Why is the student getting ready for a GED exam or test? Because she or he failed in high school is one common answer. But remember that is not the only answer. When a student fails the blame is shared by teacher and student. This is not an accusation of either. From the students (adults or teenagers) I taught the major contributor to failure was lack of student memory skills. Not being taught memory skills is another factor for failure.
I want to share a way of teaching that may not be familiar to today’s students and teachers. As an example I will use mathematics as the GED test topic. A teacher or mentor and the student must buy in to the following premise.
The student is on the hook to:
- Remember what was taught.
- Learn how to remember with mnemonics.
- Build a toolbox of test strategies.
- Use what was taught.
A student can learn! Mnemonics will let you recall information. There are no excuses for not remembering or forgetting. If you view memory as a muscle that dislikes work then bad memory is a lazy muscle. If you stop expecting your memory to serve you. It’s not going to step up and prove you wrong. If you do expect memory to perform at your command then there are mechanics you need to learn to insure that.
The mechanics are:
- Association
- Linking
- What I don’t know is tied to what I do know.
A teacher must guide the student in memory techniques. Not much different than choosing what content will be taught. Teacher must ask for student to demonstrate use of memory and techniques. Teacher must remind student of past versus current performance. The teacher can now focus on comprehension and problem solving skills instead of rote memorization or drill.
The teacher is on the hook:
- To teach the subject content.
- To teach How to remember the content.
- To teach How to use the content.
- To teach How to answer the questions.
When I teach the mathematical order of operation in equations; I must also teach a mnemonic. Aunt Sally is in a room when suddenly green gas explodes from her and you say Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally! The student forms a visual image and audio sound track. So what is the order of operations?
- Parenthesis
- Exponents
- Multiplication
- Division
- Addition
- Subtraction
No drill, no rote memorization one image and one pass for better than 98% recall. After a few successes the student will believe in the technique and his or her memory. So a teacher can spend more time on why, what, and how of the subject content. What was learned ten weeks ago is still recallable.
So what can memorized?
- Equations
- Long division
- Rule of exponentiation
- Inequalities
- Metric system
- Problem solving
- Logical determination of answers
- Numbers
Just about anything can be remembered. Your student’s mind will be freed up to analyze, create, implement the information. Which are the higher cognitive thinking levels. Now you can choose to continue as a teacher or as a mentor with your student. A student who can recall easily as well as store information in memory is a happier student with a whole lot of fear removed!
This is a classic you win I win situation. You lead and the student follows. Memory may sustain a student until a comprehension gap has been filled in. Mnemonics is older the public education system and stretches as far back as our ancestors on foreign shores.
Do I dare say I’m lazy and prefer to approaching teaching the easy way for student and teacher? Well, yes, I don’t like to work harder than I must!
