Maybe it is working.....

WHAT AM I DOING TO HELP KIDS ACHIEVE?

HOW DO I KNOW WHEN THEY ARE THERE?

WHAT IS THE EVIDENCE?

    So we did the mini posters on intermolecular forces.  To quickly summarize...here was the lab.  The class broke up into groups.  Each group did several trials on the evaporation of one chemical.  The six chemicals were four alcohols and two alkanes.  Essentially, the fewer intermolecular forces and less hydrogen bonding lead to faster evaporation and a huge quick drop in temperature (big difference between the maximum temp and minimum temperature).  More intermolecular forces (more weight and more hydrogen bonding) found that it took a long time for evaporation to occur and small change in temperature.

     So I gave a short answer question on a test.  They were presented with lab data for the change in temperature when methanol, ethanol and propanol evaporates and had to identify which data fit with the respective chemical.  Most students got it right.  Then I asked them where methane would be on the graph and they also got that right.  There is an interesting feature...I forgot to tell first bell the structure of methane yet they were mostly able to correctly deduce it and get the correct answer.  Is it due to the flipped assignment on naming and IMF?  Was it due more to the student centered lab???  Not sure..but something appears to be working on a small level....

If learning were a crime...would there be evidence?

WHAT AM I DOING TO HELP KIDS ACHIEVE?

HOW DO I KNOW WHEN THEY ARE THERE?

WHAT IS THE EVIDENCE?

     Just got done with a weird state testing week.  The schedule was messed up every day and it usually is not a good idea to lecture or test kids after they have a 2.5 hour standardize test.  I decided to do labs in every class.  We did the "mini" poster presentation in Accelerated on a inter molecular force lab with data about evaporation of different solvents.  It is tough to put into words qualitative evidence.  The discussion and engagement was very good and their discussions were better than ones that I could have started.  Below is a sample lab...

     Another idea I stumbled upon with the help of Learn 21 and Chris Gutermuth is the idea of "google forms".  We have tried to have "pre lab" quizzes in the past.  Blackboard has not always worked well with examview.  It has been a struggle to do it effectively.  I think I found a nice way for "quick and dirty" simple quizzes or formative assessment type quizzes.

     In "Google Forms" it is easy to make a simple quiz that is multiple choice, matching or true false.  You can then send the link to a site or students.  A required question is "What is your name and student number?"  After students take it can click on the form and all the questions and answers pop up in a spreadsheet.  You can then "insert script" and search for one called "flubaroo".  It will automatically grade the quiz and provide a complete breakdown.  This might be helpful for pre lab quizzes.  It will not grade short answers but those might be ones that I do not grade but ask, "What is confusing about this lab....???" so I can quickly get an idea of what kids are not sure about.  This might also be nice for a quick "homework" quiz.  I will try it and let you know...here is a link for a quiz.  Sample Quiz HERE!  (Don't worry...I won't hold your grade against you...).

Baby steps and Inquiry....

WHAT AM I DOING TO HELP KIDS ACHIEVE?

HOW DO I KNOW WHEN THEY ARE THERE?

WHAT IS THE EVIDENCE?

     Had a great class the other night at Miami University Target Inquiry program the other night.  How do we help kids achieve through inquiry?  Dr. Yerzierski quoted a person who wrote a NSTA book (I'll get the name latter)...take baby steps.  Take a typical lab that we do and take off the data table.  Take another lab and have kids develop their own hypothesis.  On the next lab, give them only part of the data and have them get the rest from another group.

     I am now coming up on one of the toughest times of the year.  We are hitting OGT week, one more week and then spring break.  Kids are struggling and starting to shut down.  We are doing a evaporation lab next week.  I am having the students do mini posters, collect a small portion of data repeatedly and then get other sample data from other groups.  They have to also develop their own hypothesis.  Is it baby steps or jumping off a cliff?  I will let you know next week...

Snow Days, the Internet, and the Zombi Apocaplyse

WHAT AM I DOING TO HELP KIDS ACHIEVE?

HOW DO I KNOW WHEN THEY ARE THERE?

WHAT IS THE EVIDENCE?

