Good Sensory Learning Blog

Many students struggle with the steps required to complete mathematical problems. They may forget the concept, miss a step, mis-sequence the steps, misread a sign, or struggle with writing out or lining up the numbers. Follow my blog with Bloglovin Encoding Math Facts for Long Term Memory In fact, even if a student has understood and executed a problem with precision, it doesn’t mean that they will retain that information at a later time. So what can we do to help these students to encode, into long-term memory, the steps required to complete math computations? The 3 Key Components for...

Early intervention is a key strategy for struggling learners.  It can help to define a remedial approach and can assist learners with the tools and strategies for working around potential academic challenges. This is a particularly important approach for students with dyslexia.  How Prevalent is Dyslexia? Recent reports suggest that dyslexia impacts 5-10 percent of the population. Now wouldn't it be wonderful if this condition could be detected before children learned to read?  If this were to happen,  weaknesses could be strengthened and appropriate teaching methodologies could be selected, making the process of reading successful the first time. This could save the educational system a fortune...

Many teachers can not fathom how apparently simple tasks such as using an agenda or turning in an assignment can be very difficult for some of their students. In fact, many students need comprehensive instruction and scaffolding to learn to plan, manage time, and organize. What Is Executive Functions? Executive functions are the cognitive tools that enable us to plan, organize and manage time.  Although executive functions are one of the first cognitive processing areas to begin development, it is also the last part of the brain to fully develop.  In actuality, it does not reach maturation until students reach their early 20's....

Many students plod through schooling as passive learners and they rarely learn to take control of their own cognition. In contrast, others learn to be active participants in the learning process and develop metacognitive skills. What is Metacognition? Metacognition is the awareness of one’s own cognition or thought process and it involves higher order thinking that enables understanding, analysis and control. For many concrete learners, as well as those that struggle with attentional issues, this notion can be difficult to grasp. However, the process can be taught through visual aids, demonstrations, discussions, group work, and graphic organizers. In fact, the...

As a child, I was often teased by my silly misunderstandings of expressions, phrases, words and even lyrics to songs. Although my hearing was excellent, I struggled with auditory discrimination difficulties. As a result, I continually confused sounds that were similar and often misconstrued what people were telling me.  Funny Misunderstandings After a year abroad with my family living in England, we returned to the United States and I entered the first grade. On the first day of school, when my teachers and peers detected my British inflections they asked me about it. To my dismay, my explanation resulted in...