How do we think, learn, and remember?

     Our brain is ever-changing. Throughout our lives we have the ability to learn and change. We are always learning. Our brains do not have the ability to multi-task. We have the ability to do one thing at once. As a society we have learned to multi-task. As we do this, our thinking is diminished, and our ability to critical think is surface level. This affects our memory and our ability to learn things. When we try to multi-task, our body begins to stress out, and our working memory is affected. This part of the discussion struck me. It always seems I am doing multiple tasks at the same time. As a teacher it seems as this is part of my job. I honestly feel like this is part of the job description, "needs to have the ability to multi-task". This one discussion on the brain has me re-thinking how I go about my day and how I think and attack the tasks of the day. With the nuisances of life, I do find myself juggling multiple things, and having that anxiety in my life.

     In my life as a student and a teacher, I have reflected on how I learn most effectively. Regardless of the different research, it is evident to me that people learn in a variety of ways. We are all different, and with those differences, each person has their own unique style of how they learn. I am a hands-on, learn as I go learner. Studies have shown that when teaching is directly instructed and the student is the "listener", very little is retained. I feel like we learn best as we "do", and the teacher becomes the guide or facilitator in the process. The problem that we encounter with technology, is the ease and accessibility of information that we have. We are no longer required to "think". Answers are available immediately at the click of a mouse. The technology allows us to be passive and surface level. As we train ourselves to do that, our retention abilities and skills are drastically affected. 

     In class, we discussed how neurons begin to take shape and grow. As information is learned, neurons begin to branch out and connect to other neurons. As this happens, a web begins to grow and we begin to connect and remember things. I see this as a student and a teacher. I remember the things that I have previous knowledge of, or that I can connect with. That makes me think about utilizing technology and how it could be a detriment to our memory and how we think. If, we do not allow ourselves time to "think", we begin a surface level passive learning and will not remember what we have learned. We aren't giving those neurons time to grow.