     Funny thing about snow days...they actually give you time to think.  Question number 1...why bother learning facts when we have the internet or an app for that?  A student who struggles a bit in math showed me this cool app.  He writes the math problem with his finger, it is converted to text and the answer appears.  So if this exists and my son is learning his math facts, why should he bother when there is an app for that?  One reason comes to mind, his life (hopefully) will outlast the life of the device so therefore he may not always be able to depend on it.

     Here is another point that Rob Mancabelli asked.  Why bother with a traditional school when the internet, in some regards, has so much more to offer 24 7?  MIT has open course ware in science.  I can take it whenever I want.  Students can access information that I could never provide.  So why bother with traditional school?  What if traditional school could offer something that the internet cannot...like higher order thinking skills.  Sure, anyone can find the facts.  But does the internet help us to apply those facts in a unique and creative way to solve problems in our world and local community?

     There is a professor at Miami University in Oxford Ohio who is working on attaching a laser to a telescope in hopes of turning it into a device that saves lives.  A person would be able to use this device to point the laser from a distance at a possible roadside bomb.  The telescope is hooked up to another instrument that would use the laser and its reflection to detect chemicals that make up bombs and warn the user.  The internet cannot come up with the creativity to think up and build those devices.  It cannot provide the courage to use them. 

     It sound crazy, but maybe we should teach kids what they need to know to survive the ultimate bad day.  They come to work and the copier is down, the network is not working, they lost their smart phone, there is no coffee, and they are being attacked by flesh eating zombies (hence the zombi apocalypse).  Could they survive or would they just buy time until the network is back up?

Learn 21 Conference - Drinking Water through a Fire Hose...

WHAT AM I DOING TO HELP KIDS ACHIEVE?

HOW DO I KNOW WHEN THEY ARE THERE?

WHAT IS THE EVIDENCE?

     Up at the Learn 21 conference at The Ohio State University.   Wow...kind of like drinking water through a fire hose...

     If I had to have a list of "take aways" here is what I would offer.

     First, the keynote speaker Rob Mancabelli was great.  Bottom line for the kids of today...the question is not  "what will they learn today" but "how will their networks help them learn today"?  Kids are "networked" on the internet in ways that I have never imagined.  The best way to help them is to somehow navigate their "networked" world of facebook, twitter and all of the other millions of social media networks that they are involved in.

     Also, I think I am going to try twitter again.  I think through hash tags I will be able to follow other educators and better be able to communicate with students.  I am considering assigning a lab or research in which they would need to find the social media or technology to best help them find the answer and then tell me about it. 

     Another great lesson learned was from Infohio.  It is a great free tax payer supported site.  They have developed an absolutely wonderful online tool that helps students with the proper way to do research that is authentic and not plagiarized (called "research 4 success").  Also, it takes them through six modules from start to presentation on a research project.  It would be perfect for a science fair or capstone class.  I hope to introduce it into the science labs.   

     Finally, I learned about "google forms".  Essentially, I can make quick, dirty, fast online quizes, set up a link and get the results through something called "flubaroo".  Quick fast and easy.  This might work great for pre lab quizes where we could never really get it to fly with blackboard because of glitches.

     My goal this summer is to pick one or two of these and insert it into my teaching....I will keep you posted.

The Kitchen Sink....

WHAT AM I DOING TO HELP KIDS ACHIEVE?

HOW DO I KNOW WHEN THEY ARE THERE?

WHAT IS THE EVIDENCE?

We just finished up stoichiometry in academic chem.  Basically...I threw the kitchen sink at em....We did a "smore" lab and showed how chocolate is a limiting reagent.  We did a computer simulation on stoichiometry on the Colorado PHET site.  We did an actual lab with finding the amount of carbon dioxide in an alka seltzer tablet.  We did a bunch of problems, peer teaching and puzzles.  And the test results show...they did O.K.  Bottom line...throw a bunch of different activities that all follow the same path to the same goal.  And whatever happens...don't give up.

     The one activity that I tried differently this time that I had not done in the past was peer editing and review.  Most of the time when I give a quiz or a test I find it is hard to go over the test with students because someone is sick and I don't want them to get the answers.  This time I had a few versions of small quizes and I had the kids who "got it" work with the kids who did not "get it".  The atmosphere was great.  Many kids enjoyed the chance to be a teacher and others talked to their classmates in a way that they would not have talked to me.  Definitely worth trying again.