I fully believe we need to share how the brain works with our students. They need to understand how their life experiences can physically change their brain. Since life experiences can physically change their brain, this means their time in my classroom is critical for me to help change their brains to think independently and be able to be positive influences on their peers and society. Below are a few critical factors for learning.
Repetition - Students need to hear things repetitively. When starting a lesson, before you even begin the topic, you plant the seed that activates their schema in their brain. They begin to think of things on the topic they have seen or done before. Then you begin to talk about the topic and expand their schema. After your topic ends you don't just stop talking about it. You will mention it again down the road so they don't forget what they learned. The more this happens the better they will be able to remember the information.
Input Quantity - Too much, too fast, won't last. If you are giving your students a lot of information in small amount of time, none of the information you just taught will stick. Students need a break time between subjects or topics so their brains can reset and be prepared to accept more/new information.
Coherence - Students need to be able to activate their schema when they are learning something new. If they don't have prior knowledge to fall back on, students won't understand what they are learning. Teachers must tie in real life connections to help students build up their prior knowledge so that they can understand the new information they are learning.