Short answer: work hard.
Oh you wanted specifics? Keep reading.
One of the intricacies of education is that we can do the same thing year after year but nothing is the same or we can teach a completely different class and everything is still the same. Here are two examples:
I taught Physics every year for ten years. In that time period there have been new national and state standards implemented, two major bell schedule adjustments changing the number of minutes per day and week, furlough days have come and gone, new rallies and school traditions take instructional time, I have changed rooms four times, decided to forgo homework and gotten a new textbook twice. While I have taught "Physics" for ten years the class I would teach now is not the same as when I started.
I have also taught Conceptual Physics seven times in ten years. Several times there was a year in between in which I did not teach it. The population changed from freshmen only to freshmen and English Language Learners to open to all students to freshmen and special education only. The book has not changed but I have also had the same schedule and calendar changes I experienced for Physics. Because the class was meant to sere students that need additional support many of the pedagogical approaches and project based learning remains the same.
It can be hard to teach a course you have taught before with textbook or schedule or population or calendar changes. And then you may have to teach something completely different. Physics teachers often have to teach non-Physics courses because of traditionally lower enrollment in Physics classes compared to say Chemistry. In some schools they are the only Physics teacher and thus teach multiple levels. We tend to have more preps (different classes to teach) and change them up more often than other science disciplines. In your career you will probably at least once have to teach a brand-new-to-you course that makes you feel like a new teacher all over again. That's what happened to me this year with AP Physics C.
While I would love to say I met the challenge gracefully with my years of experience that was not always the case. Sometimes the workload crushed me. It definitely left my family neglected, our house in disorder and our lives chaotic. But as the end of the year approached I found that it got easier, not because the curriculum did but because I had developed a process. I found, through absolute trial and error, what helped me and what did not. I realized I went through the same steps in the same order at the start of each unit and it started to get (incrementally) easier.
And thus I decided to share, not because it is innovative or particularly amazing but because it could be helpful. I know someone out there, experienced or not, will be told in the coming weeks that they will be teaching (gulp) some class brand-new to them. It is daunting, makes you question whatever skills you thought you had and the workload downright sucks. So if some of this process helps you, great. If not, hopefully it helps lead you to your own.
Start with what you are given:
If you are inheriting the course from someone else you may find that you have also inherited a few filing cabinets worth of material. Or binders. Or shelves and shelves of "teacher resources." It is time consuming but worth it to go through this materials and do a first sort of what is and is not useful. Ditch the floppy disc versions of your textbook's teacher materials; ditch multiple copies of supplemental materials (unless there is more than one teacher). Check with your district about district copies of these resources, they may wish to consolidate extras in their warehouse for potential future use. You don't have to read every piece of paper left for you in a file cabinet now, you don't have to decide to adopt everything they left for you but you may want to keep it to give yourself the option.
As I moved into my new room this year there were eight total file cabinet drawers left for me for Physics and AP Physics. In my first sort I kept one copy of everything. I wanted to be able to read the labs he wrote but figured even if I decided to do the same ones I would probably be retyping it. I wanted to be able to see what his tests looked like, but knew I didn't need a class set. I kept a copy of his handwritten lecture notes so I could see how he implemented material, even though I planned to make powerpoints. I kept the manila folders, overheads and single sided paper to reuse as scrap paper. In the end, I filled four full size recycling bins with the paper I discarded, that was just the double-sided stuff. What I kept fit in two 4" binders in page protectors. I separated the stuff by unit, or at least by what I thought was by unit at the time. I was left with no digital files, except for uneditable pdfs I was able to download from his website before the district took it down.
As the year has progressed I started every unit going through what I was left. I looked over and digitized the lecture notes (you can copy it into a tablet or just scan it) to see how the material was presented before. If there was a worksheet that I wanted to use I would retype it as it was at first. I then did the worksheet myself and edited it how I wanted to for my own kids. Basically I took a look at what was done before as a guide, not to follow exactly but just for comparison. It provided a place to start, so I didn't have to start from scratch. There were plenty of worksheets, labs, etc. that I took this second look to and tossed aside. If you are lucky enough to start a new-to-you course that someone else teaches, start with everything they have. You can change things but it is invaluable to see how someone else teaches it, for better or worse.
Textbook resources:
While you may or may not use your textbook, electronic or print, your district has probably adopted one. Looking through it can be helpful if you have to learn or relearn material. I would read and take notes on each chapter, so that I could experience how the material was introduced just like my kids would. Most publishers have digital teacher resources now, either for download or on their website. My publisher has answer keys, lecture powerpoints, test banks, image galleries, simulations and more. So as to not re-invent the wheel, for each unit I started my lecture powerpoints using the textbook ones as a base. As the year progressed less and less of the original remained but it saved me time when I had so little. While using pre-made resources is not ideal, you should personalize your curriculum for yourself and your students, it is not the worst starting place. In later years of teaching the course you will probably use your own materials more and more.
Find reliable resources:
No class should be taught by textbook alone. Finding a few trusted and reliable resources for your class is important. This may be a professional networking site or another teacher's website or even social media. I found helpful materials on a wiki page, PrettyGoodPhysics, that will sadly need to relocate. There were a few YouTube Channels that provided consistently good tutorials by subject for myself and my students. Sometimes it would be for a different course (AP Physics 1, 2 or Honors Physics) but good video lessons are good video lessons regardless. I recommend Flipping Physics, Dan Fullerton's APlusPhysics, Mrs. Twu's video tutorials and AKLectures Physics series. If I needed to review a topic, or more importantly to learn what to emphasize for my students, it was very helpful watching other teachers teach it.
Social media turned out to be one of my greatest resources this year. I was able to find other physics teachers I did not know on Twitter and could follow or use hashtags like #APphysicsC to find resources by course. I was able to share data that didn't make sense and tag the equipment manufacturer who would often very quickly respond with suggestions. I once tagged @VernierST in the middle of a class period about weird looking data and got a response before my students left that period. They would continue to work with me for days as I tried to troubleshoot. Other teachers could jump on the thread and make suggestions or share sample data in the worst case scenario that nothing worked. I could share pictures of student work that made me scratch my head, asking more experienced teachers how I could prevent such incorrect problem solving in the future. As other teachers shared pictures of labs or demos they were doing I could save the picture for future use. I've even reached out to individuals to ask for their lab write-ups, ask follow-up questions or for advice. And they respond! Teachers usually like to help other teachers and many have been amazingly generous, sending me full curriculum guides, sample lecture notes, etc.
And perhaps most importantly, they don't judge much. On Twitter and on the College Board AP Physics C list serve I have posted problems that I cannot solve, or conceptual issues I still have that are preventing me from teaching it to my students. More experienced teachers have been able to respond with suggestions, solutions or alternate ways of approaching the problem. Everyone was patient as I usually started out my requests with "Since it's my first year teaching #APphysicsC..." And since I was putting that question out to anyone who could answer, people that could would and I would crowdsource some great solutions.
I also collected textbooks. Luckily we just adopted new AP textbooks so we had a textbooks from all the big publishers who had sent materials during the adoption process. I currently have six textbooks on my table, and I would often flip through all of them. For each chapter I would look through them to see if the example problems were different, how the material was grouped or arranged and to see what was emphasized. If my adopted textbook emphasized a type of problem that didn't appear in the other textbooks it helped confirm what was outside of the scope of the class.
Ask for help:
You know you should but it may still be difficult to admit that you don't know everything (yet) about your new course and you need help. Sometimes it was about the scope of the course, as my textbook includes a lot more than what is included on the AP Physics C exams. Sometimes the problem I tried to do out of the back of the chapter or on a worksheet I found was coming out wrong or I didn't have the answer to check it. Whatever it was I found that there were a few people I could ask for help. Most I knew personally through NCNAAPT but some I had met through my AP summer training or interactions online. I tried to spread out my questions, rotating through my "will help me" rolodex so that I did not take advantage of those willing to help me. I tried to figure it out by myself and not have to ask unless I was really stuck. My friends seemed to know this and did everything they could to help me when I asked.
Get trained:
I am a firm believer in proper science teaching professional development. Not all PD is good, don't get me wrong, but there are some consistently helpful training opportunities I always enjoy. For new teachers PTSOS and the Exploratorium's New teacher Institute of course. The national AAPT Summer and Winter meetings and your local AAPT meetings are full of the best-of-the-best resources shared among physics teachers. I find that the down-time in between workshops with other teachers can spark the best conversations and lead to lots of good shared ideas.
If the new-to-you course is an College Board Advanced Placement one you can also take a sanctioned AP training. They can be pricey but are often offered throughout the year. I had a hard time finding summer training for AP Physics C last year and had to travel to Texas to attend one. While it was helpful, I did not feel that one was enough to be comfortable teaching the course. I asked my district to send me to another one this summer and I'm crossing my fingers that there is more to learn.
Practice Practice Practice:
I found that, much like my students, I benefited from lots of practice. While I wouldn't do every problem in my textbook, I would probably work through twice as many as my students. I tried to do every conceptual question and did the ones that another AP Physics teacher using my book assigned. I figured that this more experienced teacher had probably already weeded out the problems that were too hard or awkward and these problems would be good for my students. Sometimes these still tripped me up and I decided early on that if I couldn't do the problem, I would not assign it to my students. By doing more problems I was able to see patterns in how the questions were asked or what they were asking for as well as improve my own problem solving technique. This also meant when it came to assessments I had more problems that I could solve then I had given to students to use.
One particularly helpful resource was an online workbook of released AP multiple choice and free response problems arranged by subject. This meant that I could look through the simple harmonic motion section and see all the problems ever asked on the AP exam about SHM. I could pick and choose the problems I wanted, combined with the textbook's test bank, to make my own tests. Sometimes working through all these extra problems seemed time consuming, especially if I wasn't going to assign them all, but overall it really helped my understanding.
Get organized:
This is easier for some than others, and I am not saying that everyone has to be a super clean desk all the time, but, if you are collecting new resources for a new class that doesn't do you any good if you can't find the cool thing your saved when the time comes. The easiest method is to create a folder for each unit and throw it all in there. At the start of the year I made a folder for each section of the AP Physics C objectives so that when I found a few resource I could sort it appropriately. This meant that prior to the start of the unit I would have maybe half a dozen to a dozen files before I really started to build the unit. As the unit progressed I would sort what I was using from the extra resources I wanted to keep from the assessments I would give. Since I tended to save everything I could get my hands on I would end up with a lot of files. For example, I started my magnetic field and forces unit with 5 digital files and two weeks later, before I've even written their test, I have 150.
Take care of you:
At the risk of sounding like a spa commercial, you need to take time out for yourself. Even though I was part time, developing new curriculum this year became my life. It was not unusual for me to work 12 hours a day, as in actual sitting down work, not just being awake for that long. I neglected my hobbies, cleaning, my health, because the work "had to get done." It will be the most work you've done outside of your first year to develop a new curriculum. Apologize to your family up front. However, do not lose yourself to it. Prior to this year I was trying to work on life-work balance and I failed miserably this year. I wish I had taken more breaks, spent more time with my kids, etc. but I didn't know how to get all my work done and do everything else. It got better as I developed this process and that's why I'm sharing. Hopefully having a game plan will help you develop your new-to-you course without drowning in your work. A burnt out teacher is not a helpful teacher.
