I will prepare and some day my chance will come. — Abraham Lincoln

Dear Educator,

This month we celebrate our presidents. The good news for teachers is that means a little holiday. The good news for students is that means a little holiday. We all agree on this one.

When I started SCORE, I interviewed 600 high-risk students, one-on-one. I asked them a series of questions about learning. One question was about memory. It didn't surprise me that geometry students hadn't memorized their theorums. However, when I asked the next question, "How do you go about memorizing your theorums?," I got answers I didn't anticipate. The most structured answer I ever got was, "Oh, I read through it two or three times." They had no process for memory.

Read this month's article, "Memory Revisited," to learn about that process. Better yet, attend our Study Skills workshop next month to learn SCORE's keys to memory, learning style, comprehension, communication, and taking notes.

May your students prepare. May they recognize it and be ready when their chance comes. May they remember to say "thank you" to you for caring enough to both demand excellence and empower them to achieve it.

Sharon Marshall Lockett, Director
SCORE... For College and Career
sharon@score-ed.com

Memory Revisited

All educational reform documents call for powerful learning in a rich common core curriculum for all students. Certainly, in this age of the information explosion, we must teach our students how to access information and how to evaluate the credibility of what they find. However, they must have an accurate knowledge base or their "powerful learning" will be flawed.

Rather than seeing thinking skills as "low" and "high" order skills, I think of them as "foundational" skills. I prefer the analogy of the skills in a continuum, perpetuating one another. In fact, we will be ineffective in teaching our students to synthesize, evaluate, and transfer if they don't have an accurate memory bank from which to draw.

Recent brain research has revolutionized the way we teach and the results we are able to attain. The Caine Learning Institute devotes principle nine to the concept of memory. They discuss the fact that we have at least two types of memory—spatial and rote. The spatial memory system allows for instant memory of experiences. In the taxon memory system, things are learned by rote. With taxon memory, "the brain is easily fatigued since there is stress on a limited number of brain cells." (Caine and Caine)

Skills for the Rote Memory System

Teach students to memorize using their rote memory system with a few of SCORE's learning theories:

• To memorize material, rotate what you are memorizing in sets of three. Material tends to become rote after the third repetition; you can say the same thing a dozen times in a row and not increase learning significantly more than when you have said it three times. This is because the brain "shifts into neutral" at that point, and we cease to think as we repeat.
• Maximum time for memory practice is 5 to 15 minutes. If you concentrate for longer than 15 minutes, your brain tires, and you are less productive. When memorizing, concentrate—give it all you've got—for no less than five minutes. Then take a break or change tasks.
• Material being memorized needs a lag time of 2 to 24 hours. After you've worked for 5 to 15 minutes in sets of three, set your material aside for at least 2 hours. Otherwise you haven't forgotten enough and that portion of your brain hasn't rested long enough for maximum effectiveness. Don't leave it for longer than 24 hours, however, or you will have forgotten too much. You will have to re-acquire information rather than review.
• The more you involve yourself in the learning process, the more you will retain. Research (Glasser) implies that a person retains approximately 10 percent of what he/she reads or hears. A mushroom effect occurs, however, when a second sense is added. If you hear and see, or see and say, you could retain as much as 50 percent, with concentrated effort. So when memorizing, involve several senses.

By orchestrating these theories, your students can memorize quickly and easily. Sometimes an assignment to memorize 15 symbols seems impossible. Most students, however, will readily agree to 15 minutes. And most students can memorize 15 symbols, using proper techniques, in 15 minutes.

Cramming is never a good strategy (even though it is widely practiced). However, when cramming is necessary, take advantage of these learning theories. Study intensively for 15 minutes and then do something else for two hours. Repeat this process all night if necessary. Add sleep, where your mind replays what you last put into it, and you will, again, retain more. This is a far more effective method than staying up all night, as many of us did in our pursuit of a degree…unless, of course, you, like I, ignore alarm clocks.

Next Month: Spatial Memory strategies.

SCORE will lead a workshop and exhibit at the National After School Conference in Phoenix March 21–23. Drop by our booth, mention this e-mail, and we'll give you $25 in SCORE-Bucks!

Sharon will lead a workshop on Child Grief at the International Conference on Care and Kindness in Garden Grove March 15–17. Mention this newsletter, and we'll give you $25 in SCORE-Bucks!

SCORE periodically offers centralized workshops...or SCORE can come to you! If you have more than 10 staff members to train, fill in the information on our contact form and we will send you a Training Options flyer, personalized to your site.

Register Now! Study Skills Workshop March 13–14, 2007:

You will gain skills and resources to:

• Increase student retention
• Improve reading speed and comprehension
• Identify learning preferences
• Enhance student interest level
• Help students listen and ask effective questions
• Teach effective memory techniques
• Improve test scores

I left thinking I had a wonderful few days.  I got home and realized it had been a life-changing experience!
It’s very exciting to think about the students using these ideas not only for better grades, but for life experiences.
SCORE is a tool I can and will use.  Thank you.
SCORE is great.  I already see a difference in my students.
Well done in a productive balance.

Train your entire faculty! We can come to you.

Tell us what you need at http://www.score-ed.com/contact.htm

SCORE 101: Adoption Workshop February 21–23, 2007:

• Re-think the way you do business with a focus on “What Works” for reaching high-risk students.
• Discover SCORE’s proven strategies for creating systemic change.
• Develop a customized program to accelerate the achievement of high-risk youth.
• Receive curricular materials to assure successful implementation.
• Leave with an Action Plan tailored to your site.

