This small mental capacity allows us to select, hold, reorganize, <\/strong>and combine<\/strong> bits of information (and other things).<\/p>\n So, if you try to put the five days of the work week<\/em> in alphabetical order, you\u2019re using your working memory.<\/p>\n Alas, because working memory is so small<\/em>, it gets easily overwhelmed.<\/p>\n Quick: try to put the twelve months of the year<\/em> in alphabetical order.<\/p>\n Unless you\u2019re writing words down, you almost certainly can\u2019t do it.<\/p>\n Why does this cognitive insight matter?<\/p>\n Because our students have to select, hold, reorganize, <\/strong>and combine<\/strong> bits of information ALL THE TIME. We call that \u201clearning.\u201d<\/p>\n And the situation gets even scarier: when working memory is all-too-easily overloaded, learning stops.<\/p>\n Do you know a scarier sentence than \u201clearning stops\u201d?<\/p>\n For these reasons, I spend much of my professional life talking with teachers about working memory.<\/p>\n Given that I\u2019ve even written a book on the topic, you\u2019d think I\u2019d run out of things to say. But\u2026<\/p>\n One working memory topic that gets relatively little attention: the teacher\u2019s<\/strong> working memory.<\/p>\n That is: as teachers, we also must \u2013 at every second \u2013 select, hold, reorganize, and combine bits of information:<\/p>\n The lesson plan<\/p>\n The correctness of this student\u2019s answer<\/p>\n The brewing argument between those two over there<\/p>\n The possibility of an un-announced fire-drill<\/p>\n The page number of the example I want to include<\/p>\n The insightful point I want to bring up at the department meeting next period<\/p>\n Oh, wait! I need to get orange juice on the way home…<\/p>\n This list could easily go on for pages.<\/p>\n In other words: students face the potential for working memory overload all the time. And: TEACHERS DO TOO.<\/p>\n When students’<\/strong> working memory is overloaded, “learning stops.” When teachers’<\/strong> working memory is overloaded, our effective functioning also stops. Cognitively, we bonk.<\/p>\n To manange student working memory, I encourage teachers to try a 3-part approach:<\/p>\n Try to ANTICIPATE working-memory overload. (If a lesson plan has lots of instructions, I can predict\u00a0students’ working memory will crash.)<\/p>\n Try to IDENTIFY overload. (That face the student is making — that’s a sign!)<\/p>\n Try to SOLVE overload. (Using, say, dual coding<\/a>, or powerful knowledge, or stress reduction<\/a>…)<\/p>\n If we can do these three things, we’re likely to help students stay within a working-memory comfort zone.<\/p>\n I think that these same three categories might be useful in managing our own working memory.<\/p>\n So: can I ANTICIPATE when my working memory will be threatened in class?<\/p>\n Honestly, that’s easy!<\/p>\n When I have especially important or stressful obligations outside outside of school (say, a trip to the hospital after work).<\/p>\n When I’m teaching a new\/complex topic.<\/p>\n When I didn’t get much sleep, and\/or am sick.<\/p>\n When I’m managing multiple school roles: teacher AND dean AND coach AND adviser AND…<\/p>\n When I’m trying out a new kind of technology. (Remember your first weeks of zoom teaching?)<\/p>\n Of course, your list will differ from mine — because you and I are two different people. But I suspect you can, fairly easily, come up with your own version of this\u00a0checklist: “if THIS is happening today, my working memory might really struggle.”<\/p>\n Good news: if you can anticipate when your own working memory might buckle, you know when to start shoring it up…<\/p>\n Once we have anticipated the times when our own working memory might be overloaded,\u00a0we should then learn to IDENTIFY the experience of overload.<\/p>\n In my own work, I’ve learned to rely on three key indicators.<\/p>\n First<\/strong>: word salad<\/em>.<\/p>\n Because I talk about complex and technical topics, I often talk in complex sentences with lots of technical vocabulary.<\/p>\n When my working memory gets overloaded, I find that my sentences fall apart.\u00a0The subordinate clauses fight with the appositives, and I can no longer remember the subject of my verb.<\/p>\n Instead of trying to “identify” working memory overload, I might tell teachers to “redentify” it. (I don’t think “redentify” is a word.)<\/p>\n When I experience this word chaos, I know my working memory is in trouble.<\/p>\n Second<\/strong>:\u00a0third of three<\/em><\/p>\n When I\u00a0discuss working memory with teachers, they — of course! — ask questions.<\/p>\n I often say: “well, there are three answers to your question.”<\/p>\n But … you know where this is going … by the time I’m done with my second answer, I can’t even remember the question (much less the third part of the answer).<\/p>\n Yup: that’s working memory overload.<\/p>\n Third<\/strong>:\u00a0emotional barometer<\/em><\/p>\n My own cultural background isn’t big on emotions. (Growing up, I was allowed to have mildly positive feelings, but everything else was discouraged. Mildly.)<\/p>\n For that reason, I’m not great at monitoring my own emotional state.<\/p>\n But I have learned: when I start feeling penned in and frustrated — when my chest is a little tight and breathing, a bit of a chore — that feeling almost always results from working memory overload.<\/p>\n My body is saying: “I just can’t handle this mental load right now!”<\/p>\n When that happens, I know: it’s time to break out my working-memory solutions!<\/p>\n Here again, your list might not look like my list: you’ll discover your own ways to identify working memory stress. But, that list might be a useful place to start…<\/p>\n If I can anticipate<\/em> that my working memory will be overloaded (because, say, I’m explaining the differences between direct objects and subject complements)…<\/p>\n …and I can recognize<\/em> that my working memory IS overloaded (because, say,\u00a0I can’t coherently answer my student’s question)…<\/p>\n …then it’s time to SOLVE my working memory problems?<\/p>\n How do I do that?<\/p>\n![\"Stressed](\"https:\/\/braindevs.net\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/AdobeStock_578302880.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nMore Things To Say<\/h2>\n
What to Do?<\/h2>\n
Check Your Mirrors<\/h2>\n
The Last Step<\/h2>\n