To summarize:
1. Start with what you are given.
2. Try textbook resources.
3. Find reliable resources
4. Ask for help
5. Get trained
6. Practice Practice Practice
7. Get organized
8. Take care of you.
That's it, just 8 easy steps! (Totally sarcastic by the way)
It will be tough but by trying to focus on what I knew worked for me, I've almost gotten through it. As I can almost see the bright light on the other side believe me when I say you will too. Good luck!
Showing posts with label pedagogy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pedagogy. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 17, 2018
Saturday, February 10, 2018
Gaussian Surfaces for the win
I worked all last weekend learning how to integrate the Electric Field near an infinite line of charge, finite line of charge, charged ring and charged disc. It was brutal. The only thing worse was working my AP Physics C students through it. Students are "supposed" to learn it, it's right there in the College Board Objectives for the course:
Yet the concept is infrequently seen on the AP exam so some teachers hope for the best and don't teach it. I decided I would do a one day lecture along the lines of "Just follow me through the math kids!" I figured it was the best of both worlds, they technically saw it and some might remember it and I wasn't wasting much time. They did dutifully follow the notes but based on the pained expression they didn't "get it." I didn't like that every video tutorial I found said "And now you just check your integral table ...." because my students wouldn't have one on their exam. I told students the emphasis was on the relationships, what did and did not affect the strength of the field. I told students not to memorize the equations. If the problem did appear on the exam it would probably be for a partial charged ring, also known as an arc, which was done slightly differently and seemed much easier. Combine the not fun math and my inexperience with it and I was not a happy teacher for a few days.
So what do unhappy teachers do? Go back to good teaching strategies. My kids (and I) were getting confused so I made a reference table with a (1) a description of the situation with variables, (2) a picture that matched and (3) the final equation they got from the integration. Its available here as a pdf.
When I passed out the chart I asked them, "And what are we not doing with these equations?" and students answered "Memorize them!" So they tucked them away and may never have looked at them again.
A few days later as I was reviewing Gaussian surfaces I watched Dan Fullerton's APlusPhysics video about them. He pointed out that using Gaussian surfaces around an infinite line of charge you derive the same equation as in my chart above. My mind was blown. [cue explosion noises] When I lead students through Gaussian surfaces we worked through the derivation for the Electric Field around an infinitely long charged rod using a Gaussian cylinder. I had them take out their charts and pointed out the equation was the same as what we had found a few days ago. Then I asked them to look at the disk of charge equation and asked what it would look like as it became an infinite plane as R goes to infinity. There were audible gasps. "Wait, this is so much easier than that integration." Physics works kids. Gaussian surfaces for the win.
4. Fields and potentials of other
charge distributions
a)
Students should be able to use the principle of superposition to
calculate by integration:
1)
The electric field of a straight, uniformly charged wire.
2)
The electric field and potential on the axis of a thin ring of
charge, or at the center of a circular arc of charge.
3)
The electric potential on the axis of a uniformly charged disk.
Yet the concept is infrequently seen on the AP exam so some teachers hope for the best and don't teach it. I decided I would do a one day lecture along the lines of "Just follow me through the math kids!" I figured it was the best of both worlds, they technically saw it and some might remember it and I wasn't wasting much time. They did dutifully follow the notes but based on the pained expression they didn't "get it." I didn't like that every video tutorial I found said "And now you just check your integral table ...." because my students wouldn't have one on their exam. I told students the emphasis was on the relationships, what did and did not affect the strength of the field. I told students not to memorize the equations. If the problem did appear on the exam it would probably be for a partial charged ring, also known as an arc, which was done slightly differently and seemed much easier. Combine the not fun math and my inexperience with it and I was not a happy teacher for a few days.
So what do unhappy teachers do? Go back to good teaching strategies. My kids (and I) were getting confused so I made a reference table with a (1) a description of the situation with variables, (2) a picture that matched and (3) the final equation they got from the integration. Its available here as a pdf.
When I passed out the chart I asked them, "And what are we not doing with these equations?" and students answered "Memorize them!" So they tucked them away and may never have looked at them again.
A few days later as I was reviewing Gaussian surfaces I watched Dan Fullerton's APlusPhysics video about them. He pointed out that using Gaussian surfaces around an infinite line of charge you derive the same equation as in my chart above. My mind was blown. [cue explosion noises] When I lead students through Gaussian surfaces we worked through the derivation for the Electric Field around an infinitely long charged rod using a Gaussian cylinder. I had them take out their charts and pointed out the equation was the same as what we had found a few days ago. Then I asked them to look at the disk of charge equation and asked what it would look like as it became an infinite plane as R goes to infinity. There were audible gasps. "Wait, this is so much easier than that integration." Physics works kids. Gaussian surfaces for the win.
Friday, November 03, 2017
Simple demo big gains
I have noticed a big difference in student comprehension when the problems become real to them. Simple visuals can have a big impact on the students "getting it." I can't count the number of times I've tossed a tennis ball around to make a point. Somehow holding the tennis ball at different heights or just tossing it up to catch it again can lead to "Oooh now I see what's happening!" So I have several simple demos that help students visualize their problems, a block or two hanging from the ceiling with spring scales, a stuffed toy in a bucket, etc.
When we studied springs I found a Pasco spring demo set with five springs all of the same length but different spring constants. The first stage was to hang a 20 g mass from the red spring and see it barely settle above the table. I asked students what would happen if I were to hang a 500 g mass then from the green (which they assumed was identical). They were surprised at its shorter elongation and when I asked why they all said "it has a larger spring constant."
For the next stage I set up two large ring stands with another bar clamped horizontally between them. I dramatically assure students it is level with the springs hanging at their relaxed length. Then I hang a 500 g mass from each and they can see the slight differences in elongation. Then the 500 g masses are switched out for 1 kg and the difference between them becomes more pronounced (left). Applying this to Hooke's Law they could all calculate the spring constant for each spring. But this made it way more interesting than five given forces and elongation lengths to calculate the spring constant from a word problem.
When my AP Physics C class started center of mass, many could calculate the center of mass with equations but had a hard time visualizing what that actually meant. A common problem involves materials of different densities stuck together, for example a piece of aluminum and a piece of iron. To make a real life version I found a piece of Styrofoam that was the same thickness as a piece of scrap wood. I drilled three holes in the wood, stuck three dowels into the holes and stuck the dowels into the Styrofoam. I wrapped the whole thing in paper to make it appear uniform but I did tell students it was made of two different materials. I showed it to students and asked what information they would need to solve for the center of mass. Of course I play with them a bit and after each response I say, "Ok, now you can solve it right?" to which they predictably respond, "No, we need XYZ too!" Eventually, I give them the dimensions of the whole thing and let them solve for it. The dimensions are listed on the paper below (the "total mass" includes the paper in case they ask).
They are not surprised that the center of mass is closer to the wood side but they are surprised that for this particular arrangement it's actually on the wood. It's a simple practice problem but once they're done I can balance the piece on my hand at (almost) the exact position they predicted, about 5 cm in from the wood side. Students that struggle with this homework problem were successful with this in-class practice problem.
Another simple one my colleague Jessie Chen shared with me can be done by every student in your class on the cheap. Like less than $1 cheap. Most dollar stores sell packs of cards for $1, or even a double pack if you're lucky. Each student will need one plastic playing card (or index card) folded at a right angle along the length of the card. Place it on the corner of the table with one corner hanging off the edge of the table. Place two pennies on the card so that one is on the portion on the table and one is on the portion hanging off the table. You can use a pen or pencil to press on the card so that when it moves it pivots around that point. Flick the vertical part of the card on the side that is hanging off the table. This causes the card to move so that it is no longer supporting the penny hanging off the table and it will fall straight down due to gravity. On the other side the vertical portion of the card will push forward, applying a horizontal velocity to the penny and making it shoot off the table in a half a parabola shape. You can hear (and see) the two pennies hitting the ground at the same time. Many of us have a fancy machine that demos this for us, sometimes called a "Drop/shot" or a Newton's Second Law machine, and those work great, don't get me wrong. But to be able to hand these to my students and have them try it, nothing can be better than that!
Sunday, August 06, 2017
Vector Birthdays
I will be teaching AP Physics C, Mechanics and Electricity & Magnetism, for the first time this year. Although I have been graciously gifted curriculum from several veteran teachers, you have to make your curriculum your own. So I'm tweaking what I have, splicing and dicing things together into what I think will make a good learning experience for my students. (Of course you know I'll have to rewrite it next year once I actually know what I'm doing).
One of the things I wanted my students to practice was drawing vectors. I found a lot of worksheets online but wanted something a little more open. Adding to my complicated needs is the upcoming eclipse and my plans to travel to Oregon like Dan. I need four days of sub plans right at the beginning of the year. At last I had an epiphany:
The instructions should be simple enough for students to do without help from the sub. Each student (unless they are twins) will have an entirely different vector drawing. Its a quick and easy way to practice. Below is the example I'll have the sub project:
I can ask students who has the smallest resultant, the largest or perhaps the one closest to 90 degrees. This use of child-specific numbers make me think how else I can use them. Perhaps problems with blanks students fill in with numbers only the know: their birthdays, their address, their phone number. Everyone gets to practice the same process but each problem would be unique.
One of the things I wanted my students to practice was drawing vectors. I found a lot of worksheets online but wanted something a little more open. Adding to my complicated needs is the upcoming eclipse and my plans to travel to Oregon like Dan. I need four days of sub plans right at the beginning of the year. At last I had an epiphany:
#physics I wanted vector drawing practice, I wanted it randomized for students, I didn't want to make 30 different versions. So I made this: pic.twitter.com/NVf840FRRO— Bree BarnettDreyfuss (@BarnettDreyfuss) August 3, 2017
The instructions should be simple enough for students to do without help from the sub. Each student (unless they are twins) will have an entirely different vector drawing. Its a quick and easy way to practice. Below is the example I'll have the sub project:
Monday, May 29, 2017
All the (End-of-the-School-Year) feels
Some schools are already out of session, others have another few weeks. For some teachers this is their first "end" of the school year and for others they may be giving their last lecture. As much as we are emotionally invested in our jobs, it should be no surprise that changes in it bring about changes in us. Wherever you may be on this spectrum you're probably feeling "all the feels," as they say.
