21 C Feedback

1) Did the information presented today make sense? If not, what would have helped? What do you still need?
2) Were the activities today well-planned and meaningful? Be specific. If they were not, what suggestions would you make?
3) What potential do you see in the information presented today for your possible use?
4) What else do you want the planning team to know?

The articles on constructivism have been a great resource for a solid background knowledge of the theory. They always seem to raise a lot of questions and good discussions. As a group, I feel that we are very eager to jump in head first, which is good. However, it is important to have a good understanding of what constructivism really is and examples of what it looks like before really diving in.

I love having the opportunity to collaborate with colleagues from other departments! It's just nice to know that everyone is trying new things and sometimes failing...or not working out exactly the way they had planned. It's not just me! The most meaningful activity yesterday was the discussion of ideas that others have used or have heard of. This way we can adapt the activities to use in our own classroom. I plan to use a lot of the activities discussed today in one form or another. It's just nice to get new, fresh ideas.

I really liked Larry's idea of demonstrating a constructivist lesson for our group. However, I agree with Lauren in that I think it's awesome, but I would not volunteer...not this year at least. I think it will be great to implement 2nd semester and see how it goes! Since it is hard to use up a planning period to observe another teacher, I think this will be a great way to be a student during a constructivist lesson.

I'm glad that we were able to continue our discussion instead of going to the computer lab. Although the time to read other blogs, comment, etc is nice, I feel that the discussions are more helpful and meaningful at times.

Got gas?

Chemistry class was so fun today! We have just started into Gas Laws and how different variables change the behavior of the gas. I had 8 stations set up around the room that the students rotated to. Here are the questions that the students had to answer:

1.What are the four Factors that effect a gas?
2.List the 2 variables that change at each station and explain what is happening to the gas.
3.Make a general statement relating each of the four factors at each station.
4.Tell whether each of the relationships in #3 is direct or inverse?

Before they could begin, they used the text to find the answer to #1 (pressure, volume, amount of gas and temperature). Then they rotated to the various stations to see how each variable affected another and recorded their observations.

One station consisted of a flask with balloon on top. The students placed the flask on a hotplate and then in ice water. On the hotplate, the balloon expanded, when it was placed in the cold water, it contracted. This shows that as temerature decreases, the volume of a gas decreases. We also used the vacuum pump, which the kids loved! I placed a marshmallow in the vacuum to show that as the pressure decreases, the volume increases. If you haven't seen a vacuum pump, it causes the marshmallow to grow and then shrivels up once the pressure inside the chamber is increased. (We have also use the "Peeps" during Easter season). The students soon wanted to put everything in the vacuum to see what would happen. We put the entire bag of marshmallows in to see how much they expanded, they built marshmallow castles to put in, a balloon...it was fun!

On Monday we are going to use these demonstrations for the gas law calculations. This way they don't have to memorize 5 equations, they just have to know the relationship between the gas variables.

The Grading Dilema

I have been thinking a lot about Tony Winger's presenation and how I can adapt my grading policies and categories. Right now, I still have the same general categories for grading: tests, quizzes, homework, labs, etc. I know, I know...terrible! I have been asking several questions to people who have already implemented new grading categories, just to gain a better understanding. Next semester I plan to try some different categories like responsibility, content knowledge, etc. to see how communication changes with the students and parents. I still have a lot of questions that I need to figure out for myself about late work, the daily assignments given out, how to split the point values for asssignments for the different categories...Ok, I have a lot of questions and uncertainties about this. I'm anxious to try some new things out and see how they go for next semester.

Mole Madness

This week we introduced the "mole", which is a unit of measurement in chemistry. A mole represents a very large number - 6.02 x 10^23 particles to be exact - so chemists use moles to compare quanities rather than writing huge numbers in scientific notation. To help the students understand how big a mole really is, I found an activity online that has 10 questions for them to research and solve. For example, one mole of pop cans stacked on top of one another would reach from here to the sun and back how many times? Students worked individually or with one other partner to solve their problem. I had items in the room for them to measure and also had the internet for resources. It was a great problem solving activity and (hopefully) helped them visualize how big a "mole" really is.

Wow...am I a dork or what?!?

Take 5: 9/29/06

Homecoming week at AHS...where a typical comment from the students is "why do we have school during homecoming, we don't learn anything this week anyway." It was hard to motivate the students this week, especially today with the homecoming assembly!

Since I know the students would be unmotivated and preoccupied with homecoming, I wanted to plan something so they could actively participate. On Wednesday, Brian had designed a mini-lab with different types of reactions. I used this activity in class today, which ties in all of the aspects from this chapter. Their test is Monday, so it was a good review. Each reaction was different, so as a group of 4 the students performed the experiment, determined the type of reaction, predicted the products and balanced the equation. When they were finished, I had each group explain their experiment to the rest of the class. It was a great review activity...thanks Brian!

On Monday of this week, the students were working on writing and balancing chemical equations. I posted a word document to my web page and had the students access this from their laptops, and save it to the desktop. The document had 10 word equation and they had to work for 8 min on writing the formulas and balancing them. After the 8 min was up, they paired up with someone and checked their partner's work for mistakes. If there was a mistake, they highlighed the incorrect information and inserted a comment explaining why it was incorrect. Then they paired up and fixed the mistakes together. I really liked the activity and the kids worked well together.

