BH's Weblog o' blog

Staff Development???

2010-02-23T18:35:00.002-07:00

Today during the two 30-minute lunch periods at Arapahoe something new happened. It is not really new...The Karl Fisch has been doing this for some time now.

There was a short staff development at lunch! The item of discussion was Moodle quizzes and how to make one. The topic could take a long time to cover and then throw in the fact that there are questions just about Moodle in general and now, we are really running out of time. Throw in the fact that the person leading the staff development is a long-winded science teacher (read "me") and now we are really, really, really running out of time for the conversation.

We have been using Moodle in the science department at Arapahoe this entire school year. Some of us are using it in place of a class webpage since it is a very secure environment for students. A few of us are using the full features of the site. Others are using it just to give quizzes and some other activies. The remainder of the science department, well...I am not sure that they even know what Moodle is. (But then again, you cannot water rocks...)

Here is the fun part about the lunch meetings:
The first lunch was mostly Math teachers asking about the use of Moodle in the classroom and how it can change what is happening from "bell to bell". The second lunch meeting was myself, Karl, two instructional coaches and an administrator. Who would have thought that not a single teacher who was eating lunch would not be there? I thought for sure someone would want to learn about using Moodle. Don't get me wrong. I think that it is amazing that an administrator and the two people who are responsible for helping teacher were the only ones there. After all, they should know what the possibilities are with this software. I just thought that teachers might want to learn about this but maybe they just have too much going on right now or they do not see the power in the use of this technology. Perhaps, in some ways, teachers do not want to change what they are currently doing in the classroom. I hope that this is true that they value what they are doing so greatly that they do not want to change. My fear is that they are already spread pretty thin and will be asked to do even more in the coming years. With that idea looming in the future, asking them to "learning" something new might not happen.

I do think that there are some great things going on in the classes at schools across the country. Arapahoe is a special environment where we are allowed to try new things if we think it will help the students. Learning 2.0 was a great place to have some conversation about using Moodle in the classroom and I hope that at least one person was challenged today or over the weekend to try it.

By the way, Jesse Craig, Jeff Smith and I started another blog. This blog is for our whole department to share ideas. Currently, we are posting some videos to help other teachers learn how technology can be used in the classroom. We started with setting up a blog. Then we covered how to post a video to the blog. Next, we discussed how to use Feedburner.com to gather information about a podcast and how to get that information into iTunes. Then, we discussed how to use iTunes to gather course content like lectures and conversations. Now, we are posting some help on using Moodle that we thought teachers would like. Check it out and let us know what you think.

So, I guess, that as teachers we are now going to start being teachers of teachers also. But, then again...teaching is why we got into this to begin with.

How to Grade

2010-02-21T20:38:00.004-07:00

As I am sitting at my table at home grading...okay, right now just staring at...a stack of papers I am left wondering and reflecting:

How much grading is too much?

I teach four classes of chemistry, 3 days a week. Two of these classes are Advanced Placement. I have student assistants at school but they are not allowed to grade papers. There are about 30 students in each class. That means there are approximately 120 lab papers each week, homework assignments to check, quizzes, tests and other types of documents.

I know that grading is part of the job (and this is what I really like to do - teach) and there is some that needs to be done but when is enough, enough?

This question seems to come up a lot among teachers but I am not sure we have an answer. What are other people's thoughts on grading?

I have come up with some ideas:

Assign less - but what is cut out?
Do not grade every lab assignment
Grade only parts of each document and not the entire thing
Grade only formal assessments - not supported usually in schools

I should also say that I am really thinking about this since class size will go up in the coming school years. Budget reductions and staffing changes will require us to have larger classes/teach more sections. I am fine working hard but I am tired of the people outside of education thinking that teaching is easy. It is not. If they really want to know, they should try it. Until then, they should keep the criticism to what they really know about (if there is anything on that list).

So if there is anyone reading this and you have ideas about changing grading, I would really want to know.

By the way, I just read this blog post which made me think about the industrial model of education. Overtime without compensation???

Thoughts from Conversations

2010-02-20T20:18:00.005-07:00

So after attending and presenting at Learning 2.0 today, I was left wondering a couple of things.

1) Who is in my networks?
2) Why are the teachers who are innovators being released?

1) My networks - Family, friends, colleagues, fellow believers, cyclists, teachers, model builders, students and numerous others.

Do you think that networks will have an important roll in education? I know that they can be used to further our understanding and conversations about what we value but is there time in the day to really "connect" with others?

I would like to think that in my networks I am working on a few things:
*Am I listening when others are thinking outloud? I am really working on this one.
*Am I reflecting on my network and the learning involved?
*Am I constantly observing what others are learning?
*Am I modeling the behavior that I would like to see in others?
*Am I the change I want to see in the world?
*Can I move in the direction of "productive eavesdropping"? (Thanks Bud Hunt for this term.)
*Are we watering rocks or are we being surrounded by others in our networks who are doing the "good work".

2) Why are we keeping teachers who do not want to change the world for students?

It seems to me, in a time when school districts are making cuts, we need to look at old policies and make sure that they are really effective. (Just as a note...I really have no idea about how to fix the system but I do know we need to talk about it.) I mean, if there are a few teachers who are close to retirement and no longer want to do anything to change the face of education, why do schools have to keep them? If this was the private sector, would people who do the minimum be retained in times of cuts? There are a few younger teacher who are being released who have decided that they will do all they can to change education for the students. This just does not seem right to me. By releasing some of the older teachers, who have made the decision to continue to do the minimum, and keeping the younger teacher who want to make changes for sutdents, district could be saving a little money now. Where are the early retirement offers? This idea of tenure (which I like on paper and I like the security offered by it) needs some serious conversation.

Anyway, I am interested to read person's thoughts on this stuff and hopefully, I can figure out how to blog effectively.