An interesting, and complicated, part of our job is the number of students we interact with. While entire classes have a definite atmosphere or culture, they are each made up of many (sometimes many, many) students. Each individual has a relationship with you that is different than the others, which means your feelings as they leave your class for the last time are different than others. There are some students that you are, honestly, happy to see go. While I believe even the most difficult student deserves the chance to learn, they can be trying. In a job as taxing as teaching sometimes our patience wears thin by May/ June and we are just "done" with certain students. Others you may have really bonded with, or were particularly courteous or extra engaged in your class. Maybe you worked in an extracurricular club with them or coached a team, etc. Whatever the cause there are some students you are sad to see go. They leave your room as young adults and you may wonder "What will they be in the world? How will they make it a better place?" And then there are those you just hope make it to their first class reunion or don't end up in jail.
As grades post there is a roller coaster of emotions. Overall you're relieved you got through that pile of papers; maybe anxious that your forgot something. You're happy (perhaps even ecstatic) that that one student actually passed your class. You can be disappointed that some students obviously didn't use the study materials you spent hours making when they do worse than you think they should have. And then the emails come, or the in-person begging, asking for just one more (or ten more) points to boost their grade. You can feel guilty for saying no, you can feel annoyed at being asked, you can even feel bullied or misled when parents and students seem to have different perceptions of reality. If you catch students in acts of desperation at this time of year, like cheating on tests, you can feel betrayed and wronged. Catching students cheating on a final one year I remember actually seeing red. Sometimes it is tough making the decision to stick to your policies; but bending them for special circumstances can feel humanizing.
If you teach the lower grade levels your students are still coming back to campus next year. Depending on your proximity to the campus quad, openness to visitors, etc. students may even stop by to visit you. You'll see them around campus and hear the familiar, "Hey Mrs. B!" shouted across the quad. If you teach seniors though, you're probably not going to see them again. Some senior teachers attend graduation, the last hurrah for those that made it through four years and on to the next stage of life. This celebration is bittersweet as you're both proud and happy for the graduating students and your part in their education as well as nostalgic for the time you've spent together. There will be photo ops and proud displays of medals and flowers and introduction to parents and family. You can be dragged around to meet this person or that person, smile here and shake a hand here. A lot of a teacher's self worth is wrapped up in students' perceptions and such an event can make you feel like you're doing a good job. You can feel accomplished as you help celebrate one of their biggest accomplishments.
Seniors aren't the only ones to leave at the end the school year though. Whether through retirement or change of jobs several teachers will leave your school each year. You may not know some of them well, but you probably wish them good luck. Retirements bring a mix of emotions like seniors. You are excited they get to relax after working for so long, you live vicariously through them as they describe their plans for their first summer "off." You tell them, "You'll miss it come August!" and wonder if you would if the roles were reversed. If you have colleagues retiring or leaving you also wonder what it will feel like when school starts up again. You may miss them, or you may be happy to see a "changing of the guard." There are some that may have stayed too long and if you hear one more "Back in the day..." story about "kids today" you swear you're walking out too. If you're nearing the end of your own career you may be trying to emotionally prepare for your "last year." You may feel financially unprepared for life without work and therefore worried like only the economy can worry you. Packing up your classroom for the last time is full of memories. You may find yourself gifting equipment or curriculum, feeling like a wise old sage imparting wisdom to younger teachers. If you're leaving for good there may also be a sense of loss for something that has made up a good portion of your life. If you just finished your first year of teaching there is an exhausted/ relieved/ happy/ sad type feeling that you survived a trial by fire. You now have experience, you have done it before and that does make a difference. Or maybe your experience is in the double digits and you're beginning to forget how long its actually been ... I have to count on my fingers sometimes.
Due to retirements, job changes or due to growth, you may be expecting new colleagues. This can be exciting: you may look forward to learning new things or to building more collaborative groups. You may be hesitant if a new teacher will be teaching one of "your" classes. You may feel your status threatened, a bit of a childish "But I don't want to share!" about your curriculum or put off if your room situation is changing as a result. The staff at a school helps set the tone for the culture at a school and there will be a shift once the new school year starts without some old teachers and with the addition of new teachers. Add to that new administrators that come through a seemingly constant revolving door and you have an excited/ worried mix of wondering what it will be like.
And your classes! New teachers are much more likely to have new-to-them preps, and potentially more than one, in their first few years. If you are teaching a new prep you may be feeling anxious or nervous about it. You could be feeling excited for the new adventure, ready to take on the challenge! Or the class you'll teaching is a class that is not your favorite and you dread it all summer. Are you teaching a class with another teacher? You could be looking forward to being part of a team, excited to see what you can build together and what you can learn from them. If you started a new-to-your-school class you may feel like a debutante! New classes can mean professional or curricular development over the summer. Your family and friends may tease you, "Aren't you supposed to be on vacation?" You may wish to side-eye them over the top of the textbooks and binders you take home. You may have a sense of martyrdom for giving up part of your summer for your "higher calling." Or you have a summer job and never feel like you're going to get the break your colleagues will.
Are you moving classrooms? This can feel like an upgrade to a penthouse suite or a downgrade to a basement office (don't forget your red Swingline). With a move often comes determination to be cleaner in the future and actually file everything when you're done with it. Or you could feel the need to minimize and purge those old overheads you know you're never actually doing to use again. You can feel sentimental as you find old student work, drawings they made you or notes they wrote you. I often feel inspired as I'm cleaning, finally seeing all the equipment on one subject at once makes me think of new ways to use them or put together pieces that have been lost. Maybe you can personalize your space more than in the past and have a sense of "home" away from home. Or sharing space may mean removing these things and you feel a loss of connection.
So let's review. As a teacher, of any level experience, the end of the school year can make you feel: happy, proud, sad, betrayed, nostalgic, relieved, anxious, happy, sentimental, annoyed, accepted, unappreciated, loved, excited, etc. So ... basically everything. Teachers can have many different emotions at the end of the school year for a variety of reasons. There is no "normal" or one certain way that you should be feeling. You may have different feelings each day as the end approaches and in the days after. Our profession is unusual in that it cycles with definite ends and beginnings. Each cycle is both the same and yet unique year to year. Be prepared for a wide range of emotions, recognize their causes and embrace them. For some reason secondary teachers are expected to be machines, especially science teachers, devoid of emotions. Forget it, you're human. Do a happy dance if you want to, grab a tissue if you need it. Summer is coming, bring it on!
An interesting, and complicated, part of our job is the number of students we interact with. While entire classes have a definite atmosphere or culture, they are each made up of many (sometimes many, many) students. Each individual has a relationship with you that is different than the others, which means your feelings as they leave your class for the last time are different than others. There are some students that you are, honestly, happy to see go. While I believe even the most difficult student deserves the chance to learn, they can be trying. In a job as taxing as teaching sometimes our patience wears thin by May/ June and we are just "done" with certain students. Others you may have really bonded with, or were particularly courteous or extra engaged in your class. Maybe you worked in an extracurricular club with them or coached a team, etc. Whatever the cause there are some students you are sad to see go. They leave your room as young adults and you may wonder "What will they be in the world? How will they make it a better place?" And then there are those you just hope make it to their first class reunion or don't end up in jail.
As grades post there is a roller coaster of emotions. Overall you're relieved you got through that pile of papers; maybe anxious that your forgot something. You're happy (perhaps even ecstatic) that that one student actually passed your class. You can be disappointed that some students obviously didn't use the study materials you spent hours making when they do worse than you think they should have. And then the emails come, or the in-person begging, asking for just one more (or ten more) points to boost their grade. You can feel guilty for saying no, you can feel annoyed at being asked, you can even feel bullied or misled when parents and students seem to have different perceptions of reality. If you catch students in acts of desperation at this time of year, like cheating on tests, you can feel betrayed and wronged. Catching students cheating on a final one year I remember actually seeing red. Sometimes it is tough making the decision to stick to your policies; but bending them for special circumstances can feel humanizing.
If you teach the lower grade levels your students are still coming back to campus next year. Depending on your proximity to the campus quad, openness to visitors, etc. students may even stop by to visit you. You'll see them around campus and hear the familiar, "Hey Mrs. B!" shouted across the quad. If you teach seniors though, you're probably not going to see them again. Some senior teachers attend graduation, the last hurrah for those that made it through four years and on to the next stage of life. This celebration is bittersweet as you're both proud and happy for the graduating students and your part in their education as well as nostalgic for the time you've spent together. There will be photo ops and proud displays of medals and flowers and introduction to parents and family. You can be dragged around to meet this person or that person, smile here and shake a hand here. A lot of a teacher's self worth is wrapped up in students' perceptions and such an event can make you feel like you're doing a good job. You can feel accomplished as you help celebrate one of their biggest accomplishments.
Seniors aren't the only ones to leave at the end the school year though. Whether through retirement or change of jobs several teachers will leave your school each year. You may not know some of them well, but you probably wish them good luck. Retirements bring a mix of emotions like seniors. You are excited they get to relax after working for so long, you live vicariously through them as they describe their plans for their first summer "off." You tell them, "You'll miss it come August!" and wonder if you would if the roles were reversed. If you have colleagues retiring or leaving you also wonder what it will feel like when school starts up again. You may miss them, or you may be happy to see a "changing of the guard." There are some that may have stayed too long and if you hear one more "Back in the day..." story about "kids today" you swear you're walking out too. If you're nearing the end of your own career you may be trying to emotionally prepare for your "last year." You may feel financially unprepared for life without work and therefore worried like only the economy can worry you. Packing up your classroom for the last time is full of memories. You may find yourself gifting equipment or curriculum, feeling like a wise old sage imparting wisdom to younger teachers. If you're leaving for good there may also be a sense of loss for something that has made up a good portion of your life. If you just finished your first year of teaching there is an exhausted/ relieved/ happy/ sad type feeling that you survived a trial by fire. You now have experience, you have done it before and that does make a difference. Or maybe your experience is in the double digits and you're beginning to forget how long its actually been ... I have to count on my fingers sometimes.
Due to retirements, job changes or due to growth, you may be expecting new colleagues. This can be exciting: you may look forward to learning new things or to building more collaborative groups. You may be hesitant if a new teacher will be teaching one of "your" classes. You may feel your status threatened, a bit of a childish "But I don't want to share!" about your curriculum or put off if your room situation is changing as a result. The staff at a school helps set the tone for the culture at a school and there will be a shift once the new school year starts without some old teachers and with the addition of new teachers. Add to that new administrators that come through a seemingly constant revolving door and you have an excited/ worried mix of wondering what it will be like.
And your classes! New teachers are much more likely to have new-to-them preps, and potentially more than one, in their first few years. If you are teaching a new prep you may be feeling anxious or nervous about it. You could be feeling excited for the new adventure, ready to take on the challenge! Or the class you'll teaching is a class that is not your favorite and you dread it all summer. Are you teaching a class with another teacher? You could be looking forward to being part of a team, excited to see what you can build together and what you can learn from them. If you started a new-to-your-school class you may feel like a debutante! New classes can mean professional or curricular development over the summer. Your family and friends may tease you, "Aren't you supposed to be on vacation?" You may wish to side-eye them over the top of the textbooks and binders you take home. You may have a sense of martyrdom for giving up part of your summer for your "higher calling." Or you have a summer job and never feel like you're going to get the break your colleagues will.
