10 Minutes a Day: A Practical Approach to Boosting Academic Performance in Primary Schools

MeeMo, the whole class working memory training programme is launching with Elklan in Autumn 2024.

As a primary school teacher or teaching assistant, you're well aware of the daily challenges in the classroom. From delivering engaging lessons to supporting individual learners, every minute counts. But what if a short, focused activity could make a significant difference in your pupils' academic performance? Let's explore how Working Memory training, specifically the MeeMo programme, is helping teachers and pupils across the UK.

The Time Crunch in Primary Classrooms

Picture a typical morning in your classroom. You've planned a full day of learning activities, each designed to meet the diverse needs of your pupils. As you look at the mixture of eager and hesitant faces before you, you might wonder: "How can I effectively support each child's learning journey within the constraints of our busy day?"

This is a common concern. A recent survey found that 78% of UK primary school teachers feel they don't have enough time to address all their pupils' learning needs fully. It's a challenging situation, but one that innovative teaching approaches can help address.

The Need for Efficient, High-Impact Interventions

Given the time pressures, any new teaching tool or method needs to meet three key criteria:

1. Quick and easy to implement

2. Requires minimal preparation

3. Shows measurable, positive results

This is where Working Memory training comes into play. As a key predictor of academic achievement, enhancing Working Memory can positively impact learning across all subjects. The MeeMo programme stands out for its efficiency and ease of use in busy classroom environments.

Understanding Working Memory: The Brain's Workbench

Before we delve into the practical application, let's explore what Working Memory is and why it's crucial for learning.

What Exactly is Working Memory?

Think of Working Memory as your brain's workbench. It's the mental space where you temporarily hold and manipulate information. For your pupils, it's essential for every learning task, especially those such as:

- Following a series of instructions

- Solving multi-step maths problems

- Comprehending complex sentences while reading

Without a well-developed Working Memory, many aspects of learning become more challenging. Pupils might struggle to follow lessons, forget instructions, or find it difficult to engage with complex ideas.

The 'Brain Muscle' Analogy

Here's a helpful way to explain Working Memory to your pupils (and perhaps to curious parents):

Imagine the brain is like a muscle. We use our arm muscles for everyday tasks like writing or using a computer, which maintains a basic level of strength. Similarly, we use our 'Working Memory muscle' for routine thinking tasks. However, just as our biceps won't grow significantly from these daily activities, our Working Memory won't improve much from routine mental tasks alone.

To really strengthen Working Memory, it needs more intensive exercise. This is where targeted training comes in. MeeMo offers specific activities that challenge Working Memory, encouraging growth and improvement - much like a focused workout at the gym, but for the brain.

Why Working Memory Matters in the Classroom

Strong Working Memory skills can lead to:

• Improved attention and focus during lessons

• Better ability to follow multi-step instructions

• Enhanced reading comprehension

• Stronger mathematical problem-solving skills

• Overall improvements in academic performance

By dedicating just 10 minutes a day to Working Memory training, you're providing your pupils with a tool that can potentially enhance their learning across all subjects.

Introducing MeeMo: A Practical Approach to Working Memory Training

Now that we understand the importance of Working Memory, let's explore how MeeMo brings Working Memory training into the classroom in a practical, engaging way.

MeeMo is designed with the realities of primary school life in mind. It's grounded in cognitive and educational research, but more importantly, it's shaped by the needs and preferences of teachers and pupils. The result? A programme that's easy to implement and enjoyable for children to use.

Fitting MeeMo into Your School Day

One of the most appealing aspects of MeeMo is its time efficiency. A typical MeeMo session takes just 10-15 minutes from start to finish. This brief duration means you can easily incorporate it into your daily routine, whether it's:

• First thing in the morning as a brain-energising activity

• After lunch to refocus pupils for afternoon lessons

• During transition times between subjects

Many teachers find that after the first week or two, pupils become so familiar with the routine that they can set up and run MeeMo sessions largely independently. This not only fosters a sense of responsibility in your pupils but can also provide you with a valuable 10-15-minute window for planning or preparation.

The Science Behind MeeMo's Effectiveness

While MeeMo appears simple on the surface, it's built on a foundation of rigorous research. The programme incorporates over a dozen hidden training elements, each designed to target and improve specific aspects of Working Memory and related cognitive skills.

These elements work together to:

1. Stretch pupils' individual Working Memory capacity

2. Improve attention and concentration

3. Enhance processing speed

4. Develop strategy use and metacognitive skills

By consistently challenging these abilities in a structured way, MeeMo helps pupils build stronger cognitive foundations that support learning across the curriculum.

Key Features of MeeMo

Let's dive into the specific features that make MeeMo both effective and classroom-friendly.

1. Pair-Based Activities

MeeMo is designed as a paired activity, which offers several benefits:

• Engagement: Working with a partner makes the tasks more interactive and enjoyable.

• Peer Support: Pupils can encourage and help each other, fostering a collaborative learning environment.

• Role Rotation: Pupils alternate between two roles:

  •  The 'Questioner': Holds the tablet, asks questions, and checks answers.

