Useful Strategies to Support Students’ Working Memory

I remember the scene vividly: I was standing in the bathroom doorway, whisk in hand, with no clue why I came into the room. You’ve probably had a similar experience, where your working memory deserts you, the ghost of a thought slowly and frustratingly fading away. Working memory is akin to a whiteboard in our mind, where we mentally hold the information and problem-solving we need in the moment. Different from types of longer-term storage memories, working memory requires cognitive effort to hold on to the new and recalled information, as well as use it in novel ways.

Most researchers believe that working memory is limited to four to seven items at a time. It’s also, frustratingly, at constant risk of being “erased” by distractions. As such, managing working memory is costly for students; coming back to focus after a distraction or getting lost are often times when students disengage with school work. Knowing the pitfalls of working memory, we can avoid overloading students’ working memory and teach them how to protect it for themselves.

Classroom Routines and SetUp to Support Working Memory

Teachers can decrease the demands on students’ working memory by making adjustments to their classroom routines and environments. Consider the following ideas:

Make space clear and consistent. Labeled spaces, lists of steps for common tasks, and clear and consistent online spaces mean that students don’t have to “hold” classroom information in their minds. This frees up their working memory for academic content instead of classroom navigation efforts.

Keep open and close routines consistent and reliable. When the routine flows, students can focus on content. Consider using templates for beginning and ending classes that offer repeating actions for both student preparation and content review. Opening routines may include a review question from the previous day, a goal for that day’s learning, and even identifying a strategy for learning that students may want to try. Closing routines may include having students write down their homework, upcoming assessments, or other due dates.

To take it a step further, consider having students enter specific times that they will work on their homework, with estimations for how long it will take, into their personal calendars—digital or on paper.

Allow for memory aids when rote information isn’t assessed. Providing the periodic table, math facts, vocabulary lists, and the like means that students have the basics at the ready and can give their brain space to problem-solve and express their learning. For classwork and assessments that aim to evaluate a student’s ability to problem-solve or apply critical thinking (but not necessarily their ability to repeat rote memorized facts), consider allowing a student-made reference card of formulas, definitions, and example problems.

This allows more space available in their working memories and more closely resembles the common ways in which they will perform in work environments, when reference tools are encouraged and usually readily available.

Teach Students How to Protect Their Working Memory

When students know the impact of distractions and the challenges of managing their working memory, they can also begin to engineer situations in which they focus and remember best.

Empower students with awareness of working memory. Share the analogy about working memory as a whiteboard with them. Ask them about what “erases” their thoughts (known distractions). To model this for your students, share aloud when your own working memory glitches to normalize your awareness of your own mental whiteboard.

When students seem to lose track of a thought or need to hear a question repeated, you may consider helping them reflect on what took their focus away for the moment. This helps them become aware, in real time, of what impacts their working memory. For students with attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD), please keep in mind that they are not choosing to be distracted or lose their focus; in these cases, you can help them become self-aware while also mindfully using neutral or even uplifting language, never blaming or shaming them for their neurology.

Allow students to experiment with workspaces and noise levels. It’s important for students to figure out what kinds of environments help them focus best. Reducing distractions and providing the right sensory inputs (most commonly noise level and movement in their visual fields) means students will experience fewer moments where their academic content in working memory is erased by an avoidable distraction.

Some students may need to find spaces away from visual distraction—distanced from windows, for example, or tucked into a corner in which they cannot see others walk by. Others may not be as distracted by visual field changes but more sensitive to sounds. Some students may need familiar noise, such as music or white noise, in order to reduce their brain “scanning” the environment for novel inputs, whereas some students may need silence, possibly through noise-canceling headphones, in order to focus.

Learning differences like ADHD, autism, and specific learning disabilities (such as dyslexia) will likely impact working memory. For example, a brain with ADHD may struggle to maintain focus on an idea due to distractions from internal or external stimuli. This will require the student to exert extra effort to come back to the original idea—and experience possible embarrassment or shame for being “lost” in class.

Keep in mind that students who struggle to manage attention or working memory aren’t intentionally falling off track. Give supportive responses and suggest solutions, such as, “Need to hear that question again?” or “What do you think about writing some of this down so your brain has it available later?”

Doing this can be hugely helpful in two ways: You’re teaching them strategies to use in the future, and you’re also showing them that it’s OK to be aware of and address their own learning needs. As students learn how to manage their working memory, their abilities to remember information and stay on task will also increase. It can be incredibly eye-opening to ask students what strategies they use. These discussions can also help you fill the toolbox of effective strategies that you share with future students.