Are you moving classrooms? This can feel like an upgrade to a penthouse suite or a downgrade to a basement office (don't forget your red Swingline). With a move often comes determination to be cleaner in the future and actually file everything when you're done with it. Or you could feel the need to minimize and purge those old overheads you know you're never actually doing to use again. You can feel sentimental as you find old student work, drawings they made you or notes they wrote you. I often feel inspired as I'm cleaning, finally seeing all the equipment on one subject at once makes me think of new ways to use them or put together pieces that have been lost. Maybe you can personalize your space more than in the past and have a sense of "home" away from home. Or sharing space may mean removing these things and you feel a loss of connection.
So let's review. As a teacher, of any level experience, the end of the school year can make you feel: happy, proud, sad, betrayed, nostalgic, relieved, anxious, happy, sentimental, annoyed, accepted, unappreciated, loved, excited, etc. So ... basically everything. Teachers can have many different emotions at the end of the school year for a variety of reasons. There is no "normal" or one certain way that you should be feeling. You may have different feelings each day as the end approaches and in the days after. Our profession is unusual in that it cycles with definite ends and beginnings. Each cycle is both the same and yet unique year to year. Be prepared for a wide range of emotions, recognize their causes and embrace them. For some reason secondary teachers are expected to be machines, especially science teachers, devoid of emotions. Forget it, you're human. Do a happy dance if you want to, grab a tissue if you need it. Summer is coming, bring it on!
Wednesday, April 05, 2017
Brag, teachers, brag!
"I got a promotion!"
"I got the big sale!"
"My team won the tournament!"
"I won my case!"
"My thesis was accepted!"
"No one failed this semester!"
You can just hear Big Bird singing "One of these things is not like the others...." Generally, teachers have trouble bragging. I think some of it comes from the fact that our victories are not commonly talked about. Our daily successes are measured not in dollar signs, stocks or trophies (usually) but in the personal growth of our many students.
This is not to make the argument that teachers should "make more," although yes, they should. This popular spoken slam poetry "What Teachers Make," by Taylor Mali sets that argument to rest:
If we do brag they fall on the deaf ears of those that just don't understand. Our daily victories are very hard to quantify; often we "succeed" when a student just feels/ seems/ does "better." Depending on your grade level you may be building up students' confidence with verbal positive reinforcement, stamps, smiley faces or high fives. As teachers become more experienced, they can learn which students need more encouragement, which students need a bit more discipline and which need more slack.
Another person we should be encouraging is ourselves. It takes years for new teachers to be proud of themselves regularly. Even experienced teachers that do amazing things for their students everyday don't often share their accomplishments with others. My friends and family have learned not to ask "How is work going?" or be faced with a long tangent into pedagogy: "Well, the no homework experiment is going well but I didn't set up the last unit well and they fell behind in problem solving..." While we may share our students' progress or even their successes, we don't often share our role in their accomplishments. We self-deprecate our good work by mentioning the few mistakes that we make. We focus on the one lesson this week that flopped instead of the four that went well.
Sure, some students can learn without us. And some try not to learn just to spite us. But for most of our students each year, we do make a difference. That is something not only be proud of but to share with others.
I wouldn't share your assessment averages every time, but we all have those "proud teacher" moments when you're reminded "This, this right here is why I teach." Those are the moments to share.
I like this Edutopia post "Why Educators Need To Promote Themselves" by Annie O'Brian that outlines the problem as discussed in">Peggy Klaus' book, "Brag! The Art of Tooting Your Own Horn Without Blowing It." There are also psychology takes on when and when not to brag and general lists of how to brag without sounding like a jerk if you want to work on the skill. While excessive bragging is seen as conceited, selfish, annoying, [insert bad quality here], etc. sharing your successes honestly is beneficial.
And if you not for you, do it for your country. That may sound grandiose but in a changing political climate believed by many to be anti-science and anti-public education hearing about the good that comes out of our classrooms is very important. Somehow, teachers are seen both as selfless civil servants and corrupt union opportunists at the same time. Sharing the successes for you and your students publicly can help remind everyone that you do good work.
While they are few and far between for our profession, there are awards for teachers. Thinking beyond your district's Teacher Of The Year or your universities Faculty Of The Year awards, look to local or national teaching groups. The American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) has a whole list of awards and honors that can be bestowed on its members. So does the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), the California Association of Science Teachers (CSTA) and the American Physical Society (APS). Want to go bigger? Dean Baird was awarded a Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science teaching in 2012; read about his journey here. Our own Northern California/ Nevada section of AAPT (NCNAAPT) will be presenting the first teaching award in our section this spring. Nominate yourself or a colleague here.
Somewhere in all that alphabet soup there is an award for you! If you're still feeling shy about self-promotion, perhaps begin by nominating a colleague. As teachers we should be encouraging the good works of other teachers as much as our own.
You may not be comfortable shouting it from the heavens [yet] but start making it a habit to share just what a good teacher you are!
"I got the big sale!"
"My team won the tournament!"
"I won my case!"
"My thesis was accepted!"
"No one failed this semester!"
You can just hear Big Bird singing "One of these things is not like the others...." Generally, teachers have trouble bragging. I think some of it comes from the fact that our victories are not commonly talked about. Our daily successes are measured not in dollar signs, stocks or trophies (usually) but in the personal growth of our many students.
This is not to make the argument that teachers should "make more," although yes, they should. This popular spoken slam poetry "What Teachers Make," by Taylor Mali sets that argument to rest:
If we do brag they fall on the deaf ears of those that just don't understand. Our daily victories are very hard to quantify; often we "succeed" when a student just feels/ seems/ does "better." Depending on your grade level you may be building up students' confidence with verbal positive reinforcement, stamps, smiley faces or high fives. As teachers become more experienced, they can learn which students need more encouragement, which students need a bit more discipline and which need more slack.
Another person we should be encouraging is ourselves. It takes years for new teachers to be proud of themselves regularly. Even experienced teachers that do amazing things for their students everyday don't often share their accomplishments with others. My friends and family have learned not to ask "How is work going?" or be faced with a long tangent into pedagogy: "Well, the no homework experiment is going well but I didn't set up the last unit well and they fell behind in problem solving..." While we may share our students' progress or even their successes, we don't often share our role in their accomplishments. We self-deprecate our good work by mentioning the few mistakes that we make. We focus on the one lesson this week that flopped instead of the four that went well.
Sure, some students can learn without us. And some try not to learn just to spite us. But for most of our students each year, we do make a difference. That is something not only be proud of but to share with others.
I wouldn't share your assessment averages every time, but we all have those "proud teacher" moments when you're reminded "This, this right here is why I teach." Those are the moments to share.
I like this Edutopia post "Why Educators Need To Promote Themselves" by Annie O'Brian that outlines the problem as discussed in">Peggy Klaus' book, "Brag! The Art of Tooting Your Own Horn Without Blowing It." There are also psychology takes on when and when not to brag and general lists of how to brag without sounding like a jerk if you want to work on the skill. While excessive bragging is seen as conceited, selfish, annoying, [insert bad quality here], etc. sharing your successes honestly is beneficial.
And if you not for you, do it for your country. That may sound grandiose but in a changing political climate believed by many to be anti-science and anti-public education hearing about the good that comes out of our classrooms is very important. Somehow, teachers are seen both as selfless civil servants and corrupt union opportunists at the same time. Sharing the successes for you and your students publicly can help remind everyone that you do good work.
While they are few and far between for our profession, there are awards for teachers. Thinking beyond your district's Teacher Of The Year or your universities Faculty Of The Year awards, look to local or national teaching groups. The American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) has a whole list of awards and honors that can be bestowed on its members. So does the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), the California Association of Science Teachers (CSTA) and the American Physical Society (APS). Want to go bigger? Dean Baird was awarded a Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science teaching in 2012; read about his journey here. Our own Northern California/ Nevada section of AAPT (NCNAAPT) will be presenting the first teaching award in our section this spring. Nominate yourself or a colleague here.
Somewhere in all that alphabet soup there is an award for you! If you're still feeling shy about self-promotion, perhaps begin by nominating a colleague. As teachers we should be encouraging the good works of other teachers as much as our own.
You may not be comfortable shouting it from the heavens [yet] but start making it a habit to share just what a good teacher you are!
Saturday, November 19, 2016
Evolution of Physics Curriculum
As I NGSSify my curriculum I find myself removing some pieces of my curriculum that I've done for a long time. Sometimes they are replaced with better activities, sometimes they were dead weight, sometimes I'm sad to see them go. I'm not there yet but it is a process for which we still have several years as the NGSS assessments might be ready by 2018. You've got some time.
While making these curriculum choices I ask myself:
- Does this activity align with NGSS in content (addressing a Discipline Core Idea or Performance Expectation)?
- Or does it align with the Science & Engineering Skills?
- If not is it an essential skill to support NGSS acquisition? (i.e. graph making)
- Is it content that they need to support late NGSS content? (i.e. Newton's 1st and 3rd Laws)
As we approach the middle of the 2nd quarter I find that I am "behind" my past self by almost two weeks. This has meant moving Energy, Work & Power to second semester rather than cram it in first semester. My time crunch is due to a few big changes in my classroom that are still getting the kinks worked out:
1) This year I do not have required homework other than finishing labs. There are some "suggested homework" each night and the problems that I really like are worked into the class period. I suggest that struggling students do the homework each night, it is very briefly reviewed each day because less than a quarter of the students do it nightly. A lot of my students are in more than one AP class, sometimes I am their only non AP class, so if they are understanding the material they don't have to "waste" time doing homework if they don't need it.
2) So how do students know they should try the optional homework? Each week students take a low-stake weekly quiz based on the homework. That way they and I know how they well they are understanding the concepts. I grade their notebooks at the same time so that I can look over their labs for the week. Timing has been an issue so far. Sometimes the quizzes are too long and take most of the period. Absences have also delayed getting the quizzes passed back so in the future I think I will excuse the absent kids. This mean I don't have a chance to see how they are doing before the big assessment and the other quizzes in that category count more but it should improve the pass back time. I want students to have near immediate feedback on these formative assessments. I have been crudely tracking the standards addressed in each quiz in an Excel sheet but they have not been in a way that can be easily shared.
3) Students complete problems on whiteboards in small groups. This has been successful but sometimes not universally so depending on a few things. Some students dominate whiteboards just as they do labs so now I ask students to pass the marker on after each problem. Some students don't feel confident enough in their abilities to problem solve while others are watching. If the group is motivated to be "done" as fast as possible then they miss out on the conversations and growth to get something written ASAP. Yet some of the best problem solving think-out-loud collaborating discussions my students have ever had have taken place this year. They correct each other by citing previous activities, "Remember when she said this? Remember that one lab we did?".