Semester Two

2009-01-13T22:39:00.002-07:00

Well, the first one is gone and here we go again. (Semesters I mean.) The end of the first semester was a time where I was wondering what I was doing yet again...I looked at the other teachers and saw them working really hard and I was wondering if what I was attempting to do was really that important.

There was even a moment when I said to another teacher, "I am over this podcast stuff." I just felt like I was still doing a lot of work and that the students (some of them) did not care. Then, it happened.

What happened? You might ask.

I thought about the process of learning. Anything that is difficult is usually given up on. At least that is how I see it. There are times when we work really hard and never see the results (everyday in the classroom, I think) and there are other days when we do not work as hard and wonder why someone is paying us.

Then, a student said "thank you". My day got better when my daughter, a 4 year old, said "thank you" for the time I spent on the floor playing and not working. It had a big impact. Over the next few days, I came back around. I wonder where the semester went and how fast this one will go. I am trying to look at each day as being full of possibilities and not one full of burdens. That is helping. I am enjoying going to work but I also am spending time doing other things. This is good.

What about around the building that is part of Arapahoe High School...
Well...
I am doing a few things.

The instructions for creating a podcast (vodcast) are almost done. However, I need some help. I need to know if there are any specific questions that people have that I can help with. Please leave a comment or send me an email.
I am adding first year chemistry to the list of podcasts. More on this later.
I am looking for ways to adapt the lecture format of science classes. (See this article from M.I.T.)
I received an award of a SmartBoard and clickers, among other items, for the classroom and they are coming later in the semester. What changes will this bring???
The chemistry labs that I teach are going paperless! I will talk about this next time.
There is a faculty dance at an assembly coming up. (Don't ask.)
Football is gearing back up.
I am trying to use Moodle for classroom stuff. If you have used this or are using it please let me and others know how. I am trying to wrap my mind around this technology and it seems to have lots of possibilities. Any help would be appreciated.

I would think that is enough for now. Like I mentioned, the documents for creating and uploading a podcast are coming soon. (I would like to think by next month.) I will be posting here and on my class page when they are completed.

It is good to be back!

Where did November go??

2008-12-02T22:30:00.002-07:00

As I am sitting at home on what seems to be December 2nd, I am left wondering where the month of November went?

Let us see...

There were four birthdays in my family.
A major holiday.
Some set-backs in the classroom (more later).
Some great conversation.
A football banquet.
All the other stuff that comes with working in a school with high academic standards and students who continue to "blow me away" with what they are capable of.

So, here we are in December and I thought I would let you know what I am working on. By the second week of January, I hope to have some information on this blog and my other blog about making and publishing podcasts. I will have some documents that show what I am using to complete this task and some of the things that I have learned with the help of one of my students (I like to think of him as my technology advisor. However, my goto technology person will always be Karl Fisch.) So look back at the beginning of the year to find information on this topic. As always, feel free to email me about the concept and implementation of the podcasts.

In the spring, I hope to move to "Phase 2" of the classroom podcasts. This is where the students begin to produce their own class content. Perhaps it is just explaining material and problems to other students or maybe it is on the sharing of course content that is gathered by the students. I am not sure at this point and if there is anyone reading this that has tried it please let me know what has worked.

I have got the Wii whiteboard up and running and there seems to be no current issues with the technology. That means I can now write on my regular screen in the classroom with our needed actual whiteboards. The fun is just starting with this and there is one student who really enjoys working on this and has helped me a ton. We even built a pen where the l.e.d. in the pen is aimed out the back and that seems to give a better image for the Wii-mote to locate.

My AP Chemistry students produced "Chemistry Christmas Carols" and I am going to attempt to get these onto a blog (either this one or the one that hosts my podcasts) in the next couple of days.

So, here is to another month where my professional growth continues to be pushed. I cannot wait to see what discussions the students bring and how they grow in their learning.

How about them podcasts...

2008-10-23T22:18:00.003-06:00

There has been some discussion recently about if podcasts should replace lecture as a method of delivering course content to students (I guess that old Hatak is ahead of the curve in this concept...). Recently, teachers outside of AHS have asked for feedback on the podcasts that we have been using. Here is your chance to tell it to the world about what you think. Make sure that you are telling it the way you want other teachers to hear it.

You might include what you don't like, do like, would change, would leave the same, why you have used them, why you have not used them, issues with access, easy of access and anything else that you would like to say here.

Over the weekend, please return to this post and continue the conversation. You might see people from outside of AHS commenting or at least know they are reading what you have to say.

Impact of Podcasting

2008-10-20T21:14:00.002-06:00

So, it has been a little while since I posted on this blog. Here is a current update on what I am trying to do...

I am putting together a document that instructs teachers on how to build podcasts and post them online.
I have presented twice to teachers at my school (Arapahoe) on the podcasts and the technology behind them.
I have helped another teacher at AHS start a podcast. (More on this below)
I am looking into having students generate the podcasting material.
I am going to create a chemistry podcast with the next unit for first year chemistry students.
I am looking for "professional" scientists who would be willing to do interviews for my podcasts.

After a lot of discussion with another teacher at AHS, Mr. Jeff Smith, in the science class, we reached some conclusion on why we podcast. As a matter of fact, the greatest argument was for "just in time" learning. The ability of students to access information when they need it and to be able to supplement their learning is what I find most powerful. Enter Jeff. He teaches AP physics, among other classes, and saw a use for the podcasting approach. After talking to him about the idea and and tools, he started posting podcasts on physics. They are listed in iTunes and on a blog. Please check them out and let him know what you think. I know, as a teacher trying something so new, it is important to receive feedback.

Number 6 is the most interesting to me right now and I would like to start an "Ask a Scientist" blog. If there are any individuals reading this that would like to be a part of the first interview please let me know.

Well, I guess it is back to football, parenting, and teaching. What a wild ride this has been. Anything but neat and tidy.

