Skip to main content

'Tis the Season...for testing...

Here we are, two weeks away from an extremely well deserved break, spending a great amount of time...testing.  Now is about the time that I start drawing out my plans of my latest, yet to be invented invention.  This invention is called- wait for it- iBrain.  No, that name isn't very creative.  Test Eliminator 2000.  Ehh, let's go with iBrain.  Anyways, iBrain looks like a USB cable that plugs into the ear of a student- any ear.  The other end plugs into a computer.  You wait 5 minutes while everything the student has learned up to THAT point is downloaded into a convenient little, easy to read, spreadsheet.  Bingo bango boom, you have what you need to plan the upcoming semester.  Oh yeah, and all the accountability stuff too.  5 minutes is all it took.

Of course I am being facetious and thinking rather wishfully.  I know.  I understand the need to assess our students for both planning purposes and accountability purposes.  I get it.  We (my students and I) get it.   I just really really wish it didn't take this long.  4 days a week for 3 weeks in the month of December is what we will have spent collecting data.  Dagnabbit I wish there was an easier way.  Since there isn't, we shall make the most out of it this way!  #positivity #mindset #hashtag

We were able to spend some time coding this week during the nationwide movement #HourOfCode.  If you haven't heard of it, basically there are a millionbillion or so resources for students to start learning computer science.  President Obama is on board.  So is Chris Bosh.  This week is the designated #HourOfCode week but really if we want to do our best to prepare these students to live successfully in the 21st Century, we should spend way more time than just an hour this week coding with our students.  If you are interested, check the websites linked below!

Coding Websites:
 Hour of Code

Made With Code

MIT Scratch

code.org/

I didn't take many pictures of my students coding because we were all so enthralled in the experience together.  Here are a few I did get.






#HourOfCode

Follow me on Twitter!
@Mr_Braden


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Braden Bin

Welcome to the second installment of The Braden Bin, formerly known as Friday Finds.  Yep, week two and the name has already changed.  For those that know me know that it is likely to change a few dozen more times.  Just the way I am.  I'm comfortable with it. (Haha, by the way, I actually changed the title AGAIN, while writing this blog.  It was Ben's Bin.  Oh me oh my.) Music I'm Jamming To:   Coming Home by Leon Bridges A blast from the past out of Ft. Worth,Texas.  That's right, not Detroit in the '60s...Ft. Worth, Texas - 2016.  Most of you probably have heard of him already but if you haven't, I'd suggest getting on the bandwagon now.  This guy is amazing and is only going to gain more popularity.  I cannot wait for his next album to come out. If you are into Vinyl, I strongly suggest picking this one up.   Bonus:   Lisa Sawyer by Leon Bridges What I'm watching :   German Coast Guard - what are yo...

The Braden Bin - 6/9/16

Quote that's got me thinking:  "When teachers talk to teachers, good things happen." I'm not sure who to give credit to for this quote but I first heard it from Plano ISD's superintendent Dr. Binggeli during his first "speech" to the administrators in the district.  That was at the beginning of the year, and here I am, in the first week since teachers and students have left for the summer, still pondering it.   I think for too long the teaching profession went like this - This is my classroom, these are my students.  I'll do my thing and you'll do yours.  Good luck and good riddance!  Now, the teaching profession is moving in the direction of collaboration, sharing of resources and ideas, etc.  Educators are realizing that much can be learned from their comrades.   #AmIrightTOTY?   What I'm Reading:   High School Suspensions Cost the Country $35 Billion Annually, Report Estimates This is a pretty fascinating study and while th...

Birthday

It's my birthday tomorrow.  I don't want to do this, but I have no choice.  It's all around me.  Literally coming at me from every direction imaginable.  It's ok.  I'm alright with being "that guy".  I've decided that I will write about my days in the life of an educational leader but when the time strikes, I will write about my personal life.  This is one of the times I am taking a little bit of time to write about what's going on in my life. Tomorrow, my family and I will wake up early and head up to Paris, Texas.  We have some family in Paris but we aren't going there to see them, although we do plan on making a stop.  We are going to see a family we have grown close to throughout Avery's treatment for Hepatoblastoma.  They just lost their little one to Neuroblastoma.  Tomorrow is her funeral. I have a student who fought and beat Leukemia several years ago.  I didn't know her when she was fighting and I didn't know her w...