Today was a very frightening, yet exciting day in my world! Brian came into my 2nd hour chemistry class and introduced the students to the laptops. Once the students had their computers in front of them, I just stood back and watched them working on their individual laptops...it was a very strange sight! Brian also explained to the students all of the different ways we can all share information from one laptop to another. I am so excited to learn more about what this technology can bring to my chemistry classes and how the students do with the laptops.
In addition to introducing the laptops, I had the students do a problem solving activity. They had to figure out how many centimeters thick a piece of aluminum foil is and how many atoms thick it is. The only information they were given was the density of aluminum and the diameter of one aluminum atom. The students are doing a great job of working together and within about 15 minutes, most of the groups were on the right track.
Because I am trying to implement so many classroom activities and less notes, I am using my webpage as a resource and posting my powerpoint presentations online if the students need extra help or need those notes to learn the information better. I do not know how many of them are taking advantage of this, but the resources are there for the taking.
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4 comments:
"Exciting" and "frightening" would describe a lot of what we are talking about, so you must be on the right track!
You might consider asking the students if they are taking advantage of those resources. Not in a "hey, you should be taking advantage of these resources" way, but in a "hey, I was just wondering if . . ." way.
Are you still giving the notes in class or just offering them as an addition? We're headed into a biology unit that will definitely require some notes/power points. I've been toying with the idea of posting them on my website and having them fill them out at home. So, I'll have to talk with you more about how it's working in Chem.
I love the idea of posting power point notes on the Internet. Want to come and teach me how?
Cara - I am not giving the notes in class like I did last year. I am using the class time to do problem solving activities, mini-labs, etc. Since I run out of time for notes, I have the powerpoints from last year linked to my webpage if the students want them in addition to the bookwork and class discussions. I hope this helps.
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