Goose Creek CISD

Special Education2012 - 2013

Districtwide Staff Development ConferenceFebruary 15, 2013

The mission of the GCCISD Special Education Department is to support the campuses in order to

nurture inclusionary environments, enhance student achievement,

and maintain compliant special education

programs.

Presenters

Sterling Feeder pattern:Lynn Walker, LSSP Alice Ricks, Diagnostician

Memorial Feeder pattern: Dr. Lisa McHaney, LSSPKay Brown, Diagnostician

Lee Feeder pattern:Kawanza Dukes, LSSPAngela Raithel, Diagnostician

Working Memory

The Interface Academic, Emotional and Social Impact

Learning ObjectivesWhat is Working Memory?The role of working memory in learning.

Interventions and strategies to improve working memory academically, emotionally, and socially.

The Interface

What is “Working Memory”?“Working Memory supports human cognitive

processing by providing an interface between perception, short-term memory, long-term memory, and goal-directed actions. Working memory is particularly necessary for conscious cognitive processing because it permits internal representation of information to guide decision making and overt behavior. Fundamentally, working memory is one of the main cognitive processes underlying thinking and learning” (Lepine, Barrouillet, & Camos, 2005).

Examples of Working Memory

Remembering a telephone number long enough to dial

Following driving directions

Remembering names of new people

Remembering birth dates, anniversary dates,

important future dates

Childhood memories

Remembering the rules to languages, science, social

rules, norms and cultures

Working Memory …

A man with no memoryhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vwigmktix

2Y

A woman who can’t forgethttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoxsMMV

538U

Memory Masterhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=play

er_detailpage&v=p-j4WWko-4Y

Short-term memory (STM)

Working Memory (WM)

Passively holds informationSTM capacity is domain

specific verbal and visual)Not a strong relationship

with academic learningAutomatically activates

information stored in long-term memory

No management functionsOperates independent of

long-term memoryRetains information coming

from the environment

Actively process itLess domain specificStrong relationship with

academic learning and higher-level cognitive functions

Consciously directs retrieval of desired information from log-term memory

Has some executive functions

Operations relies heavily on long-term memory structures

Retains products of various cognitive processes

Types of working memory

Auditory working memory

Visual-spatial working memory

Semantic working memory

Executive Functioning

Is a set of mental processes that helps connect past experience with present action. People use it to perform activities such as planning, organizing, strategizing, paying attention to and remembering details, and managing time and space.

Behaviors that maybe indicative of a working memory weakness/deficit

Poor sustained attentionPoor organizational skillsPartial or very limited recall of new informationPoor phonological skillsPoor reading fluencyPoor reading comprehension skillsOff-task behaviorsMisconceptions of social cuesPoor problems solving skills Difficulty with multi-step directions or problem solving Limited mental manipulation for the purpose of

analysis, cause & effect, inferences, synthesis, etc.

Intervention and StrategiesRote strategies – not as effective – not meaningfulRehearsal – basic memory strategyRelational – higher level working memory, increases

the probability of long-term storageSemantic Rehearsal – word list (create a story using

all the words/numbers/formulas from the list)Chunking – divide and conquer making it more

palatable to retain and retrieve informationParaphrasing – your interpretation of what the

teacher said Elaboration strategy- thinking aloud, uses material

the student is familiar with, use of prior knowledge and reminders of prior knowledge

Identification and Assessing Working Memory

In the school setting the identification of a

working memory weakness/deficit is most

often done by the Educational Diagnostician

and/or Licensed Specialist in School

Psychology.

Disorders/Disabilities in which working memory has a role

Attention Deficit /Hyperactivity DisorderReading DisorderMath DisorderWriting DisorderSome emotional and behavioral disordersSeizure DisorderTraumatic Brain InjuryIntellectual DisabilityLesions on the brain

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=mmyRhYnsF34

http://www.youtube.com/watch?list=UUxRlH5_3WfLM5dPn9als6Qw&v=jt9ppA-0Y4U&feature=player_detailpage

Memory Quiz

Questions and Answers