Average

2008-09-22T19:04:00.003-06:00

In a recent 5280 magazine article, University of Colorado head coach, Dan Hawkins discussed the idea of not being average. He talks about how easy it is to be average. How easy it is not to push the edge of things. How easy it is to find a "comfort zone". Well, today was one of those days when i wanted to find average and just go with it.

In a time when scores and student achievement is very important, I will not even discuss NCLB here, I wonder if what I am trying to do in the classroom is worth it? I was very excited to create a PowerPoint this weekend that included a discussion and video clips that dealt with Quantum Mechanics (and Star Trek). I thought that the students would be "into it". One hour was, the other was not. First we had a great discussion and that led to questions above the material covered. Things that just made everyone think. Things that were not average.

Then came the other class. This is when I realized that the students are actually high school students enjoying Homecoming week. The second group was not interested. (I should say here that there were probably some people who were interested but I could not hear them over the others.) So, I started thinking about ways to convince the class that their own conversations were not as important as the conversation that the group was having. Daily quizzes? (Who am I trying to teach a life lesson to me? or them?) A new seating chart? (The tried and true approach of teachers everywhere.) Just waiting for them to stop talking? (Wow...lost time.) Having a heart-to-heart discussion (Will it make a difference?) I just don't know what the correct approach is.

So, I guess if I do not want to be average, I should bring this up to the class and have a discussion with them. For now, I know that I am trying to do all that I can to guide them in the learning of chemistry, using abnormal approaches. This might be causing some of the issues. This is after all, "Not education as usual" (appears in AHS classrooms) and they are responsible for learning. So, I will try to help them through this also.

As for the average...Coach Hawkins says it best, in a video, if you don't want to work, stick to intermural sports. This is the Big 12.

That is afterall what we are trying to do, get the students to think bigger than they are and bigger than they have before. Learning is messy and it is not easy. If education was easy everyone and anyone could and would be doing it...they aren't. We do need to "go big" and that means we need to keep on working.

STEM in Colorado

2008-09-20T19:27:00.005-06:00

Some people might know that Karl Fisch and I gave two talks in Texas (one in the Presidential Library at Texas A & M) last school year to people who are involved with the Texas High School Project and STEM. This is an attempt to reorganize education in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math. Well today, when I got home from football, there was a mailing from the University of Colorado at Denver. Since I earned a Masters degree there, I get their quarterly mailing. Inside of the mailing is information on a STEM workshop/conference in Denver in October! This is great. I am very excited about the change that this refocus in science education could cause. My only area of concern is that if I was not a CU alumn, I would probably not know about this. Is there someone in the district that finds out about this stuff and then is suppossed to give it to the teachers? Is there another way to get this information to the people "in the trenches"? I know that the state government is looking at this as a way to re-energize the study in these fields but I wonder if it is going to move past the "at risk" sections of education and into the areas where all students could benefit? (This is starting to sound like a rant...I guess that happens when you are passionate about something and you feel like it is not getting the attention that it deserves.)

Anyway, this last summer, I decided that I was done complaining about the changes that happen in education and the ones that are talked about and not acted upon. I made a decision that instead of whining and feeling bad about the decisions that were made "for us" teachers, I would start acting when I felt led. That means no more going to workshops and conferences and complaining about the lack of "useful" information. If I was only going to complain then I would try to add to the positive conversation. I would try to make it a little better for teachers. I decided that the best way to not feel like everything was happening to me was to become active in the creation of important material in education.

I starting thinking about ways to get science students to read and write in the content (see post here). Ways of getting the students to "buy in" to what education could be. Not what it is, or was, when I liked it, but what it could be for them.

So, after reading the short STEM article and looking at some web pages on the concept in Colorado, I email the person in charge in Denver. Now, I wait. You see, I asked if there was a way that I can get involved in STEM changes in Colorado. I guess you could say that I am "all in" and I think this is the change that education in these fields needs.

The First "Full" Week

2008-08-30T19:18:00.003-06:00

So, it seems like the first week is almost over. I just have to grade some labs, grade a test (AP) and finish posting some football video to the Internet. This week contained:

My first week of being sick (boy, are students willing to share).
Not seeing my daughters but a couple of hours each day.
Fighting with technology (some wins, some losses).
The first trial of the football video editing software at a game.
Five or so hours of working with tech support (which did solve the problems, thank you CoachComm).
Back to School Night - where most parents were excited about the cell phone "student response system" that I am trying and a few were fundamentally opposed to the thought.
The first AP test - which had a lower average (by three questions than last year which is a large percentage when there are only 25 questions).
A new squeak from my single speed, fixed gear road bicycle - which really bothers someone with my personality. It is my commuter right now, while the weather is nice.
Staying up way too late watching the DNC speeches.
Doing some chemistry Olympics with the metric system and laughing with the students so hard that my face hurt.

Well, then comes this post on The Fischbowl

Let me say that I am glad to see this post. I do know that I really need some feedback on this idea and I think that Karl is the right person to help me get word out. I am trying to figure out if Blogger or Feedburner is the correct place to publish the xml feed for the podcast. Here is what I am currently wondering...If the class scores on the first part of the unit test in AP Chemistry are lower (by 12%) than last years, is that caused by the lack of direct lecture? or something else? I know that we have not had the time so far to do stuff in class that I would have completed last year but it is not content stuff. Also, I noticed that the set of students this time were not working as fast as they have in the past...Could it be the test itself? While I wonder about the effectiveness of a big test, I know that the statistics of the questions (standard deviation of less than 2 for 25 questions) show that all of the students were in about the same range. So, now what? Oh, I know that I will continue to work on the things that are important in chemistry and I will continue with the podcasts, but I need some help and input. Wednesday of this coming week is the essay portion of the unit 1 test. I think that the students will do better on this part since we have been doing more problems in class.

The big issue that I am now dealing with is the compatibility of the usb wireless mic and the bluetooth interface in my classroom. I have the Bluetooth working now and I am fighting with the mic. Any ideas? The microphone works on radio frequency and the manufacturer says that it should not interfere with Bluetooth. I have updated drivers and stuff but they do not want to work on the same computer right now. I guess if I had a little more time then I could figure it out.