SCORE has helped us to focus the many facets of our educational program to provide a more concerted effort toward higher student achievement.  Classroom teachers are enthusiastic!
I am glad I found another way to touch the life of a child and help them develop into a great individual.  All children can and will learn–no exceptions!
I can’t wait to go back to school and get started.  I’m leaving the workshop with a “do-able” plan and look forward to the upcoming technical assistance.

Use SCORE to plan your reform with your site restructuring team. We can come to you!

Tell us what you need at http://www.score-ed.com/contact.htm

Crisis, Grief, and Loss...and How to Help Your Students Through It, April 17, 2007:

Grief is a fact of our students' lives (not to mention our own!).

When they are grieving, the way they learn changes. That means we need to reach them differently.

Attend this SCORE workshop to learn:

• How to read the subtle signs of a student in crisis
  (you already recognize their "not-so-subtle" messages!)
• What to do about it, both in and out of the classroom
  (you may gain validation and ammunition!)
• Where to go to find help
  (help for them is also help for you...your job will be so much easier!)
• How to change your teaching content and methodology to accommodate crises
  (and we teachers are always looking for a new strategy!)

Do you have a student in mind? They're invited! Listen to what students say:

I learned that grief will not go away, and when you go through depression do something.
I learned to be responsible and make good decisions.
This week I know not to take my anger out on someone else and not to argue so much.
I think you should go over this every year because it can help other people like it helped me.
I think that if it wasn’t for me, my friend would’ve joined his mother on the other side.
(Student participant one year after training)

We can come to you!

Tell us what you need at http://www.score-ed.com/contact.htm.

Study Skills for Student Success

Introducing Study Skills for Student Success, Third Edition! Newly revised, this resource combines two of our most popular teacher resources into one power-packed collection.

This practical and comprehensive collection of techniques, research findings, materials, strategies, and teaching tools helps teachers teach students how to learn, especially language minority students and those at risk of failure. Begin your study here, and it will direct you to the other books in the SCORE Study Skills collection.

This 269-page resource book contains ten chapters divided into two sections: 1) information about teaching and 2) reproduction pages for use with students to enhance and/or enrich learning (236 text pages; 33 reproduction masters)

Introduction — contains the study skills research base and philosophical foundations.

Communication — deals with the elements of communication and utilizing learning groups.

Taking Notes — examines several note-taking formats, empowering students with a variety of strategies.

Personalities and Learning — examines the role personality plays in classroom learning and provides guidelines for need-based teaching.

Research Strategies — assists students as they negotiate the library and the internet to gain access to timely reference materials.

How to Study – offers students strategies for improving memory, building vocabulary, and managing time more wisely.

Reading Comprehension — presents whole brain strategies for improving reading comprehension.

Taking Tests — provides information and strategies for reducing test anxiety and developing test-taking skills.

Learning Principles — focuses on pedagogical information necessary in order to teach a study skills class or infuse study skills into a content area.

Resources — covers materials, networking sites, and strategies to reinforce and facilitate learning in the classroom

SCORE Celebrates 25 Years of Improving Student Achievement!

SCORE is a comprehensive systemic change program, validated for effectiveness by the United States Department of Education. SCORE provides inservices, technical assistance, and field-tested materials, all proven to result in increased student achievement. To request specific information related to your site, visit: http://www.score-ed.com/contact.htm

• SCORE is not a "packaged program;" rather, school teams design a custom implementation that meets the SCORE success criteria and allows local ownership.
• SCORE is successful in helping language minority and Title I students achieve university eligibility by the time they graduate from high school.
• SCORE empowers students through a variety of strategies, enabling them to adapt learning to their strengths and their teacher's presentation style.
• SCORE's Study Skills curriculum is unequalled, and should be made available to all students. SCORE's primary focus is grades 6–10, but it has been adapted to meet the needs of both older and younger students.
• SCORE's Guidance Curriculum, available only through the SCORE 101 workshop, empowers schools to meet accreditation criteria and empowers students to take personal responsibility for their learning.

What do Others Say?

While school reform is a hot topic of conversation, many educators have not implemented practical programs that can help students live up to their full potential. I strongly recommend SCORE for your school. This is too good a program not to give it to everyone!

Maeva K. Hutter
Title 1 Coordinator
Willard Intermediate School

I can't say enough about how SCORE has positively impacted our Indian Education program. The SCORE program builds pride back into our students by helping them see good points, bring out their strengths, and talk about what they do well while they achieve success in school. Students have recently commented that they wish all their classes were taught like the SCORE class, "school wouldn't be boring." This is the most comprehensive model of student assistance that I have ever used. Yokoke, thank you to the SCORE staff for all of the support that we receive in helping our American Indian students realize their dreams.

Michael Folsom. M. S.
Counselor, Indian Education
Huntington Beach Union High School District

The SCORE staff, eager to support you in your quest to improve academic performance, is always as near as your mouse click, fax, or phone number:

Educational Innovations/SCORE
30100 Town Center Drive
Suite O, PMB 379
Laguna Niguel, CA 92677
http://www.score-ed.com

949-363-6764 Voice/Fax

sharon@score-ed.com