  •  The 'Thinker': Listens to questions and provides answers.

This rotation ensures that all pupils get experience in both roles, developing different skills in the process.

2. Variety of Activities

MeeMo offers five different activities, one for each day of the week. This variety helps to:

• Keep pupils engaged and interested

• Target different aspects of Working Memory

• Provide a sense of progression and novelty throughout the week

3. Adaptive Difficulty Levels

Each MeeMo activity comes with three difficulty levels: easy, medium, and hard. This feature ensures that:

• All pupils can participate at a level that challenges them appropriately

• There's room for progression as pupils' skills improve

• Pupils can self-select their difficulty level, promoting autonomy and self-awareness

4. Progress Monitoring

MeeMo includes personal Monitoring Booklets for each pupil. These serve multiple purposes:

• Allow pupils to track their own progress

• Encourage self-reflection and goal-setting

• Provide a tangible record of improvement over time

Importantly, these booklets are kept personal to the pupils, which can increase their sense of ownership and motivation.

5. Flexibility in Implementation

Whether you want to use MeeMo with your whole class, in small groups, or for one-to-one interventions, the programme is designed to be flexible. This adaptability makes it an excellent tool for:

• Whole-class cognitive skills development

• Targeted support for pupils with additional learning needs

• Enrichment activities for high-achieving pupils

Benefits for Pupils: Enhancing Learning Across the Curriculum

When you implement MeeMo consistently in your classroom, you're likely to observe a range of positive changes in your pupils. These benefits often extend beyond the specific tasks in MeeMo, impacting overall learning and classroom behaviour.

1. Improved Ability to Remember and Follow Instructions

One of the most immediate benefits teachers often notice is pupils' enhanced capacity to remember and follow multi-step instructions. This improvement can lead to:

• Smoother transitions between activities

• Less need for repeated explanations

• Increased independent work time

2. Enhanced Understanding and Retention of Learning

As Working Memory capacity increases, pupils often demonstrate:

• Better comprehension of complex concepts

• Improved ability to connect new information with existing knowledge

• Enhanced recall of previously learned material

This can be particularly noticeable in subjects that require integrating multiple pieces of information, such as science or history.

3. Increased Confidence in Maths and Phonics

Working Memory plays a crucial role in both mathematical thinking and phonological processing. After consistent use of MeeMo, many teachers report:

• Pupils showing greater confidence in mental maths

• Improved ability to hold and manipulate numbers in multi-step problems

• Enhanced phonemic awareness and decoding skills in early readers

4. Better Attention and Concentration in Class

MeeMo's design inherently trains 'Selective Attention' - the ability to focus on relevant information while ignoring distractions. As a result, you might observe:

• Longer periods of sustained focus during lessons

• Reduced distractibility, even in busy classroom environments

• Improved ability to return to tasks after interruptions

5. Greater Self-Esteem and Motivation for Learning

As pupils see their own progress through MeeMo's Monitoring Booklets and experience success in other areas of learning, you may notice:

• Increased confidence to tackle challenging tasks

• More positive attitudes towards learning in general

• Greater resilience when facing academic difficulties

Common Questions About MeeMo

As you consider implementing MeeMo in your classroom, you may have some questions. Let's address some of the most common queries we receive from teachers.

How long should we use MeeMo for?

MeeMo is most effective when used consistently over a half-term period (approximately 5-7 weeks). Many pupils enjoy MeeMo so much that they want to continue beyond this period. To maintain engagement over the long term, we suggest alternating its use every half-term (i.e., once a term). This approach keeps the activities fresh and exciting for pupils while still providing regular Working Memory exercise.

Can MeeMo benefit pupils with special educational needs?

Absolutely! MeeMo can be a valuable tool for pupils with various learning needs, including those with:

- Speech and language difficulties

- ADHD

- Dyslexia

- Dyscalculia

The programme's flexibility allows for adaptations to suit individual needs. For instance, you might consider:

• Using a quieter space for pupils who are easily overwhelmed by classroom noise

• Focusing on verbal rehearsal exercises for younger children or those who need extra support in this area

• Adjusting the difficulty level to ensure an appropriate challenge for each pupil

How can I track pupils' progress with MeeMo?

MeeMo provides personal Monitoring Booklets for each pupil. These booklets serve several purposes:

1. They allow pupils to record their daily scores

2. They encourage self-reflection and goal-setting

3. They provide a visual representation of progress over time

While these booklets are primarily for the pupils' benefit, you can use them as a discussion point in one-to-one conversations about learning strategies and progress.

Will MeeMo take time away from core subjects?

While MeeMo does require a daily time commitment, many teachers find that this investment pays off in improved learning efficiency across all subjects. The skills developed through MeeMo—such as better attention, improved instruction-following, and enhanced information processing—can lead to more productive learning time throughout the day.

Moreover, as pupils become familiar with the routine, MeeMo sessions often become an opportunity for teachers to complete quick administrative tasks or prepare for upcoming lessons.

MeeMo provides a practical, flexible, and engaging 10 minute whole-class training to help every child maximise their individual thinking capacity.