As for the Bluetooth, I am using it to attempt to create a less expensive form of a interactive whiteboard. It works. There is a little bit of work still to be done before I really use it in class but for right now, it is as far as I will get. Perhaps if we had in-service days...The idea comes from a YouTube video (from the Ted conference) of Johnny Lee using a Wiimote and a Bluetooth dongle with some code that was written to calibrate the screen. Then, using a LCD projector and a program like PowerPoint, an IR remote becomes a pointing device like a mouse for a computer. The best part is if you have access to software like Camtasia or SnapKast that can screen capture what you are doing. You can stand at the screen and record what you are writing, when you write it, to play back later. Think of the power of playing back material. The students that miss a day, don't miss out. The students that miss a point, don't miss out. The students that do not have access to AP Chemistry, don't miss out. The whole setup cost less than $60 and I had a student's help putting it all together (he is really into tech stuff). I will post some video when I get it up and running.

Now, I think that I will sit down and read a past edition of the Journal of Chemical Education. There is a lengthy article on the use and effectiveness of small, collaborative groups in chemistry. Who knows, I might even blog about it...

What am I doing?

2008-08-23T19:18:00.003-06:00

This is the best title that I could come up with to summarize my first week. You see, I have changed a few things in my chemistry class at AHS and I am now wondering if it makes any difference. (See last post.)

There are a lot of things that happen at the beginning of the school year and I am wondering now if just giving reading and notes for homework is the best thing (if anyone actually reads this blog please leave a comment) for the students.

In the AP chemistry class, it is no different since last year the students also had a summer assignment. Since I never checked if the students were doing this assignment I have no measure of if it has made any difference. The "it" I am referring to is the posting of the lectures for the first few chapters of material to iTunes. Right now, it seems like a lot of extra work for me with nothing new occurring. I doing think that I will see amazing magic right now but I was hoping for something from the students. I got feedback from one student out of 65 but that is a special cast. (Boy o' boy, does this sound negative.)

Then there was the new technology that I was very excited about having in the classroom...that did not work. I know that there are some "bugs" that need to be worked out by me in using screen capture software with a new microphone and a bluetooth enabled tablet in the classroom but when you practice and everything works fine you would think it would work great at showtime. Boy is that frustrating. About the only thing that did work was the PowerPoint. But then the bulb was dim in the projector and the colors are very different than what is displayed on the monitor. I know that this does not seem like a problem but when showing images it is bothersome. There are somethings that i will try to fix this but I wish I could just "teach".

The problem that I have with just "teaching" is that I do not think it is what is best. It might be what is the easiest for all parties involved, to pull out the same material from a year ago, but I struggle with this. There are some great teachers who can do this, I however feel like I am learning and would like to figure out the connections between the students and the material.

Well, Monday starts another week (with Back to School Night, a PLC day, the first AP test of the semester and the first football game) and I will try again. If nothing else, this form of writing helps me to realize that the hard work is probably worth it.

Good ideas seem to come in sets.

2008-08-21T21:05:00.002-06:00

We all seem to understand that a lot of things happen in threes. Good and bad, the human mind likes to put things into sets. Well, this year I am attempting three new things in my classroom that might alter the way that science is taught at AHS.

The first item is...
Poll Everywhere!

I was introduced to this little bit of web based software at NECC this summer. The craze right now is student response systems (in use at major universities) in the classroom. And, it should be. This tool allows teachers to test student understanding and then alter their lessons to reach the needs of the class. (At least that is how I see it.) The systems are very interesting and have the ability to transform the way that a typical lesson is designed. I was hooked!

Then came the next piece of information. The student could use their cell phones to text their answers (either multiple choice or short answer) to the teacher during a PowerPoint presentation! Just think, a way to embrace the cell phone use in the classroom!

On the first day of class, I asked my students to:

Take out their cell phone. You should have seen the blank looks. One student even told me "I don't even know you" after I asked them to "just trust me."
Answer the question "What scares you the most about AP Chemistry?"

You can only imagine the answers that I got on the screen in the classroom when they realized that it was being shared. The students are interested in what their peers are thinking just like I am, as a teacher. I cannot wait to look at the results when a subject based question is asked. The software does have some simple analysis tools built in.

And did I say that it can be FREE?!!

The second item is...

Podcasts. Yes, chemistry podcasts.

For the past few years, I have felt frustrated with how my classroom was working. I would ask the students to read and they would act like they did, and perhaps some of them did, and then I would lecture over the material on the next class day. It seemed that the students were learning that they did not have to read since I would be covering the exact material in class. Then they would struggle on the homework problems and ask in class and earn average grades on the tests.

However, I felt as though I was doing a lot more of the problems then the students were. So, I started looking for a way to fix this. Enter Jon Bergmann and Aaron Sams of Woodland Park High School. They presented at NECC this summer also (I guess you could say that this was a good conference to attend...) on podcasting. So, I borrowed a couple of ideas for the classroom and started posting note guides on web, specifically TeacherTube. This seemed like a good way to cover the background information for the AP chemistry class. I thought that the students might like to get some information this way.

Boy, was I wrong...They seem to really like it. As a matter of fact, they liked it so much that one of the students took it upon himself to help me post the videos to blogger. Then, I submitted the information to iTunes for review and the podcast has now been linked in the iTunes store! The students have decided that this is pretty cool. Or, in their own words:

"I am personally very excited about the way you have decided to use technology to fundamentally change the way you run your class. The way you perceived an issue and saw how technology could be used to effectively address it is a prime example of how the expertise of teachers is key to effectively integrating technology into a class.
The screencasts you have a created are available on teachertube, which is a convenient way to view them. However, I thought that it would be even more convenient if your screencast was also a podcast. For this reason, I used several tools to turn the videos you post on teachertube into an iTunes subscribable podcast.
At this url, I have created a blog where the videos are reposted. It is the process of reposting that syndicates them into an XML format iTunes or other video podcast readers can understand. They are also available for download individually in a format that can be transferred to an iPod or viewed with Quicktime. The "PODCAST HELP PAGE" link on the sidebar goes to a website I quickly assembled that describes how to subscribe in iTunes, download episodes, or even view online
with an iPhone or iPod Touch.
One of the reasons I am sending you this email is to make sure that this is acceptable to you. The screencasts are your intellectual property, after all. If it is acceptable, hopefully this will become a valuable way to access the content." - Ben H

Wow, that was written by a high school student...and we want to be worried about them.