Refreshed once again

Friday's meeting was great! The discussion cleared up a lot of misconceptions that I had about our expectations. I felt much better when Karl said the technology presented to us is not required...just something to think about; and when Brad said that he did not implement anything new that first semester, he just thought about how he could tie them in. I could relate to several of the comments made during the meeting. I was working so hard to find an activity or some sort of constructivist strategy to use in my classes every day. I would be disappointed if I had to do any "lecture", but like Barb said, I think it is important to find a balance between the two.

We have been using United Streaming in the science office for about a semester. However, I did not realize that you could create quizzes, access lesson plans, etc. The time to search around on the site was nice.

I feel much better about the fact that I've been trying new things in my classroom...even when they "fail" in my mind. This group is an awesome support system!

Stuck in a rut...

Last week and this week, I have been feeling very overwhelmed and bogged down with too many things to do and not enough time! I'm sure many teachers feel the same way during this time of year. At the beginning of the year, I was very anxious and excited to try new activities, use the laptops, etc. All of this takes time to plan....a lot of time for me! Maybe it's the material we're covering in class or trying to keep up with coaching, but last week and this week I have reverted back to the old and familiar.

Last Friday I had the students take 5 minutes to write down what we have done in class that they have liked and what they have not liked. I received great feedback and suggestions. At the beginning of the year, I had the students complete in-class labs, activities, etc. They seemed to dislike the lack of notes and information discussed in class, but many of them stated they liked the labs and in-class activities over note-taking.

I need a day to refresh and reevaluate...I'm anxious to collaborate again on Friday.

Handing it over...

Today in chemistry I was able to let the students jig-saw the notes and information using the laptops. The students worked in groups of 3 or 4 and each found a few properties of a specific section of the periodic table. As a group, they had to create one powerpoint slide (or word document) that explained their assigned section. After the groups placed their presentations into a drop box, they each came up to the front and presented the information to the class. I also allowed the class to type the notes on the laptops if they wanted to instead of writing them down. I know this is a small step in technology and with the laptops, but I'm easing my way into it!
The groups were only given 15 min to research the section of the periodic table, create a presentation as a group and put it in the drop box. Then we spent about 15 min presenting the information and taking notes. While the students were researching and presenting I found my self wanted to jump in and add comments to their presentations. The students provided more than enough information about each section they were assigned and did a great job, it was just hard for me to have them do everything! I think it will be an adjustment for me to hand over the reins, so to speak. Even though I find myself wanting to talk and tell them the information, when I reflect on the day, I'm excited that they are getting used to helping each other and working together to get and understand the material!
I also found some cool interactive websites that I plan to use next week...I will keep you posted on how that goes!

Take 5: 8/28/06

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.

Take 5

As I started planning for the first few days of school, my focus was on finding student-initiated activities. In chemistry we started with properties of solids, liquids and gases. I found an activity where the students had to make "glurch", which is a substance like silly-putty. After they had made a sample, as a group of 4 they had to chemically modify it to meet a specific criteria. For example, one group's sample had to bounce 3 inches while another group's sample could only bounce 1/2 inch. They were given the initial recipe and a few random substances if they wished to use them.

When I organized this activity I wasn't sure how it was going to go...I was prepared for a disaster. However, the each group was able to modify their glurch sample to meet their specific goal. We tested the samples and shared the results. The students really enjoyed this activity and were able to problem solve and communicate as a group.

I'm excited to integrate more student-initiated, inquiry based activities into my classes. I can already see a difference in 3 days of class that my chemistry students are getting used to working together and helping to teach the concepts to each other, rather than listening to me lecture!

The World is Flat

As I first began reading The World is Flat, I could relate outsourcing to many experiences I have had, such as telemarketing callers and anytime problems with the TV or computer would arise. I tend to get very frustrated when I call Dell for computer help and I can barely understand the person on the other end of the phone who's trying to fix the problem. However, in my frustration I have never thought of outsourcing as "flattening" our world until now.

Then I started thinking about the students that I have in class, my brother in college and my husband who works in business. Will high school and college students be able to find careers in the future for a descent salary? Will education change enough so these kids have the opportunity to have a good career? Could my husband's job be outsourced someday? It is a scary thought...one that has just entered my mind after reading this book.

Last week I happened to catch a few minutes of Oprah when she was discussing the crisis in the education system. Several high school students were asked to name the first five American presidents. I do not remember how many countries where represented, but I do remember seeing a girl from China listing all five right away and some American students answering Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt as our first president! To me, this was just a small reminder of how much education needs to change. In Chapter 6: The Untouchables, Freedman states to his daughters "Girls, finish you homework - people in China and India are starving for your jobs." I feel that today's students need to realize how competative their career choice may be in the near future. I agree with Freedman that professionals now need to very specialized, and be able to adapt to various skills, knowledge and experiences.

Reading The World is Flat has been very eye-opening for me. I used to view outsourcing as only being in very large companies, mostly dealing with electronic customer service...things that do not relate directly to my life. However, now I see outsourcing as hitting very close to home when I think about my students and younger brother in college. With that I wonder, what will the future hold? The scary part to that question is the fact that the "future" is not very far away.