Overall I like the changes and will be keeping them, with some revisions. I need to focus on making sure the weekly quizzes tackle common misconceptions just as much as calculation practice. I need to emphasize and normalize doing the suggested homework without making it seem required. It should feel like an opportunity for students; I want struggling students to want to do it to improve themselves. For whiteboards we have to set up community expectations that include all the students of the group at once and makes it a safe space for all of them to try, make mistakes and try again. And I have to work on my timing by probably further cutting some material. But that will be a topic for another post ...
While making these curriculum choices I ask myself:
- Does this activity align with NGSS in content (addressing a Discipline Core Idea or Performance Expectation)?
- Or does it align with the Science & Engineering Skills?
- If not is it an essential skill to support NGSS acquisition? (i.e. graph making)
- Is it content that they need to support late NGSS content? (i.e. Newton's 1st and 3rd Laws)
As we approach the middle of the 2nd quarter I find that I am "behind" my past self by almost two weeks. This has meant moving Energy, Work & Power to second semester rather than cram it in first semester. My time crunch is due to a few big changes in my classroom that are still getting the kinks worked out:
1) This year I do not have required homework other than finishing labs. There are some "suggested homework" each night and the problems that I really like are worked into the class period. I suggest that struggling students do the homework each night, it is very briefly reviewed each day because less than a quarter of the students do it nightly. A lot of my students are in more than one AP class, sometimes I am their only non AP class, so if they are understanding the material they don't have to "waste" time doing homework if they don't need it.
2) So how do students know they should try the optional homework? Each week students take a low-stake weekly quiz based on the homework. That way they and I know how they well they are understanding the concepts. I grade their notebooks at the same time so that I can look over their labs for the week. Timing has been an issue so far. Sometimes the quizzes are too long and take most of the period. Absences have also delayed getting the quizzes passed back so in the future I think I will excuse the absent kids. This mean I don't have a chance to see how they are doing before the big assessment and the other quizzes in that category count more but it should improve the pass back time. I want students to have near immediate feedback on these formative assessments. I have been crudely tracking the standards addressed in each quiz in an Excel sheet but they have not been in a way that can be easily shared.
3) Students complete problems on whiteboards in small groups. This has been successful but sometimes not universally so depending on a few things. Some students dominate whiteboards just as they do labs so now I ask students to pass the marker on after each problem. Some students don't feel confident enough in their abilities to problem solve while others are watching. If the group is motivated to be "done" as fast as possible then they miss out on the conversations and growth to get something written ASAP. Yet some of the best problem solving think-out-loud collaborating discussions my students have ever had have taken place this year. They correct each other by citing previous activities, "Remember when she said this? Remember that one lab we did?".
Overall I like the changes and will be keeping them, with some revisions. I need to focus on making sure the weekly quizzes tackle common misconceptions just as much as calculation practice. I need to emphasize and normalize doing the suggested homework without making it seem required. It should feel like an opportunity for students; I want struggling students to want to do it to improve themselves. For whiteboards we have to set up community expectations that include all the students of the group at once and makes it a safe space for all of them to try, make mistakes and try again. And I have to work on my timing by probably further cutting some material. But that will be a topic for another post ...
Saturday, July 30, 2016
NGSS Evidence Statements
At the recent American Association of Physics Teachers Summer Meeting in Sacramento there was an NGSS strand of workshops. (Dan Burns and I presented about Crash Cushions as well) Someone mentioned that they were not looking at the colorful NGSS boxes but the Evidence Statements to lead their NGSS implementation. I had not heard of these so I looked them up and they are indeed helpful.
You can search for the Evidence Statements here. You can search by Grade (I chose high school), Discipline (Physics is with Chemistry under "Physical Science") and then click "Submit" to see all of them. Depending on how your particular school or district has divided Physical Science into Chemistry and Physics the Performance Objectives you need to look at may vary. For my district I printed pages 16-27 and 30-41.
This is a screenshot of page 16 of that full file so let's break that box down. [more description is available here in a 2013 NSTA graphic called "Inside the NGSS Box] If you're already familiar with the basic box breakdown you can scroll down below the image.
The "HS-PS2-1" title means "High School Physical Science;" 2-1 is for that specific Performance Objective within this grade level discipline.
The Performance Expectation is just that, a description of what students are expected to be able to do (perform). There are often Clarification Statements and Assessment Boundary descriptions that clarify how students will be assessed. For example, these statements in this example assure us our students will only be asked about one dimensional motion and nothing approaching the speed of light.
The Science and Engineering Practices section details the skills you students should be able to apply to this problem. [Spoiler: your students will probably be using more than just these skills.] These are practices that you may want to focus on to learn this concept.
The Disciplinary Core Ideas section details which concepts are being assessed in this Performance Expectation. I like to write in my extra learning objectives into this section. For example in my forces unit I have additional learning objectives about Newton's First and Third Laws of Motion because I think those are important too.
Finally the Crosscutting Concepts section describes major themes that students should be exposed to in all their science classes throughout their years.
Within the 17 page "Introduction and Overview" document (which I do actually recommend reading) I found this:
"The evidence statements, as described here, describe what teachers or assessors would observe (not infer) from successful student performance of each performance expectation (PE). The evidence statements can serve as supporting materials for the design of curriculum and assessments. In the NGSS, each PE is accompanied by a foundation box with associated practice, core idea, and crosscutting concept. The evidence statements expand this initial structure to include specific, observable components of student performance that would demonstrate integrated proficiency by using all of the necessary tenets of the practice to demonstrate understanding of the disciplinary core ideas (DCIs) through the lens of the crosscutting concepts (CCC)."
That first line says it all, Evidence Statements "describe what teachers ... would observe (not infer) from successful student performance..."
But I want to do what I want to do! [Yes I can hear you yelling at your screen.] These Evidence Statements are meant to clarify, to aid you with your lesson planning, not replace them. From the same document:
"...the evidence statements are written to provide more clarity about what the PEs ask students to demonstrate, these statements are not sufficient to replace lesson plans or assessment items; asking students to simply perform the PEs verbatim would not be useful for instruction or assessment."
So if you've felt like you've been guessing how to get your students to a point where they could meet those Performance Expectations, you know have a bit of a road map. That's a bit of relief in the last few days of July.
You can search for the Evidence Statements here. You can search by Grade (I chose high school), Discipline (Physics is with Chemistry under "Physical Science") and then click "Submit" to see all of them. Depending on how your particular school or district has divided Physical Science into Chemistry and Physics the Performance Objectives you need to look at may vary. For my district I printed pages 16-27 and 30-41.
This is a screenshot of page 16 of that full file so let's break that box down. [more description is available here in a 2013 NSTA graphic called "Inside the NGSS Box] If you're already familiar with the basic box breakdown you can scroll down below the image.
The "HS-PS2-1" title means "High School Physical Science;" 2-1 is for that specific Performance Objective within this grade level discipline.
The Performance Expectation is just that, a description of what students are expected to be able to do (perform). There are often Clarification Statements and Assessment Boundary descriptions that clarify how students will be assessed. For example, these statements in this example assure us our students will only be asked about one dimensional motion and nothing approaching the speed of light.
The Science and Engineering Practices section details the skills you students should be able to apply to this problem. [Spoiler: your students will probably be using more than just these skills.] These are practices that you may want to focus on to learn this concept.
The Disciplinary Core Ideas section details which concepts are being assessed in this Performance Expectation. I like to write in my extra learning objectives into this section. For example in my forces unit I have additional learning objectives about Newton's First and Third Laws of Motion because I think those are important too.
Finally the Crosscutting Concepts section describes major themes that students should be exposed to in all their science classes throughout their years.
But ah ha! There's the new stuff. On this document there is a table titled "Observable features of the student performance by the end of the course:" that are called Evidence Statements. I find the title awkwardly worded; and have not been able to find a list of just these statements without the boxes above.
From the NGSS website: "NGSS Evidence Statements provide educators with additional detail on
what students should know and be able to do. These are statements of
observable and measureable components that, if met, will satisfy NGSS
performance expectations."
Within the 17 page "Introduction and Overview" document (which I do actually recommend reading) I found this:
"The evidence statements, as described here, describe what teachers or assessors would observe (not infer) from successful student performance of each performance expectation (PE). The evidence statements can serve as supporting materials for the design of curriculum and assessments. In the NGSS, each PE is accompanied by a foundation box with associated practice, core idea, and crosscutting concept. The evidence statements expand this initial structure to include specific, observable components of student performance that would demonstrate integrated proficiency by using all of the necessary tenets of the practice to demonstrate understanding of the disciplinary core ideas (DCIs) through the lens of the crosscutting concepts (CCC)."
That first line says it all, Evidence Statements "describe what teachers ... would observe (not infer) from successful student performance..."
But I want to do what I want to do! [Yes I can hear you yelling at your screen.] These Evidence Statements are meant to clarify, to aid you with your lesson planning, not replace them. From the same document:
"...the evidence statements are written to provide more clarity about what the PEs ask students to demonstrate, these statements are not sufficient to replace lesson plans or assessment items; asking students to simply perform the PEs verbatim would not be useful for instruction or assessment."
So if you've felt like you've been guessing how to get your students to a point where they could meet those Performance Expectations, you know have a bit of a road map. That's a bit of relief in the last few days of July.
Tuesday, June 07, 2016
When heroism doesn't help
Our instincts as science teachers is to celebrate our rock stars of science. Physics teachers shine a spotlight on Galileo, Einstein, Newton, Faraday among others. We praise their discoveries and praise the advancements they made for our understanding of the universe. We want our students to consider individuals who invented calculus or connected electricity and magnetism as nearly as important as a Kardashian. Hope springs eternal.
We are not going to stop doing this. Nor are my selfies with Neil deGrasse Tyson and Bill Nye coming down any time soon. However,...
It is a rare person for whom math and physics are easy subjects. Those who have achieved great accomplishments in those fields are not necessarily fundamentally different from anyone else. What might set them apart is their response to the challenge. Many see a challenge and choose not to engage. They looked at the daunting obstacles and directed their mortal abilities toward overcoming them. They were not genetically predisposed toward genius. They saw the mystery and believed it could be unraveled.
We are not going to stop doing this. Nor are my selfies with Neil deGrasse Tyson and Bill Nye coming down any time soon. However,...
Researchers found that students perform better in science where they read stories about how famous scientists struggled rather than when they read stories about what those scientists achieved.The story from Shankar Vedantham's "Hidden Brain" ran this morning on Morning Edition and can be found on NPR.org.
It is a rare person for whom math and physics are easy subjects. Those who have achieved great accomplishments in those fields are not necessarily fundamentally different from anyone else. What might set them apart is their response to the challenge. Many see a challenge and choose not to engage. They looked at the daunting obstacles and directed their mortal abilities toward overcoming them. They were not genetically predisposed toward genius. They saw the mystery and believed it could be unraveled.