I have been looking for ways to use classtime to answer questions and have discussions without feeling "rushed". I think that this will help. As a matter of fact, the other chemistry teachers at AHS liked the idea so much that we are trying this as a team. Change, or I'm sorry, "Shift Happens." We, I mean my student is trying to show me, are now trying to get iTunes to read the metadata for the podcast so that the information is there.

Please check out some of the podcasts and let us know what you think.

And the third thing...

I received some money from the HACH foundation this summer. They were looking for ways to transform the way that chemistry is being taught. I wrote a short letter asking for help adding some technology to my classroom. Now, You might ask why, afterall Mr. Fisch is at AHS. But this money was additional to all of the help and guidance that Karl gives me.

The money was used to purchase equipment so that the students and I could record what is occuring in the classroom and share it. The focus will be on problem solving and lab experiments with a focus on sharing with the world.
Some of the equipment includes:

A USB lapel microphone(I am really excited about this one)
A Blue Snowball microphone
A video camera
A digital still camera
Camtasia software
and a Portable hard drive to store all of the video.

Who knows, maybe some students somewhere will want to share in this adventure. I have already talked to other AP teachers outside of the US who are interested.

So, There it is. Three things that might change forever the way that learning occurs in my classroom. I have not been this excited about trying new stuff in a long time and the energy from teh students is great. Who knows, they might even learn something...

Retakes and More

2007-10-31T22:10:00.000-06:00

Just this semseter, as a team, the chemistry teachers have decided to allow the students to retake certain portions of exams when their scores fall below 70%. The students need to come in for extra help before they can retake the portion of the exam that the teachers have decided is important in the study of chemistry. This is not always the entire exam but just a section that is an essential learning for the topic. I am having a difficult time with some students since they are fine with not retaking any exam. I guess that this is okay but when given the chance why would some students perfer not to retake an exam? I wonder also, why students are taking a class if they are not interested in the subject? More importantly is why are they not interested in the topic? (I guess that if I had an answer to that I could become very rich.)

The thing that I am most excited about right now is the use of a wireless tablet in the classroom and the use of Camtasia software to capture/publish what we are doing. I see a lot of possibilities and I never thought that I would think about beginning podcasts or videocasts of the class sessions. I guess when you start to ask what next? Or now what? Or how does this go to the next level? You start to look for doing things in a new way. The biggest issue is feeling like a first year teacher each day.

The astronomy class took a field trip to CU Boulder and Fiske Planetarium. We listened to a presentation on the sky tonight and what is currently going on in the study of Mars and even talked a little about black holes. It was good to see the students engaged and after I talk to them tomorrow, I will post a little of the conversation.

Well, once again, I am trying to figure out ways to change science instruction and my excitement is a little overwhelming to me.

Capture?

2007-10-15T21:33:00.000-06:00

So as I think about the major changes that are happening in my instructional methods, I cannot wait to begin playing with some new software. I received a copy of Camtasia Studia and SnagIt from TechSmith. After playing with the software a little last Friday, with the help of Mike Porter at the ESC, I am interested in attmpting to capture a PowerPoint soon. The presentation will be on solving some problems in chemistry. I will then place the video on the internet to allow students to seek assistance outside of the classroom. I am wondering if there will be problems with allowing the students access to all of the material. Will they stop paying attention in class? I guess that I will need to find other things for the students to do during class. I think that the true power of this software comes with the students being able to work at their own pace. I am still having a difficult time finding the time to do the things that I want to try and finding the time to implement the changes that I think need to happen in the classroom.

As for now, I long for an inservice day which I can spend by myself, not in meetings.

What kind of school do I want?

2007-09-23T21:32:00.000-06:00

While reading the book "Professional Learning Communities at Work" by Richard DuFour and Robert Eaker, I found a couple of questions. (Okay, so there are lots of questions, some answers, and lots more to think about.) As part of the learning cohort at AHS we decided to examine a few of these questions before our next meeting.

(Way to go Brian. The next meeting is this week and I am just getting around to the homework now. Better now as compared with after the next meeting or never, right?)

So here goes.

"When I leave this school, I would like to be remembered for..."
"I want my school to be a place where..."
"The kind if school I would like my own child to attend would..."
"The kind of school I would like to teach in would..."

In regards to the first question, I would like to be remembered as the teacher that liked learning for the sake of learning. It does not matter if the material is in my specific content area or about learning in general, I would like the students to know that their teacher wanted to learn from them as much (if not more) than I have to offer them. I am interested in the world around me and the people in it. I would like the students and my colleagues to think of me as someone who wanted to be around people and see them grow.

The second question is a little more difficult. I would like to see my school be a place where other professionals want to come to see what we are doing. I would like the entire school to contribute to the greater good of education and the continual improvement of ourselves as educators. I do not want the school to stay the way it is. (That might not sound right.) I want us to develop new methods for doing things and get the students involved in their learning future.

Since I have two little ones at home, question number three is something that I have been looking at recently. I would like the school to encourage my children to take risks and learn from failure. I do not think that everything that is done in school should be a success. I think that the school should call me, as a parent, when my child is behaving in an offensive manner. I think the school should be teaching skills that we be helpful to my child later in life. I would like the teachers in the school to think "outside the box" and be interested in the student's lives. If I could really pick, I would pick something like the Denver School of Science and Technology (Only if my children are interested in these things. If not, I would find something similar in their area of interest.) I would like the school to have a global perspective and not just a limited view. Wow, there is a lot more. Should I keep going? Perhaps, I will come back to this in a later post.

