?

Good luck.

My name is Lizzy. I'm a trauma survivor, a wife, a mom, a teacher, and an author.

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