Sunday, January 24, 2016
Here Lies A Great Lesson
We've all know those teachers that have their lesson plans set in stone from year to year. I met one once while I was still student teaching that had a ledger filled with his lecture notes, discussion questions, etc. He would open the book at the beginning of the period, read through as much as they could get in a period, replace the bookmark and close it to repeat the next day. Rumor was he was still using the same curriculum he had "perfected" 30 years prior. He also napped during his prep period; obviously he had this teaching thing figured out.
Hopefully if you're here you aren't "that teacher" and you are probably continuously adjusting your curriculum. Big or small changes, for me at least lesson planning is eternal. Sometimes I have to decide which lesson will bring the most benefit to my students for their time. Which fits their current understanding? Which will help solidify that one concept they just haven't completely grasped? Those are the good choices, when you can look at a plethora of material and have the luxury of cherry picking the best of the best for your students.
More recently though my choices have been made for me by outside forces. Sometimes I don't have the equipment or materials but more often the resource lacking is time. It takes time to help students truly understand concepts. Strange concept, right? Sometimes we run short on days in a unit as we back up to a vacation or there is a rally or a minimum day or what has been all too frequent lately, a bomb threat. Or if students don't understand the concept a single day's lesson plan can become two, or even three. You might find yourself crossing off the things you don't get to do. When I make that lesson plan edit that pushes a great activity off for another year I can't help but be sad.
Wallowing in your grief, ("This would have been SO great!" [sniffle]) doesn't help your students. So how do you make the best of the bad situation? Here are some tips, not all will fit every situation, you'll have to make another choice. ;)
1. Trim the fat. You mean you want me to cut MORE? It seems counterintuitive but cutting out unnecessary activities can help you carve out enough time to fit in the lesson you really wanted to do. Maybe they only need five practice problems not ten? My filing cabinets are full of activities that used to be my favorites; until I made better favorites.
2. Push it all back. If you have fat you can trim in a later unit, mentally take some of those days and push your current unit back so you can do the lesson you wanted to do. This can have a runaway effect though, and you find you really run out of time at the end of the term.
3. Adjust the format. Can your activity be done in groups instead of individually? In class instead of at home or visa versa? If you can adjust the format of a unit you might be able to fit it in in place of another. There was a recent post about a 20 minute format of a lesson. Sometimes shorter is sweeter if it means your students actually get to do it.
4. Save it for next year. I make notes on my lesson plans about the activities I didn't have time for, especially if I've already got copies made. If you don't make yourself a reminder where you'll see it at the beginning of the unit, you may run into the same issue.
5. Built in review, anyone? Depending on the activity it may help students review those concepts later on be it end of unit or end of semester. Why not use it to review concepts or practice when students need it before a large assessment?
Sometimes it just doesn't work out. Being disappointed that you didn't get to do an activity is one of the weird parts about teaching. I pout a bit thinking that I have to wait a whole year before I get to actually do it. Its a good thing we get a fresh start every year, another trip around the sun!
Hopefully if you're here you aren't "that teacher" and you are probably continuously adjusting your curriculum. Big or small changes, for me at least lesson planning is eternal. Sometimes I have to decide which lesson will bring the most benefit to my students for their time. Which fits their current understanding? Which will help solidify that one concept they just haven't completely grasped? Those are the good choices, when you can look at a plethora of material and have the luxury of cherry picking the best of the best for your students.
More recently though my choices have been made for me by outside forces. Sometimes I don't have the equipment or materials but more often the resource lacking is time. It takes time to help students truly understand concepts. Strange concept, right? Sometimes we run short on days in a unit as we back up to a vacation or there is a rally or a minimum day or what has been all too frequent lately, a bomb threat. Or if students don't understand the concept a single day's lesson plan can become two, or even three. You might find yourself crossing off the things you don't get to do. When I make that lesson plan edit that pushes a great activity off for another year I can't help but be sad.Wallowing in your grief, ("This would have been SO great!" [sniffle]) doesn't help your students. So how do you make the best of the bad situation? Here are some tips, not all will fit every situation, you'll have to make another choice. ;)
1. Trim the fat. You mean you want me to cut MORE? It seems counterintuitive but cutting out unnecessary activities can help you carve out enough time to fit in the lesson you really wanted to do. Maybe they only need five practice problems not ten? My filing cabinets are full of activities that used to be my favorites; until I made better favorites.
2. Push it all back. If you have fat you can trim in a later unit, mentally take some of those days and push your current unit back so you can do the lesson you wanted to do. This can have a runaway effect though, and you find you really run out of time at the end of the term.
3. Adjust the format. Can your activity be done in groups instead of individually? In class instead of at home or visa versa? If you can adjust the format of a unit you might be able to fit it in in place of another. There was a recent post about a 20 minute format of a lesson. Sometimes shorter is sweeter if it means your students actually get to do it.
4. Save it for next year. I make notes on my lesson plans about the activities I didn't have time for, especially if I've already got copies made. If you don't make yourself a reminder where you'll see it at the beginning of the unit, you may run into the same issue.
5. Built in review, anyone? Depending on the activity it may help students review those concepts later on be it end of unit or end of semester. Why not use it to review concepts or practice when students need it before a large assessment?
Sometimes it just doesn't work out. Being disappointed that you didn't get to do an activity is one of the weird parts about teaching. I pout a bit thinking that I have to wait a whole year before I get to actually do it. Its a good thing we get a fresh start every year, another trip around the sun!
Sunday, September 20, 2015
Dipping a toe into Schoology
Back in the late 1990s, I was keen to establish a presence on the nascent World Wide Web. I created pages with Adobe's PageMill in hopes of creating in a WYSIWYG environment rather than get bogged down in the intricacies of HyperText Markup Language (HTML).
By 2000, I was creating and posting Portable Document Format (PDF) files of my curriculum materials. That process is intertwined with meeting and befriending Paul G. Hewitt. It was in the early 2000s that I registered the phyz.org domain name. In 2006, I started The Blog of Phyz.
In the late 2000s, my school district began providing a website generation service (SchoolWorld). I already had a relative "palace" on the web. By comparison, the district's service allowed teachers to create quaint cottages. I wasn't interested.
The district has discontinued its relationship with SchoolWorld in favor of a new relationship with SchoolWires. It also has an enterprise account with Schoology.
I'm exploring the utility and capabilities of Schoology. I use it primarily as an organizational tool for the curriculum in my courses. It seems useful in that regard. But nothing's as useful as the palace I've built at phyz.org.
One bright spot is the fact that tests created with ExamView can be exported to Blackboard format. Tests in Blackboard format can be imported by Schoology at online tests. Schoology can be configured in terms of test administration and the results are posted in class roster lists. Pretty slick! (It would be nice if ExamView showed any signs of life since 2012.}
In a way, it appears the logistics of Schoology make it possible to violate copyright law without interference or consequence. Only students and parents of students enrolled in courses can see the Schoology pages (and links and materials) associated with the course. So the violations are small-scale, I suppose.
Anyway, we'll see how it all goes.
We could be evolving from an era of world-wide curriculum sharing on the web to closing back in ourselves. We shall see.
Monday, August 10, 2015
Professional development: Is it effective?
Trigger warning: if you are at all allergic to snark, you are advised to avoid this post.
It's that time of year, colleagues. You're rested up from that "summer off". [Please note: "Summer" is defined as the eight weeks between mid-June and mid-August, and "off" means you weren't teaching your subject in your classroom.] What better time to suck the life out of you with school-wide (if not district-wide) professional development (PD)?
According to thorough research collected by physics teaching superstar and Einstein Fellow, Marc "Zeke" Kossover, it turns out your professional development training may, in fact, be effective. But chances are that it's not.
Honestly, you can probably stop right there. Chances are that the the PD you're engaging in is not focused on math or science. But if it is, feel free to continue.
2. The programs included on-site follow up in classrooms.
3. The teacher contact time reached at least 50 hours.
If the PD you're beginning this week meets all those conditions, please post a comment! To me, such PD is a unicorn: I know what it's supposed to look like, but I've never seen one in person.
In other news, I am beginning my 30th year of teaching this week.
It's that time of year, colleagues. You're rested up from that "summer off". [Please note: "Summer" is defined as the eight weeks between mid-June and mid-August, and "off" means you weren't teaching your subject in your classroom.] What better time to suck the life out of you with school-wide (if not district-wide) professional development (PD)?
According to thorough research collected by physics teaching superstar and Einstein Fellow, Marc "Zeke" Kossover, it turns out your professional development training may, in fact, be effective. But chances are that it's not.
A study of 25 professional development programs for math and science teachers in 14 states showed positive student outcomes if three conditions were met.1. The programs focused on content in mathematics and science.
Honestly, you can probably stop right there. Chances are that the the PD you're engaging in is not focused on math or science. But if it is, feel free to continue.
2. The programs included on-site follow up in classrooms.
3. The teacher contact time reached at least 50 hours.
If the PD you're beginning this week meets all those conditions, please post a comment! To me, such PD is a unicorn: I know what it's supposed to look like, but I've never seen one in person.
In other news, I am beginning my 30th year of teaching this week.
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Go check out Lincoln Physics
James Lincoln is a high-energy physics teacher from the southland here in California.
He's into sharing physics gems and physics teaching gems through videos and blogging.
Here's his video explanation of dog vision.
To keep up with what he's doing, bookmark his blog:
Lincoln Physics.
There, you can find out where the dog vision video was shown on Vrijdag, 25 Oktober.
He's into sharing physics gems and physics teaching gems through videos and blogging.
Here's his video explanation of dog vision.
To keep up with what he's doing, bookmark his blog:
Lincoln Physics.
There, you can find out where the dog vision video was shown on Vrijdag, 25 Oktober.
Sunday, September 29, 2013
The end of The System makes front-page news
The System was my homework/classwork/general incentive policy for about 20 years. I developed it in the early 1990s and was very happy with what it did. But I abandoned it this year, and the abandonment led to a front-page (below the fold) article in the school newspaper with two photographs.
Baird Terminates System
Because few things are as exciting as my 20-year old homework policy. Winning the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching did not result in nearly this much Mirada ink. Ah, the whimsical and fickle world of The Press.
The System was my attempt to encourage good behavior and discourage bad behavior. If you came to class on time, prepared to learn, and kept up with daily assignments, I'd grade you on a relaxed grading scale. Instead of the traditional grading scale, students who qualified for The System were graded as follows: 80%-100%: A, 60%-79%: B, 50%-59%: C, 40%-49%: D. In 20 years of The System, I could count on my fingers the number of students who qualified and earned a C or worse. My fingers on one hand.
My hope was that The System would make Physics an attractive course in that you could earn a pretty good grade (B) even if you routinely performed badly on tests, etc. (60%).
I gave out plenty of non-A or B grades. Many students elected to not partake in The System. With no immediate gratification ("Scoobie Snack") offered for homework completion, many students chose not to do it. Such a choice invariably leads to poor test performance, and sub-80% totals. But there was a lesson to be learned there, as well.