Finally, the kind of school that I would like to teach in would include the students and community in all of the decisions. There would be support from outside the four walls of the building since they would be transparent (not actually transparent, you know). Students would be in a seminar class and do practical experiences later in their schooling. I think that we are doing a pretty good job right now but I also think that pretty good is not good enough. I would hope that all the teachers in the building are there because they believe that the school is better with them and there is something that they have to offer the students. I would want the materials in the building to be state-of-the-art and there should be ample training for the equipment use. I would encourage more of the meetings like we do currently. Give teachers time to work together. I would want the school to offer teachers time. Time to pursue degrees if they wanted, time to improve what they do by seeing and talking to other teachers, time to plan with other teachers, time to learn with the students and I would like to have time to reflect. I would want the students to be involved in the community and the school. Wow, there are lots of things in this list also.

This seems like it was more fun than it should have been. I guess that AHS is the place I want to be a part of, make an impact and change for the better. I guess it is a good thing that I am a part of it now.

So Far...

2007-09-20T15:15:00.000-06:00

So far this year:

I have been a part of conversations about norms, mission and vision for two teams.
I still am not sure where I am going.
I am pretty sure I know where I am.
I have watched/broken down/posted a lot of football film.
Attempted to use the wireless in the downstairs classrooms (they seem to not like me)
I have used the computers in the upstairs classrooms (they work great)
Graded, graded and graded.
I have had an introduction to Moodle and I am really excited about the possibilities.
I worked with students to develop a community service plan for Link Crew.
I have been collecting lab experiments on video to attempt to post (okay, it is just one, but it is a start, right?)
Then there is the life outside of AHS. (More on this later.)

The astronomy class seems to be the one place where things are working the way that they should. This involves little on my part (which might be why it is going so well) but I need to be in the class to give some direction. The students decided on the percentage for each category of work that they are going to complete this semester. I agree with the percentages that the class decided on and I am excited that the students had the say in this. There have been a couple of lessons that I have changed so that the students are composing all of the material. For example, from a vocab list, the students were allowed to pick two to three terms that work together and then, as a group, they developed some type of digital documents to tell the story of the terms. One example was force and acceleration and the students chose a football player to display this information. I will link to these document in my next post to share this work.

My biggest concern right now is time. I know that time will take care of itself but I still worry. There are lots of good (perhaps great) ideas in my head but I lack the time to let them loose. This feels like a big excuse but there is a lot going on right now and the "old" way seems to work. The students do nto fight when you are lecturing but are they learning? Maybe. But are they learning a "like" of the material? Am I letting them down by being easy on myself from time to time? Am I the only one with these questions?

You Might Think That I Disappeared...

2007-01-30T22:41:00.000-07:00

Just the other day, I was sitting at home thinking. (Note: this is not something that I usually find myself doing since there is a lot going on.)

"I have not been to my 'Blogger' account for quite awhile." The time has gone by and I have found myself going back to my old ways, in the classroom. Sure, I might say to you, "there are times when I seem to be rather forward thinking in the classroom." But, it seems like I am just doing the things that I used to do in the classroom before I was worried about preparing students for the world. As a matter of fact, I used the overhead projector, stood at it, and lectured to my students about chemical bonding. (Yuck. not the material but the method.) I was wondering why the students were not as fascinated as I was about the fact that atoms that have no ability to make decisions come together in just the right way to make a human being or an animal or a plant or anything else that is in the Universe. Then it dawned on me. They don't care because it is my fascination and not theirs. Duh.

When you take the time to look at what students are interested in, and for the most part it is not chemistry, they are interested in what their life is about. There is no way to get students truly interested in the world that I like (there are exceptions) but what if there was a way to use their world to teach science to them. Or better yet, what if there was a way that they could use their world to teach themselves science. At some point, students lose the drive to investigate the world around them. They lose a sense of wonder. They lose the ability to think about "why" and "what if". Sometimes, I use teh excuse of "there just is not enough time." But what if there was not enough time to continue teaching the same old way and missing the chance to get students excited about science?

When I try to think about questions in chemistry that will get the students thinking about an exciting topic it usually backfires and little to no discussion follows. I am wondering if this is a problem with how I am presenting the material or if the issue is with how the students have learned to "play school." Now, there are times when the questions that come up in class lead us into a grand discussion but usually, it is a discussion between myself and two or fewer students. Is there a way to get the larger group involved? What are some of the techniques for presenting questions that lead students into deeper investigations in science? Has there been any research about how students learn science? What happens when a student is engaged in science and decides that they want to pursue it later in school? What was it that made me want to be a science major? (or better yet, what were the driving forces behind me wanting to be a teacher?) Are there ways to brake out of the stucture of school that I am used to and am comfortable with? Will this get easier?

I do think that I am on my way back to the blogosphere. I will even make sure that my daughter's ages are correct in my profile. Amazing what you can do with some time, a little initiative and a desire to change.

Sometimes the best idea is...

2006-11-07T13:25:00.000-07:00

The best part about teaching a science class sometimes is the lab. There are some activities that I have done in the class that have been pushed aside by other things. Today the students were asked to determine the mass of two gases by using oxygen as a standard and the volume of a gas by water displacement. I have not seen students talking as much, or laughing as much, as they were today. It seems that I have forgotten that some of the basic measurements can be done with activities that students find fun doing. If all activities in science generated this kind of excitement or conversation maybe there would be more people going into science fields.

I forget sometimes and want to create a new activity with lots of "bells and whistles" when there are activities that are a little more simple (and student led investigations) which are already in use.

What a month!

2006-10-27T08:54:00.000-06:00

So there have been a lot of things going on the past month. (Has that really been how long it has been since I last posted?)

