What is Sticky Learning?

Have you ever found yourself reviewing for a test at the end of a unit and wondering if it's possible that all 20 of your students suffer from short-term memory loss? 

Do you ever hear your colleagues say things like this? "Obviously, no one taught fractions in third grade last year, because my students have no idea what a fraction is."

Why is it that we can remember every word to a song from 20 years ago, but not recall the date the American Revolution began? 

Consider this: there is a difference between having been taught something and having learned something. Read that again! There IS a difference...and that difference is "sticky learning." 

Sticky learning, or Velcro learning, is a term coined in the education world that simply refers to teaching in a way that enables students to move information from working memory to long-term memory. Leah Chang (2019) says that, "stickiness refers to how the brain learns and retains information." It is critical that educators understand how today's students process information so that what we are teaching does not go in one ear and out the other. We need learning to stick! 

Sticky learning requires sticky teaching. This blog will highlight how the brain receives information and how we can get that information to stick for our students. At the end of each post is an opportunity for you to interact with what you've read. Please take a minute to process what was shared and answer the question in the comments so that we can all learn from each other!