Do You Know How To Brain Dump Effectively?

What is a brain dump?

A brain dump is storing information you know, somewhere else other than your brain (ie: on a piece of paper). This frees up your brainpower so it can process information instead of remembering information. It kinda acts as a security blanket for the brain. We have developed a step-by-step strategy of 5 Ways to Crush any Test, and it is yours for the taking!

As most states allow a blank piece of scratch paper to be given to students for end-of-the-year testing, we proactively teach students how to brain-dump the information they have learned throughout the year onto that piece of scratch paper. If students know that all the pertinent information they will need for a test is already written down in a safe location, then their anxiety level goes down and their performance goes up!

Braindumps can be used in a variety of ways. However, for our purposes here, we will show you a strategically developed strategy to scaffold the process for students. Why, when, and how to teach a brain dump as a test prep strategy will be our topic of choice.

Why use a brain dump?

First, a brain dump is a method of retrieval practice, which you can learn more about here and here. In a nutshell, retrieval practice is getting the information OUT of the student’s brain (thus, “retrieval”) as opposed to putting information INTO a student’s brain.

When it comes to helping students feel prepared for state testing (or any other test, for that matter), a brain dump is a strategy that can be used throughout their life. Students come into a test with worry written all over them. We have all seen those faces walk into our classroom. Our job is to boost their confidence that they have learned much throughout the year, and that they will be able to retrieve what they have learned.

Some of the advantages of using a brain dump in your classroom include:

builds confidence
reduces stress
organizes learning
is an individual and personal approach to learning
frees up brain-power to think and process information

When to use a brain dump…

Begin teaching the Brain Dump strategy once you have taught 1 or 2 units of study. This is usually somewhere around the second semester or second quarter of school. Begin very incrementally with a lot of scaffolding and then gradually release those scaffolds as students become more proficient. However, if you are starting the brain dump later than the second semester, just scale down the brain dump a bit. Follow these same strategies, but on a smaller level.

How to brain dump effectively

CONSTRUCTING THE BRAIN DUMP

For our example today, we will be showing how to construct the brain dump from a 6th-grade class aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards:

Decide on what the overarching concepts are from the unit of study (i.e.: Solar System or Energy and Matter). You can see a breakdown of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) State Course Maps here.
When deciding how to use a brain dump effectively, you want to choose simple diagrams or formulas to represent the concept. Things that students can quickly reproduce that provide value and meaning in a variety of areas. Think overarching ideas.
The ENTIRE brain dump should be able to be reproduced in 15 minutes or less.
Each quadrant always needs to have the same unit of study in it. For example. If you put the solar system in the top left quadrant — every time you do a brain dump, the solar system will always be in the top left quadrant. Keeping your brain dump organized in this fashion helps your brain to file that information and retrieve it in an easy manner (visual learners will love this).

WHEN TO INTRODUCE THE BRAIN DUMP IN THE CLASSROOM

You can being training students on the brain dump right after you finish teaching your first unit of study. However, if it is mid-year, just start. You want to give students as much time as possible to begin putting formulas and diagrams into memory.

HOW TO INTRODUCE THE BRAIN DUMP IN THE CLASSROOM

Time is limited, so we like to sprinkle the brain dump into our bellwork time in the following manner:

Show students what a completed brain dump will look like.
Explain to students the reason behind learning this strategy. and the science behind it (go over what research has shown). In short, you are giving them a “security blanket” during the test. This strategy frees up their brain to process test questions instead of remembering information.
Start incrementally. You will be providing a lot of scaffolding at first, then a gradual release of responsibility as time goes on.
The graphic organizer is divided into 4 sections. We chose 4 sections for this example because there are 4 main units of study within this 6th-grade example. Each of these sections will be associated with a unit of study, i.e.: solar system, energy, and matter, weather, ecosystems.
Begin with your first unit of study.
Model yourself writing the information down as you explain why you chose this information and how they can use it to calculate various bits of information.
Show the student the top left section and have them copy it from the board. It should take no longer than 5-10 minutes for one section.
Once students are familiar with the first section, you can begin teaching them the second section, which will be your second unit of study. You will continue this pattern until you have completed all 4 units of study.

WHEN TO INCORPORATE THE BRAIN DUMP IN THE CLASSROOM

We suggest sprinkling the brain dump into your bell work routine a minimum of 2 times per week, with an ungraded “quiz” at the end of the week where you will give them 5 minutes to complete one quadrant.

HOW TO INCORPORATE THE BRAIN DUMP IN THE CLASSROOM

Research has shown that the very act of being quizzed helps a student remember the material better. You can read more about that here. These quizzes are more effective when they are done in small increments over a long period of time. In addition, when feedback is included, the benefits are even greater. We like to inform students of the upcoming Friday “quiz” early in the week, so they can prepare. We usually post this sweet note on the board and leave it there all week as a reminder.
Give a time limit. In the beginning, as you are learning the brain dump one quadrant at a time, give students around 5 minutes to reproduce the quadrant or section. The end goal is to have students reproducing the ENTIRE brain dump in 15 minutes or less.
After each ungraded “quiz”, have students fill in parts of the brain dump they are missing with a marker. Remember when we talked earlier about how feedback gives an even greater return on retention? This is the ”feedback” portion, and you don’t have to do a thing. By students filling in their own gaps on the brain dump, you are allowing them to make this strategy a personal and individual one. This will show them the concepts on which they need to concentrate their efforts.
Helpful Hint: We usually have a stack of the brain dumps copied onto bright yellow card stock and easily assessable to students. They can use these to study from, or to grade their own brain dumps after a “quiz”.

Finally…

When it is test day, we give each student a blank “scratch” paper. We set the timer (just do this on your phone or watch, as a timer is an anxiety inducer for some folks) for 15 minutes. During those 15 minutes, students will reproduce the brain dump as they have been taught. At the end of the 15 minutes, you can then start the end-of-the-year test. In our district, if the student has their name on the paper we can collect it. Once collected, we put them all in a sealed folder. On the next testing day, we pass out the papers.

In Summary…

Brain dumps are a way of getting information out of a student’s brain. They are researched based. Begin by looking up your state course map and choosing the overarching concepts that will yield the biggest return. Provide a lot of scaffolding at the beginning, with a gradual release of responsibility toward the end-of-year testing season. Begin introducing one section at a time, spending 5-10 minutes per day, 2 times a week with a non-graded quiz on Friday. Give a time limit. Students will provide feedback to themselves by filling in the missing parts of the brain dump after their Friday “quiz”.

Grab your step-by-step process of creating and teaching The Brain Dump Strategy, along with graphic organizers to help with the scaffolding process for students. Best part? It is free. 🤩 You are just a few clicks away from a pretty epic test-prep strategy 👉🏻 Click here for your copy.

Interested in some more test prep strategies you can start using in your classroom today? Click here 😀 .