Thread by @MrAWGordon_

🧵 Teaching with memory at the core or the heart of the lesson is a critical component of our Teaching and Learning Framework. Here are a few ways you can achieve this 👇🏻

🧠 A clear understanding of the implications of cognitive load theory and how to reduce the demands on student's working memory (chunking, the presentation of material, PowerPoint, explicit instruction etc.) What obstacles are there to learning? How could I remove these?

🧠 A clear understanding of the split attention effect so distractions are minimalised for students so they can focus, as best as possible, on one source of information that is critically important. This supports encoding and the processing of information. 'Look here'.

🧠 Planning with the core knowledge takeaways in mind and ensuring lessons are framed around these and activities/tasks are suitable to present and teach them. Lessons not being activity driven. What do students need to leave the room knowing within the wider curriculum?

🧠 Lots of checks for understanding in the lesson through a variety of different methods (MWBs, Turn and Talk, questioning, thumbs up, thumbs down, whole class voting systems, choral response, short, sharp activities etc.)

🧠 Lots of low stakes quizzing and testing across the curriculum through planned spaced practice. Use of a Do Now at the start of lessons planned around student 'gaps' that have arisen during teaching and across lessons. Return to potential knowledge gaps and issues and re-quiz.

🧠 Where misconceptions and errors arise, staff re-teach and re-check for understanding consistently. There is a patience with the students here and an understanding of the learning process and that forgetting is normal. 'Show them another example'.

🧠 Ensuring where students do have these misconceptions or do make errors, they are returned to within the lesson to check for understanding. Not moving on and leaving them 'hanging' without allowing them a chance to elaborate, verbalise or write their correction.

🧠 Driving up the participation and thinking ratio and having this at the crux of your thinking when planning suitable activities and lessons. Ensuring there is no opt out through this and all are partaking so they are thinking hard and strengthening their memory.

🧠 Model stories, concepts, events or problems gradually step-by-step asking lots of questions during instruction. This may be through blank canvass modelling under a visualiser. Not talking or lecturing aimlessly with no planned explanation or direction.

🧠 Making links and connections explicit across the curriculum to develop and solidify schema in long-term memory.

🧠 Allowing and ensuring opportunities for student practice and rehearsal of material.

🧠 In some cases, using knowledge organisers and teaching students how to self and peer quiz, modelling this in the classroom. Sharing and training students in the Pomodoro Technique, using flash cards and retrieval during revision.