Brain Dump

Excellence in Education: Brain Dump

I’ve seen several teachers use Brain Dump, or some sort of variant, as a Do Now, a Sponge Activity, a Sponge Activity, or an Exit Activity. The more I see it used, the more I like it and cognitively it works!

Students are given a topic and are given several minutes to write down all they know about the topic without using any resources. Students can then work with a partner to share or add to their lists or they can be allowed to reference their notes or other resources.

Note: It’s important that students don’t reference their resources in the first step. Make them think to make learning more permanent.

Ideas for Education: Feedback from Grant Wiggins

According to Grant Wiggins effective feedback is:

• Goal-referenced
• Tangible and transparent
• Actionable
• User-friendly (specific and personalized)
• Timely
• Ongoing
• Consistent

 Administrative Notes

Flex starts tomorrow.

Positive Referral Link: http://goo.gl/s0KXRB

Work Order Request Form: http://goo.gl/H7hFwK

Comment Box: http://goo.gl/forms/KAHNoGf5D2

Some upcoming dates:

February 10: New Flex Start Date

February 13: Senior Trip

April 30: Honor Breakfast (Top Decile)

May 17: Scholarship Banquet

May 18: Senior Picnic

May 26/27: Now sent in stone: Senior Exams

May 29 @ 6pm: Graduation

May 29 (full day) and  June 1: Exams (as it stands now)

Some upcoming edcamps (opt-out credit can be earned):

February 21: Edcamp NOVA (Ashburn): I’m registered but unable to go because I’ll be at another conference http://edcampnova.org/

March 21: Edcamp Arlington http://edcamparlington.org/

                    Edcamp RVA (Richmond)

April 18: Edcamp Delaware (Wilmington)

Still waiting for more info about Edcamp MetroDC and Edcamp95 (Virginia/Prince William maybe)

What I’m Reading

The Neurochemistry of Positive Conversations: A great follow-up article to last week’s one-on-one conversations posting and a great reminder to me.

Toontastic, an ipad app, is now free. Some great opportunities for some creative student-created projects.  Google buys Toontastic  and an example of toontastic in education.  

19 Superpowers All Teachers Have