Homework was checked randomly and at random intervals. Different assignments were checked in different periods. Other elements folded easily into The System (tardiness, on-task behavior, excessive use of the bathroom pass, etc.).
Doing the right things earned you System Points. Angelic, perfect students could end up with 20 System Points at the end of each semester. To qualify, all you needed was 10. Ten out of twenty. Plenty of room for lapses of any sort. Great flexibility. But not unlimited.
Every semester would end with some students having 9 of the 20. They missed more than they earned. They naturally saw unfairness. If it were only for that one thing that one time. But it was never one thing one time. Their bargain with me was that they would behave in a manner so as to earn all the System Points.
Every student of Intro to Psychology is taught to despise B. F. Skinner, but Skinner works surprisingly well while "higher-minded" psychological schemes do not. Still we harbor a visceral hatred of what Skinner tells us: that we often operate so as to maximize extrinsic rewards and minimize extrinsic punishment. To oversimplify: psychologists despise Skinner; economists swear by him.
Over time students figured out ways to game The System. The Holy Grail in this pursuit was to qualify for the relaxed grading scale while not completing daily assignments. Assignments were copied, word for word, mistake for mistake, among students. Students with older siblings who took my class would turn in the older sibling's work as their own.
I could catch some of them by changing the numbers in my numerical problems. Cheaters would blissfully turn in homework with all the wrong numbers. No such cheater ever confessed to their transgression. But oh, the stories they would spin.
Changing the numericals for this purpose was a giant hassle; changing word questions was essentially impossible. All of it wasted time and energy spent to beat the cheats.
And as the years went by, students became less and less apologetic about copying homework. They were too busy with other things to be bothered with homework. Consider this student sentiment expressed by a Rio student, "Work is for school. I go to school to learn, but I go home to have fun. I don’t think homework helps. It really just ruins my day. It ruins my day 100% of the time."
Many parents take the position that there's too much homework. They're forever hoping for a school wide homework restriction policy.
Some teachers are in on this, too. A language teaching colleague complained that so much homework is tantamount to child abuse.
Another colleague invited us—his fellow teachers—to examine our homework practices. He invited his faculty piers to ponder these questions.
"How long will it take students (slowest AND fastest) to complete?
If all of a student's teachers assigned the same amount, how many hours would that take?
How much time is left for sleep, family and other interests that make up a full life?
Is the assignment absolutely necessary for the curriculum, or is it homework for homework's sake?"
When parents and teachers give comfort to the notion that there's too much homework, students feel entitled and licensed to subvert the homework load by any means necessary. "Of course I copied my homework, everyone knows the homework load is too ridiculous around here. My parents support me in this, and so do the cool teachers."
Since offering any extrinsic incentive ("sugar") for homework completion was resulting in more and more homework subversion, I had to pull the plug.
Front-page news.
Baird Terminates SystemBecause few things are as exciting as my 20-year old homework policy. Winning the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching did not result in nearly this much Mirada ink. Ah, the whimsical and fickle world of The Press.
The System was my attempt to encourage good behavior and discourage bad behavior. If you came to class on time, prepared to learn, and kept up with daily assignments, I'd grade you on a relaxed grading scale. Instead of the traditional grading scale, students who qualified for The System were graded as follows: 80%-100%: A, 60%-79%: B, 50%-59%: C, 40%-49%: D. In 20 years of The System, I could count on my fingers the number of students who qualified and earned a C or worse. My fingers on one hand.
My hope was that The System would make Physics an attractive course in that you could earn a pretty good grade (B) even if you routinely performed badly on tests, etc. (60%).
I gave out plenty of non-A or B grades. Many students elected to not partake in The System. With no immediate gratification ("Scoobie Snack") offered for homework completion, many students chose not to do it. Such a choice invariably leads to poor test performance, and sub-80% totals. But there was a lesson to be learned there, as well.
Homework was checked randomly and at random intervals. Different assignments were checked in different periods. Other elements folded easily into The System (tardiness, on-task behavior, excessive use of the bathroom pass, etc.).
Doing the right things earned you System Points. Angelic, perfect students could end up with 20 System Points at the end of each semester. To qualify, all you needed was 10. Ten out of twenty. Plenty of room for lapses of any sort. Great flexibility. But not unlimited.
Every semester would end with some students having 9 of the 20. They missed more than they earned. They naturally saw unfairness. If it were only for that one thing that one time. But it was never one thing one time. Their bargain with me was that they would behave in a manner so as to earn all the System Points.
Every student of Intro to Psychology is taught to despise B. F. Skinner, but Skinner works surprisingly well while "higher-minded" psychological schemes do not. Still we harbor a visceral hatred of what Skinner tells us: that we often operate so as to maximize extrinsic rewards and minimize extrinsic punishment. To oversimplify: psychologists despise Skinner; economists swear by him.
Over time students figured out ways to game The System. The Holy Grail in this pursuit was to qualify for the relaxed grading scale while not completing daily assignments. Assignments were copied, word for word, mistake for mistake, among students. Students with older siblings who took my class would turn in the older sibling's work as their own.
I could catch some of them by changing the numbers in my numerical problems. Cheaters would blissfully turn in homework with all the wrong numbers. No such cheater ever confessed to their transgression. But oh, the stories they would spin.
Changing the numericals for this purpose was a giant hassle; changing word questions was essentially impossible. All of it wasted time and energy spent to beat the cheats.
And as the years went by, students became less and less apologetic about copying homework. They were too busy with other things to be bothered with homework. Consider this student sentiment expressed by a Rio student, "Work is for school. I go to school to learn, but I go home to have fun. I don’t think homework helps. It really just ruins my day. It ruins my day 100% of the time."
Many parents take the position that there's too much homework. They're forever hoping for a school wide homework restriction policy.
Some teachers are in on this, too. A language teaching colleague complained that so much homework is tantamount to child abuse.
Another colleague invited us—his fellow teachers—to examine our homework practices. He invited his faculty piers to ponder these questions.
"How long will it take students (slowest AND fastest) to complete?
If all of a student's teachers assigned the same amount, how many hours would that take?
How much time is left for sleep, family and other interests that make up a full life?
Is the assignment absolutely necessary for the curriculum, or is it homework for homework's sake?"
When parents and teachers give comfort to the notion that there's too much homework, students feel entitled and licensed to subvert the homework load by any means necessary. "Of course I copied my homework, everyone knows the homework load is too ridiculous around here. My parents support me in this, and so do the cool teachers."
Since offering any extrinsic incentive ("sugar") for homework completion was resulting in more and more homework subversion, I had to pull the plug.
Front-page news.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Scheduled to appear on Global Physics Department
Global Physics Department is a group of high school and college physics educators who meet weekly online to discuss physics, physics learning, and physics teaching. GPD uses Elluminate Live which allows for audio, video, white board, and chat communication.
The live event each week begins at 9:30pm (ET) / 6:30pm (PT) and runs for about an hour.
Moderator/instigator, Andy Rundquist of Hamline University, kindly invited me to present and I've been scheduled for Wednesday, March 21. The recent discussion of Modeling Instruction here at The Blog of Phyz apparently brought me to the attention of a Department member. So we'll talk about that.
Sessions are recorded, so you can entertain yourself running through their archives. I've done that and sat in on a live session. (Live sessions are more fun since they are interactive.) The presentation environment, Elluminate Live, does not suffer from lack of stimuli.
The live event each week begins at 9:30pm (ET) / 6:30pm (PT) and runs for about an hour.
Moderator/instigator, Andy Rundquist of Hamline University, kindly invited me to present and I've been scheduled for Wednesday, March 21. The recent discussion of Modeling Instruction here at The Blog of Phyz apparently brought me to the attention of a Department member. So we'll talk about that.
Sessions are recorded, so you can entertain yourself running through their archives. I've done that and sat in on a live session. (Live sessions are more fun since they are interactive.) The presentation environment, Elluminate Live, does not suffer from lack of stimuli.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
PTSOS Season Premiere
The 2009-2010 season of Physics Teacher SOS (PTSOS) gets underway this Saturday in San Mateo. Although San Mateo is "sold out," a few seats remain for the season opener in Sacramento, Saturday, October 3.
PTSOS is sponsored by the Northern California and Nevada Section of the American Association of Physics Teachers, and made possible by a grant from the Karl L. Brown Memorial Scholarship Fund.
Workshop 1 is "Overcoming Inertia," and focuses on mechanics (kinematics, Newton's laws, gravity, energy, momentum, and rotation), as well as beginning of school issues and the many tangents we inevitably fly off on.
The goodies are always good at PTSOS Workshops. So if you're a new physics teacher or feel new to teaching physics, register with Stephanie Finander: sfinander@sbcglobal.net. It's FREE!
PTSOS is sponsored by the Northern California and Nevada Section of the American Association of Physics Teachers, and made possible by a grant from the Karl L. Brown Memorial Scholarship Fund.
Workshop 1 is "Overcoming Inertia," and focuses on mechanics (kinematics, Newton's laws, gravity, energy, momentum, and rotation), as well as beginning of school issues and the many tangents we inevitably fly off on.
The goodies are always good at PTSOS Workshops. So if you're a new physics teacher or feel new to teaching physics, register with Stephanie Finander: sfinander@sbcglobal.net. It's FREE!
Saturday, February 07, 2009
Sounds like a heat wave: PTSOS2 RA09 afterlinks 1
The Sacramento PTSOS New Teacher Workshop 2 was held January 24 at Rio Americano High School. Steve Keith and Dean Baird led an energetic group of teachers through demonstrations, discussions, and projects on the topics of heat and waves.
Though we try to work through the day slowly enough that all the information can be absorbed at a reasonable pace, it might be helpful to review some of the info links discussed.
Here's a brief list of some of the topics we planned to cover. (Sometimes the day gets away from us before we get to all of them.)
HEAT
Book of Phyz coverage of Heat and Temperature (Physics 1)
Book of Phyz coverage of Thermodynamics (AP Physics 2)
Although we didn't discuss it specifically, the good people at PhET have a nice Kinetic Theory / Gas Laws simulation.
My Web Video page gives access to video clips of the Leidenfrost Effect. And don't forget that nice video clip, "Putting Firewalkers to the Test." What an excellent example of Science shutting down the Woo! If you like that kind of thing, you might consider attending James Randi's The Amaz!ng Meeting in Las Vegas this summer.
Specific links to demo/lab ideas connected to goodies in the goodie bag. (The item name links to the vendor's product page.)
Colliding Spheres: Sheet
Ball & Ring: Sheet + Presentation
Compound Bar (Bimetallic Strip): Sheet + Presentation
Radiometer: Sheet + Presentation
(The Ove-Glove is a handy (!) aid whenever handling hot water, etc. It's an answer that you'll find questions for when working with hot objects.)
Though we try to work through the day slowly enough that all the information can be absorbed at a reasonable pace, it might be helpful to review some of the info links discussed.
Here's a brief list of some of the topics we planned to cover. (Sometimes the day gets away from us before we get to all of them.)
