Memory at Work in the Classroom: Strategies to Help Underachieving Students

Why do some students struggle to understand and retain information, while other students don't? The answer may well lie in the memory system, which is the root of all learning. In Memory at Work in the Classroom, Francis Bailey and Ken Pransky expertly guide you through the aspects of human memory most relevant to classroom teachers. Real classroom examples help to deepen your understanding of how memory systems play a central role in the learning process, as well as how culture plays a sometimes surprising role in memory formation and use.

The memory systems covered in the book are

* Working Memory: the gateway to learning

* Executive Function: the cognitive skills children need to independently orchestrate their memory systems in service to learning

*Semantic Memory: the storehouse of a person's knowledge of the world, including academic concepts, and the part of the memory system most affected by culture

* Episodic Memory: rich, multisensory personal memories of specific events

* Autobiographical Memory: one's sense of self, tied directly to student motivation

Although the techniques described apply to all students, the authors concentrate on explaining the source of struggling students' academic challenges and provide effective strategies for helping students become better learners.

Whether you're a new or a veteran teacher, this book will offer fresh insights into your students' learning difficulties and move you to explore classroom practices that align with the functioning of memory and the ways students learn.

Francis Bailey is the Director of the Teaching English as a Second Language Master's program at the University of Kentucky. Francis has a doctoral degree from the University of Massachusetts. His primary educational focus is on issues in teaching English language learners, in and outside of the United States. He has conducted research on second language acquisition and the challenges faced by culturally and linguistically diverse students due to differences between home (and community) ways of learning and knowing and the academic and social demands of schools. Francis has become increasingly interested in the ways that the cognitive sciences can inform our understanding of classroom learning.

Ken Pransky has been working in the field of multicultural education for 35 years. He has taught K-12, at the college level, and to adults, as an EFL teacher overseas and for 20 years an ESL teacher in the Massachusetts public schools, where he became increasingly interested in understanding, researching and writing about what causes underachievement and academic struggle. Since 2008, he has been a full time teacher trainer, and instructional coach through the Collaborative for Educational Services in Northampton, MA.