It is important for teachers to understand learning and the brain. So here are the six phases of learning information and how they pertain to the brain and converting information into learning.

1. Anticipatory Set - In order for students to learn anything, they have to become interested in the topic or unit of study. The brain processes so much information every second, it has to know what to pay attention to and what to discard. It is so important for teachers to consider how they start their lessons or unit of study. It sets everything else into motion. Capture their attention at the beginning of every lesson. That is why we always keep up with pop culture. You never know when you will find inspiration.

2. Why does this learning matter? - Students need to know why they should be paying attention. When students become interested, they will retain the information for about 30 seconds before they decide to keep it or discard it. It is important for teachers to establish value and meaning, how this information will be helpful in the future for a career or being a successful person.

3. Focus on learning new information - Once students have bought into the first two steps, now it is time to commit information to working memory. The best way to do this is through both visual and verbal communication. The best order for learning starts with the verbal, abstract idea first, followed by a visual picture and example of concept being taught. That is why we always make a keynote (PowerPoint/Google Slides) for everything that we teach.

4. Chunking learning into segments - Limit teaching new information in chucks of time from 5-10 minutes and give students time to make sense of the learning through thinking, categorizing, and connecting. Working memories only have 5-20 minutes of focus and attention.

5. Practice and Learning Reflections - Now is the time to move learning into the long term memory. The best way to do this effectively with the brain is with practice, recall, and revisiting being spread out over time like days or weeks. For example, self quizzing to retrieve learning is better than ineffective studying tips like rereading, highlighting, or writing summaries. This is also why we end all of our lessons with learning reflections and next steps.

6. Extend and Apply - Long term memory has two parts: storage and retrieval. This is best accomplished when connecting the new learning to other ideas like connecting history to current events or making personal connections to literature. After all, don’t we want the learning to stick with our students?

Here are six ways you can improve learning and retaining information