HEAT
Book of Phyz coverage of Heat and Temperature (Physics 1)
Book of Phyz coverage of Thermodynamics (AP Physics 2)
Although we didn't discuss it specifically, the good people at PhET have a nice Kinetic Theory / Gas Laws simulation.
My Web Video page gives access to video clips of the Leidenfrost Effect. And don't forget that nice video clip, "Putting Firewalkers to the Test." What an excellent example of Science shutting down the Woo! If you like that kind of thing, you might consider attending James Randi's The Amaz!ng Meeting in Las Vegas this summer.
Specific links to demo/lab ideas connected to goodies in the goodie bag. (The item name links to the vendor's product page.)
Colliding Spheres: Sheet
Ball & Ring: Sheet + Presentation
Compound Bar (Bimetallic Strip): Sheet + Presentation
Radiometer: Sheet + Presentation
(The Ove-Glove is a handy (!) aid whenever handling hot water, etc. It's an answer that you'll find questions for when working with hot objects.)
Sounds like a heat wave: PTSOS2 RA09 afterlinks 2
The second half of January's PTSOS2 New Teacher Workshop at Rio Americano was devoted to mechanical waves and sound.
WAVES
Book of Phyz coverage of Waves (Physics 1)
Book of Phyz coverage of Harmonic Motion and Resonance (AP Physics 2)
We looked at (and listened to) Pasco's WavePort software. Lots of potential there. Try it for free when you get to waves and run the activities I designed for use in conjunction with it.
We also ran PhET's Wave Interference simulator. I wrote an activity for that simulator focused on the basics, but our participants ran through it like kids in a candy store, finding the interference modes, and the sound-generator, and the light/color-generator.
I use the Physics: Cinema Classics clip on the Bell Jar to show that "In space, no one can hear you scream." (Reference: Waves (I)>Periodic Waves>Sound.)
As a flashy demo combining heat, sound, and waves, Steve brought his Ruben's Tube. The Mythbusters have a nice Ruben's Tube clip on YouTube.
They also have a nice clip of another demo that Steve showed: Fun with Gas! (And kids: even if you can get your hands on sulfur hexafluoride, don't try this at home!)
My Web Video page gives access to a few supersonic fighter jet video clips. Nice when talking about shock waves and sonic booms. Another sonic boom classic is the opening sequence from the Imax film, The Dream is Alive.
We finished the day with Steve's "String Machine" make-n-take. He brought the parts and tools; PTSOSers brought the energy and labor! The Exploratorium has a similar String Machine snack posted online. This project garnered rave reviews from power-tool-wielding participants.
Jeff Milner's Backmasking page has nicely produced examples of auditory pareidolia. Jeff has a follow-up post, too.
If you like the Mythbusters and/or are intrigued by the backmasking site (and our ability to fool ourselves), please look in to the James Randi Educational Foundation and The Amaz!ng Meeting. Science teachers play a critical role in teaching critical thinking and skepticism. The JREF and TAM are great resources in that regard.
Also in the day's binder pages was the latest set of Released Test Questions from the California Standards Test in Physics. An updated set with 15 more questions should be appearing soon. Check the "Physics RTQ" link to the right. The 2008 edition had 74 RTQs. The 2009 edition should have 89.
Thanks--as always--to The Northern California and Nevada Section of the American Association of Physics Teachers and The Karl Leslie Brown Memorial Scholarship Fund for making PTSOS possible. And thanks to our participants for making PTSOS awesome!
WAVES
Book of Phyz coverage of Waves (Physics 1)
Book of Phyz coverage of Harmonic Motion and Resonance (AP Physics 2)
We looked at (and listened to) Pasco's WavePort software. Lots of potential there. Try it for free when you get to waves and run the activities I designed for use in conjunction with it.
We also ran PhET's Wave Interference simulator. I wrote an activity for that simulator focused on the basics, but our participants ran through it like kids in a candy store, finding the interference modes, and the sound-generator, and the light/color-generator.
I use the Physics: Cinema Classics clip on the Bell Jar to show that "In space, no one can hear you scream." (Reference: Waves (I)>Periodic Waves>Sound.)
As a flashy demo combining heat, sound, and waves, Steve brought his Ruben's Tube. The Mythbusters have a nice Ruben's Tube clip on YouTube.
They also have a nice clip of another demo that Steve showed: Fun with Gas! (And kids: even if you can get your hands on sulfur hexafluoride, don't try this at home!)
My Web Video page gives access to a few supersonic fighter jet video clips. Nice when talking about shock waves and sonic booms. Another sonic boom classic is the opening sequence from the Imax film, The Dream is Alive.
We finished the day with Steve's "String Machine" make-n-take. He brought the parts and tools; PTSOSers brought the energy and labor! The Exploratorium has a similar String Machine snack posted online. This project garnered rave reviews from power-tool-wielding participants.
Jeff Milner's Backmasking page has nicely produced examples of auditory pareidolia. Jeff has a follow-up post, too.
If you like the Mythbusters and/or are intrigued by the backmasking site (and our ability to fool ourselves), please look in to the James Randi Educational Foundation and The Amaz!ng Meeting. Science teachers play a critical role in teaching critical thinking and skepticism. The JREF and TAM are great resources in that regard.
Also in the day's binder pages was the latest set of Released Test Questions from the California Standards Test in Physics. An updated set with 15 more questions should be appearing soon. Check the "Physics RTQ" link to the right. The 2008 edition had 74 RTQs. The 2009 edition should have 89.
Thanks--as always--to The Northern California and Nevada Section of the American Association of Physics Teachers and The Karl Leslie Brown Memorial Scholarship Fund for making PTSOS possible. And thanks to our participants for making PTSOS awesome!
Sunday, October 19, 2008
PTSOS1 Afterlinks 08
Here are some afterthoughts and links related to the first PTSOS New Teacher Workshop in Sacramento, held at Rio Americano High School Saturday, October 18. Most PTSOSers know about ptsos.org, ncnaapt.org, the PTSOS Yahoo Group, and phyz.org, but we blasted through some other resources as well. We cover a lot of ground at PTSOS New Teacher Workshops, so here's a list of some of the specifics that might have sneaked past you.
Steve Keith demoed Vernier Software's student-friendly Logger Pro for physics data-plotting. Steve's also a fan of Arizona State University's Modeling Workshop. And he gets pretty good mileage out of Interactive Physics. I'm impressed with the potential of IP, but I'm disappointed that they no longer support the Macintosh platform.
I mentioned ripping video from YouTube on the Mac OS X platform. In the ever-changing world of Internet applications, sometimes it's best to simply use your Google-fu. I'm currently using TubeTV (with QuickTime plug-in, Perian, installed). But it looks like there are other things out there, such as YouTube Grabber and TubeSock. If you try them, let us know how it goes.
We looked at some video clips from Physics Cinema Classics. Specifically, the "Cannonball"-related clips. I haven't been able to relocate those on YouTube (they may have been removed per copyright issues), but here's a nice substitute (in keeping with Steve Keith's advice to work cars into the curriculum). With QuickTime (free for Macs and PCs), you can step through the video, frame by frame.
In addition to the Tumble Buggy (with Keith Industries' custom battery slug), Drilled Balls, rare dart guns, and Geyser Tubes included in your Goodie Bags, we saw ideas for using a Newton's Cradle, Visual Accelerometers (and the old-school liquid accelerometer), Introductory Dynamics System, Rotating Platform. Steve demoed Falling Rhythm.
We also talked about skepticism and critical thinking. I've got a page of mini-lessons in this area. Here's a nice resource on spoon bending. It includes video of the world record spoon bending from The Amazing Meeting 6 this past summer in Las Vegas. There's an excellent episode of Nova devoted to this topics as well: James Randi's Secrets of the Psychics.
The existence of Released Test Questions from California's Physics Content Standards Test was news to some. I'll print a set for PTSOS2 participants. By then, there should be 15 more questions in the set.
Oh, and we strongly recommend attending local NCNAAPT meetings and joining the American Association of Physics Teachers (The Physics Teacher, AAPT's journal, is worth the annual dues).
Steve Keith demoed Vernier Software's student-friendly Logger Pro for physics data-plotting. Steve's also a fan of Arizona State University's Modeling Workshop. And he gets pretty good mileage out of Interactive Physics. I'm impressed with the potential of IP, but I'm disappointed that they no longer support the Macintosh platform.
I mentioned ripping video from YouTube on the Mac OS X platform. In the ever-changing world of Internet applications, sometimes it's best to simply use your Google-fu. I'm currently using TubeTV (with QuickTime plug-in, Perian, installed). But it looks like there are other things out there, such as YouTube Grabber and TubeSock. If you try them, let us know how it goes.
We looked at some video clips from Physics Cinema Classics. Specifically, the "Cannonball"-related clips. I haven't been able to relocate those on YouTube (they may have been removed per copyright issues), but here's a nice substitute (in keeping with Steve Keith's advice to work cars into the curriculum). With QuickTime (free for Macs and PCs), you can step through the video, frame by frame.
In addition to the Tumble Buggy (with Keith Industries' custom battery slug), Drilled Balls, rare dart guns, and Geyser Tubes included in your Goodie Bags, we saw ideas for using a Newton's Cradle, Visual Accelerometers (and the old-school liquid accelerometer), Introductory Dynamics System, Rotating Platform. Steve demoed Falling Rhythm.
We also talked about skepticism and critical thinking. I've got a page of mini-lessons in this area. Here's a nice resource on spoon bending. It includes video of the world record spoon bending from The Amazing Meeting 6 this past summer in Las Vegas. There's an excellent episode of Nova devoted to this topics as well: James Randi's Secrets of the Psychics.
The existence of Released Test Questions from California's Physics Content Standards Test was news to some. I'll print a set for PTSOS2 participants. By then, there should be 15 more questions in the set.
Oh, and we strongly recommend attending local NCNAAPT meetings and joining the American Association of Physics Teachers (The Physics Teacher, AAPT's journal, is worth the annual dues).
Sunday, September 14, 2008
PTSOS-Now also in Sacramento!
The popular and successful PTSOS New Teacher Workshops have expanded to Sacramento. I will be hosting Workshop 1: Mechanics ("Overcoming Inertia") at Rio Americano High School on Saturday, October 18. More importantly Steve Keith, longtime physics teacher at Casa Roble High School and Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching recipient, will be presenting as co-leader.
The PTSOS workshops at San Mateo High School continue with Paul Robinson and Dan Burns presiding.
Stephanie Finander continues as Reach Out Coordinator.
For more information on PTSOS and the workshops (and much, much more), see our website at ptsos.org. You'll find information there on how to register for an upcoming workshop.
The PTSOS workshops at San Mateo High School continue with Paul Robinson and Dan Burns presiding.
Stephanie Finander continues as Reach Out Coordinator.
For more information on PTSOS and the workshops (and much, much more), see our website at ptsos.org. You'll find information there on how to register for an upcoming workshop.
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