Got Test Anxiety?

Many of our students experience test-anxiety or lack confidence when faced with any type of assessment. These issues speak to the need for students to learn about perseverance and problem-solving and develop personal strategies around them. One such strategy might be a brain purge (sometimes called a brain dump) Despite the odd name, it could really be quite helpful.

 

So how does it work?

After learning new material over a period of time, have students do a "brain purge" on a blank page. Essentially, they dump everything they know about what they've learned. This has many uses:
1. It helps students articulate their learning.
2. It allows teachers to see "gaps" in learning.
3. It allows for teacher/peer feedback.
4. It creates a study guide before tests.
5. If done for a few minutes immediately before a test, it becomes the study guide during the test.

All of these approaches may be quite useful in removing anxiety and developing confidence in learning and assessment. What do you think?

Find out more information here at Edutopia.

Poem in your Pocket?

This video underlines the fact that there are so many wonderful things to experience, exciting places to explore, and compelling things to learn. Learning should be fun and it should be shared.

April is National Poetry Month in a variety of countries. What if your school held a "Poem in Your Pocket" Day sometime this month? It is certainly an opportunity to help instill a love of poetry but it could also be an authentic engaging learning experience in writing, social skills, speaking, listening, building community and more. What if your students shared just a few descriptive words (maybe in the classic haiku form) about what they're learning and why it's exciting? Find info here.

Asphalt whizzes by

Spokes sparkling in the sunlight

View from handlebars

~H.P. Clamann