Football is coming to an end and that should free up some time for me to focus on other things.

The applications for this years Toyota International Teacher Program were sent to me this month and I had a little envious feeling about the teachers who will be applying this year. What a trip...What a trip...

My two year old and I played in the snow. I think that it was the first time that we have done that. It will not be forgotten anytime soon.

AP Chemistry is keeping me very busy and I am having a difficult time finishing all of the work (labs, assignments, notes etc.) for this class.

My first year chemistry students are having a hard time doing the things that they need to do to finish the course. Some of them are starting to ask: "Why do we need to know this?" I would have thought that with all of the new activites that I am trying and the way that the class is structured (more student centered) I would like to think that this question had answered itself. I wonder if the stuedents are aware of the changes? Does this class look any different from the others? How can I use the computers to design student led activities for calculations and problems that the students have no idea about? The basic concepts in chemistry are easy to interpret using the computers but when we enter untis based on math concepts with chemical equations the students have a very hard time explaining them.

I see how the computers are easy to implement in classes when some of the background information has been covered but how can the consturctivist approach be applied to a chemistry classroom? When the information of the course is new how can the investigations be implemented?

The Astronomy class is an entirely different beast. That class is a great place to test new learning activities and see what the students come up with. Recently the students were given all of the unit inforamtion that I would have presented to them and they could complete it in any order. I was a little worried about how that would work but the students were ready to complete all of the work by the deadline that they set! The final project was a brochure that would sell a telescope. When the students asked if their brochure was "okay" I started responding with "Would you buy it?" - Thanks Mr. Fisch for that idea. How could I do this with other topics? I am currently working on the idea for the final project, more to come later.

Since it seems that doing the same old stuff in education is a lot easier than changing things to meet the student's needs I can see why teachers and administrators are resistant to this mode of thought. It asks all of us to think outside of whatever box we started in and that kind of reflection can cause problems. We are asking ourselves to critically think about what we do daily and with all of the other stuff that we have going on we tend to not react well. The thought that those who can...do...and those who can't...teach seems to be a perception in the business world that would not be correct for our building. I even find myself thinking that if I had some of the teachers in this building earlier in my schooling then I might have been an English major or a history major but my chemistry teaher was the one that helped me find what I liked to learn about. Isn't that what school is supposed to be? Helping the students find their interests?

Starbucks Thoughts.

2006-09-20T10:29:00.000-06:00

As I sit at my desk, reflecting on the sadness that comes with the bottom of a cup of coffee, I read something that really made me think about my day.

"Flying by myself in a tiny aircraft over lonely woods: I have no one to blame
if I make a bad judgement, and the laws of physics won't listen to my excuses.
What would my life be like if I always had to take full responsibility?"

- Mark Olson (Taken from my Starbucks cup The Way I See It #128)

What would this do to our days if people thought of this kind of thing every time they had a decision to make?

Grades, What Grades...?

2006-09-20T09:37:00.000-06:00

The other day, I had a discussion with a student in my AP Chemistry class who is struggling with the grading process in this school. He was thinking that he should learn material because it was interesting to him. However, this year, which is his junior year, he is learning that school becomes looking at things that you might not find to be too interesting. He is a little discouraged because he is used to looking at course material in the context of wanting to learn it and not "to get ready for a test." I thought that this was what we wanted our students to do. (To seek the information because they wanted to know it not because they had to know it.) When I asked him why he thought school should be learning of information that is interesting to the learner, his response was that someone told him that college was this way. Wow, in college you get to study things that interest you? I thought that there were prerequisite courses that you had to "get out of the way". Wouldn't it be nice if all schooling was set up so that you were learning things that were intersting to you and not because someone else thought it was important? Do you think that students might pay more attention or be involved in constructing their learning if they were allowed to find something in a subject that was interesting to them? I find it interesting that I was having this conversation with a student when we, as a group of teachers, are having the same conversation.

The conversation progressed to a point where the student said he felt grades were detrimental to learning. When asked for explaination of his thoughts I found out that he felt grades were something that students were working towards. While this might be a good temporary goal for students he thought that the material would become secondary to the grade. I told him that, as a group of teachers, we are looking at how to overcome that. I think he felt excited to be a part of a school where we are asking these difficult questions. While we don't have the answers at least we are asking these and other difficult questions. (This might be why there are teachers who are struggling with what we are doing.) He also wanted to know why we were trying to take a college level class (AP Chem) and apply high school standards to it? I did not even know what to say to this.

The thing about these conversations is that they made me think about two big items.
1) How could we use grades to give feedback and show progress and not just as an end in themselves? (I am going to try using more of an AP scale, 0 to 5, in an elective that I teach.)
2) Where was I in high school? I think that I was trying to get through high school and was not asking why I needed to learn something. Are there other students who are asking these important questions about school and learning and grades? or is this young man a special case? Should we be asking them for help in designing material instead of jsut telling them?

That is a lot of thought conversation between a student and a teacher. (I will let you try to figure out who is who in this post. I mean the teacher and the student.)

Too Much, Too Fast

2006-09-16T08:17:00.000-06:00

One of the issues with allowing the students to use new methodolgy and allowing them to construct their own understanding is the time that it takes. Now don't misunderstand me, I agree with most of the comments going on over on the fischbowl, but I am troubled by my first time through an AP class. There is a lot of information to get through in this class and the test score is the most important thing about this class (or is it?). If I do not get to the information, there are consequences to deal with. The students right now are doing a good job of not being too worried about their class grades because I think they are learning a lot. But how do we balance the large amount of information that I need to cover with the limited time (a lot of it taken by standardized testing that the school needs to do) and the use of allowing the students to find their own direction? I guess this will be a question that I (and we) will be looking for an answer to long after I leave teaching.

Update on the wiki

2006-09-16T08:13:00.000-06:00

Thanks to the folks at pbwiki.com for their help on the use of a wiki in the classroom. Also, Karl Fisch is an amazing resource for those of us trying new things in the classroom. After trying multiple ways to use this tool in a classroom, I was amazed at how fast the students adapted towards their use. The wiki allows the students to put together information in new ways and allows them to express themselves through the material that we are studying.

