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Dealing with
Forgetfulness
Why do my students never remember what I have taught them?
What can I do?
Is the 'minimum learning requirement' like the learning goals?
How can I help my students to remember?
So what is the secret of a good memory?
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Why do my students never remember what I have
taught them? |
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If you have the feeling that your students always seem to forget
things, it probably means that they have never really learned
them.
Research suggests that one hour after a lesson students have forgotten 50% of
what happened during the lesson. One day later they have forgotten 85%. One week
later they have forgotten 95%.
In a normal school programme, students leave the English lesson to go to another
lesson. The information they learn in the following lessons seems to 'push out'
a lot of what they have learned.
Your students also have active social lives. Those events, meetings and relationships
also contribute to destroying memory. Many teenagers are constantly falling into
and out of love. It's very difficult to remember irregular verbs when such important
things are happening. |
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What can I do? |
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Think carefully about the difference between 'input' and 'intake'.
'Input' is what you teach. 'Intake' is what the students actually
absorb.
When you plan your lessons, think carefully about exactly what you want the students
to learn. Think about your minimum learning requirements. Focus your teaching
on those minimum learning requirements. Many students will learn more but all
of them should achieve that minimum. |
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Is the 'minimum learning requirement' like the
learning goals? |
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Yes. As you know, each unit in Snapshot starts with a box showing
the learning goals divided into 'communication', 'grammar', and
'vocabulary'. You should have a similar set of learning goals
for each lesson. It will be easier for your students if you explain
those goals to the students. |
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How can I help my students to remember? |
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First of all don't ask them to remember too much. Keep your
list of learning goals quite short. Spend a few minutes at the
beginning of each lesson reviewing what you did during the previous
lesson.
When you complete a unit, look back at that unit and at the one before. The 'Fast
Rewind' exercises every two units are a good way to do this review.
If you use the progress tests in the Teacher's Book of Snapshot, they will encourage
students to do a further review every five units.
You can help students to remember by constantly going back to review the work
they have done. |
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So what is the secret of a good memory? |
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The secret of a good memory is the same as any other skill: use
it or lose it!
If students constantly use what they have learnt, not only in formal exercises
like Fast Rewind or Progress Tests, but also in creative speaking and writing,
they will remember it.
How do you help your students to remember? Tell others in the Teacher
Talk area.
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