In February, several of the Teacher Leaders were fortunate
to be able to attend the RRCNA National Reading Recovery conference in Ohio.
One of the sessions that we attended was called He Knew it Yesterday ~ When it is Hard to Remember presented by Pamela Grayson, a Reading
Recovery Teacher Leader.
Grayson shared some thought-provoking quotes, anecdotal
stories and numerous video clips to push our thinking about students who seem
to find it hard to remember. Grayson helped us to think about the role that
attention plays in remembering and defined attention as:
·
The ability to focus the mind
·
The foundation of learning
·
A prerequisite to motivation, memory and
self-regulation
According to Carol Lyons in Teaching Struggling Readers, there are 4 components of the
attention system: Arousal, motor
orientation, novelty detection & reward, and executive organization.
Arousal is said to be
key in becoming literate as emerging readers and writers must learn what they
need to focus their attention on and how to select relevant information from
irrelevant information. However, before they are able to do this, they must be
aroused and actively engaged in the process.
Motor orientation facilitates and maintains arousal and
enables us to direct our senses and attention. It is critical to learning
anything (Lyons, p.29).
Novelty detection and reward provide emotional overtones and
motivation for learning, which are essential for focusing and sustaining
attention. The processing system can shut down if it fails to find some kind of
challenge or personal and emotional connection (p. 30).
Executive organization directs our attention determining
which information should be dealt with and if it should be ‘mulled over or
forgotten’ (p. 32).
Literacy Lessons Designed for Individuals Part Two opens
with a quote from Dr. Larry Squires:
You
relate what you hear or see to things you already understand
The
moment of truth is the moment of input,
·
how you attend
·
how much you care,
·
how you encode,
·
what you do with it
·
and how you organize it
How do you become more savvy about the way you remember things? Have a good system.
Notice your errors and try to fix them.
The above helps us to think about the important role of
attention, motivation and student connection when it comes to remembering. Are
we ensuring that new information that we are presenting to our students is
settling into what is already known? Are
we involving several modes of learning to aid in the storage of this new
information? Movement is crucial for every brain function including memory and
language. Are we ensuring that our student is actively involved and attending
to the task? The session with Pamela Grayson has helped us to reflect on the
critical components of attention and learning. For additional information,
please refer to section 19 When it is
hard to remember in Literacy Lessons Designed for Individuals Part Two.
