Learning & Teaching: Brain dump!
This week Cimi takes us through a technique he has been experimenting with in Business: Brain Dump!
What is it?
It is an independent activity where I tell students to write down everything that I have taught them up until that point. They write on their tables using white board pens. It can be used every lesson and doesn’t really take any planning:
Why do you use it?
Re-call: I use it as a way of recalling. This is because it forces students to try and remember everything I have taught up until that point of the lesson. It also supports the retention of this knowledge in students’ long term memories.
Formulate: I use it as a way of making them think hard about what they have learned. It forces them to really try and formulate the content, theory or ideas in a manner that makes sense to them. This is emphasized by the fact that I don’t prescribe a certain way of them doing the exercise; they can draw something, do a mind map, thought bubble, a list etc.
AFL: It allows me to walk around and see what students have understood, haven’t understood and what has actually stuck in their mind up until that point so it can be used as a form of AFL.
How do I use it?
When: I normally insert a brain dump as a mid-plenary, or if I have thought that I have taught them a lot of content/terminology and we need to pause and get our thoughts together.
How long: I normally give them 3 to 4 minutes to write it all down on their tables with their whiteboard pens.
Where: They write it on the tables as it gives them more space to write everything out and be more creative with it. Of course this may create a risk where students may just copy each other, but I make it clear that it is not a test and they do it to help themselves understand. So a culture of low stakes has to be created with this.
Cimi Hysenaj
> Afiya Romain-Bains in an A Level Physics lesson creating stages to the lesson to slow down her students to work on one step at a time:
