Dan+Hilgendorf,+Attention+and+Memory

==== Welcome to my Wiki! My name is Dan Hilgendorf and I am currently enrolled in the MAT program at Southern Oregon University. I completed my undergrad at SOU with a Bachelors of Science in Health/PE with a minor in Psychology. I am currently in my fourth year coaching freshman boy's basketball at South Medford High School. I have also coached the sprinters in track and field over the same time span. ====

==== I am from Southern Oregon and attended high school at South Medford, I left the area to study abroad in Perth, Australia in 2008. It was the best experience of my life and where I met my lovely girlfriend. I plan to have a long career in education working my way up through the ranks into administration some day. I love coaching and hope to pursue whatever paths that it may take me as well. I have worked hard my entire life and look forward to the challenges that each day brings. ====

====My biggest fear about teaching is not being able to provide every student with the best environment they need to learn. The most difficulty I ever had learning was in Anatomy and Physiology at SOU. I was interested in learning all about the body, but the format was difficult for me as I was extremely busy with 18 total credits, work, and coaching. All of the stuff outside of school made it very difficult for me to absorb all of the material I was study. I learned from this experience and will use it going forward with my students. I understand that life outside of the classroom can make life in the classroom much more difficult.====

==== "Never die easy. Why run out of bounds and die easy? Make that linebacker pay. It carries into all facets of your life. Its okay to lose, to die, but don't die without trying, without giving it your best." - Walter Payton ====

"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty" - Winston Churchill
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====My topic for my research is attention and memory. I selected this topic because I have always had an interest in both. I have struggled at times in my life with both of these, to the point that I visited the doctor and was run through a battery of tests. After testing, I was cleared of any issues, but remained interested nonetheless. Throughout my coaching experiences the last four years, I have seen an increase in students that have problems with attention and memory. Simple concepts, taught with various instructional strategies, escape the minds of the players more frequently. It concerns me because athletics are voluntary and the students that are there want to be there. In the classroom, the students are less inclined to show the same enthusiasm as they do toward their leisure activities, so I worry that attention and memory can become major issues. Students with disabilities face even more challenges when it comes to attention and memory. It is an important issue, especially in current society with the nonstop, over stimulated environment the students grow up in.====

====This article focuses on attention, memory, multi-tasking and learning. This was my favorite resource because there are multiple scholars referenced and interviewed that supply their knowledge and research on the subject. The different points of view from experts on the subject make this a very informative read. For instance, David Myer, a professor of Psychology at the University of Michigan, does not even allow note taking in his class because he views it as a distraction. There are many valid points presented from each scholar that makes this article useful and thought provoking. Each professor that offers his expertise provides some of their reasoning behind their methods. The article is two years old but all of the topics addressed are still current in our environment.====

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====This article focuses on different strategies that can be used in the classroom to increase memory and attention in students. The author exams some successful memory techniques – recitation, connecting learning to prior knowledge and aerobic exercise – and highlights the positive effects. There is also a focus on successful methods used to keep students’ attention in the classroom. This is a solid article that provides examples of successful methods and why they work. It is not especially long or thorough, but nevertheless, is useful.====

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====This video is short, but very informative. Dr. Hyman addresses the dramatic increase in mental diseases and disabilities in recent years. He presents data that states facts like: one in four adults suffers serious depression at some point in their lives. He discusses the biological background of mental illnesses, disabilities, and diseases. Dr. Hyman views the problems as systemic and that they are not being properly treated by the methods we currently use. This would be an outstanding source if the video was longer and provided more answers, but it is a great start to springboard further research.====

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====This article examined different disabilities, their effects on memory, and the success rate of interventions used to treat the disability. The main focus was on the effects the disability had on memory in children. The author broke down the article into sections based on the disability and reviewed research completed that addressed the issues created by the disability. The article is packed full of information, but it is difficult to discern what interventions work best. The author notes these difficulties and sites the need for further investigation. However, the interventions and studies listed present some good ideas that can be used in the classroom.====

====This website is dedicated to children and adults with ADHD. ADHD is one of the more common disabilities associated with attention and memory, therefore this site is applicable. The website provides background information about the disability, causes, treatments, etc.. There is a lot of information for treatment and support that can be useful in and out of the classroom. The “Finding Support” portion of the website provides a lot of great information and resources for navigating life with ADHD. There are manuals and educational materials that can be purchased that could be a great benefit to have on the hand in the classroom.====

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====This is a great site that focuses on improving memory. Many of the strategies listed would work for learners with and without disabilities. The article is well organized, easy to read and provides useful information. There are breakdowns of how memory works; what affects memory; how memory is assessed and how you can improve memory. The section on “Age-Related Memory Changes” describes difficulties with memory that come about with age, many of which are similar to disabled learners.====

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====This is a simple but great resource that presents memory improvement techniques. The majority of techniques used to improve memory apply to learners with and without disabilities. The main strategy presented is the use of mnemonics. The article lists the strengths of mnemonics and provides tips on how to design useful mnemonics. This site would be great resources when helping students create their own mnemonics. There is also a list of links that lead to other useful memory enhancement techniques.====

====This is a video on learning disabilities that focuses on developing visual memory. The video is simply images of a computerized text book that is narrated by an instructor. The instructor provides useful information and the limit number of visuals are helpful. However, for a video on visual memory I thought that it was lacking visuals. There is some good information throughout the video, but the presentation leaves much to be desired.====

====This video is from the same people that made the video about visual memory. The video is not complex as it is images on the screen from a “textbook,” with narration from the instructor. There is useful information presented throughout regarding listening and auditory memory. The information presented through the images and narration is easy to comprehend. The instructor uses examples that apply to the classroom along with those from her experiences. The developmental strategies that are covered are designed for application in the classroom. The applicability of the information makes this a useful video.====