Check out their work in progess at www.ahsastronomy.pbwiki.com

Wiki(ed) Headache

2006-09-10T21:39:00.000-06:00

Wow.

After a good start to the school year and with students getting used to using the computers in class I have tried to spend the past few days getting an idea of how to use a wiki for my class.

I am not even sure where this is going but I would like for my classes to write an on-line book for themselves.

I guess the trouble right now is figuring out what to do with a blank slate. I am trying pbwiki and I am not sure if I need to invite all of the students so that they can add to it. I am not sure if I need to create a few pages or if we can get by with just one page for now. Does anyone have any ideas?

I think that this could be a very powerful tool but I feel lost.

I think...

2006-08-28T10:26:00.000-06:00

As I think about the first few weeks with having the students work with the computers, in a way that they are forming their learning, I have realized that the students are not always on task. I have also realized that my job description has changed. No longer am I the "keeper of knowledge" but I am here to help the students form their own knowledge. Watching this happen, I realized that there are times when the students need my direct instruction, chemistry is not easy. I also know that there will be mistakes on the way.

"Only when sleeping do we make no mistakes. Mistakes are the privilege of the active person, who can start over and put things right."
-Ingvar Kamprad

I am thinking about the classroom that I am a part of (no longer "my classroom") and I am energized by the work that the students are doing. They actually are engaged and can do the things that I set them to do, with-out me "holding their hands". If we just let them work they will.-

The first day of the rest of their lives.

2006-08-18T09:40:00.000-06:00

Yesterday we started using the computers in Astronomy. Aside from some small issues, things whent very well. I would say that looking at this group allows me to be very excited about trying this style of teaching with them. There is a high level of energy in the class about the instructional changes and use of new methodologies. I am going to teach the first unit the same for the most part since it is a lot of activities. I am looking forward to the second unit, one that I have not enjoyed in the past, since I am going to ask them how the unit should look.

I told them that life changes now, here, in this room. It is a journey and I am excited to be on it.

Addition

2006-08-12T22:32:00.000-06:00

So, some people have been wondering where I have been.

Let me tell you...

Allison Brianne was added to our family on the 25th of July. She weighed 6 lbs. 10 ozs and was 19 inches long. Everyone is doing great. Megan is a good big sister, mom is good and dad..well, dad is.

To discuss.

2006-08-10T14:43:00.000-06:00

I had a difficult time talking about the philosophy of education. I think that the main difficulty came from the fact that the material we are looking at forces us to change our philosophy all the time. I wonder if we will ever reach a point where we have a true peace about our philosophy or if this will be an on-going thing. I do think that if we have reached a conclusion about how the philosophy should look then we need to reexamine our practices in the classroom.

The other disussions that we had in the group were very good. The grading talk, while overdone (haha), was very helpful to hear about where other people were on their feelings of grading.

I cannot wait to see what others are doing in their classroom's this fall.

Where next?

2006-07-24T14:00:00.000-06:00

Since I retuned from Japan I have had a few thoughts about the trip (see earlier post "A Summary"). Most importantly lately is the thought of "Genchi Genbutsu" which means essentially to go and see. There is a lot in the world and it is not as scary as I would think. I guess the strongest thing that I left thinking is, where next? If the world is calling me to see it, how and where do I go? I want to go out and see. I want Kaizen my world. I want to take my students to different levels and places. I want my family to see what the world is made of. The people, the places and the sounds of Japan are the things that will cause the most reflection in my world.

One Wise Man

2006-07-23T11:53:00.000-06:00

At the beginning of Chapter 10 in The World Is Flat, Thomas Friedman includes a quote from Albert Einstein:

Out of clutter, find simplicity.
From discord, find harmony.
In the middle of difficulty, lies opportunity.

I was thinking about this and my classroom for the next year. As I embark on a new chapter of my career I think that there will be a lot of discord and difficulty. How I look at these items will determine how my attitude changes each day. As a team we are going to go ahead and try to find out one to one notebook instruction in a public school. There is little that I have seen on how to do this effectively in a Chemistry classroom. I know that there are ways to do this but I am afraid that I will fall back on the ways that have worked in the past. Time is the biggest struggle when trying to implement this type of change in a classroom.

What will my classroom look like? How will the students respond? How will I adapt and respond? What will the next few years look like? Is this the next level for instruction in my classes?

I do think that stretching teachers, outside of their comfort zones, is what will pushthe students to new levels. For this outlook, I am excited to be a part of this reform in schooling and proud to be a part of it.

Baseball and Umbrellas?

2006-07-20T20:45:00.000-06:00

While in Tokyo I and some of my new friends enjoyed a baseball game. It sure was fun and the view was amazing. We watched a game between the Yakult Swallows and the Chunichi Dragons. I had noodles for dinner and made a friend that collected WWII airplanes (two were given to me as gifts!). Note: Two photos (The one of me giving the gift and the shot of the Jumbo-Tron with us on it) are from another Toyota International Teacher Deb Cole. You can find her blog here.

Toyota, Greenspan and a Teacher

2006-07-20T00:09:00.000-06:00

So, let me tell you about an exchange that I had in Torrance, California. I was having dinner at the Toyota Motor Sales, USA offices and struck up a conversation with James E. Lentz (Group Vice President & General Manger, Toyota Division) while on the Toyota International Teacher Program. Why was this interesting? Well, Mr. Lentz was saying that at lunch the day before, Alan Greenspan...

Wait did he say Alan Greenspan?
I have never been involved in a conversation like this before!
Back to the story.

Anyway, Mr. Lentz asked Mr. Greenspan "What keeps you awake at night now that you are retired?" The response is what I found interesting.

Mr. Grenspan's response was that he worries about the kids in school who are not being built into thinkers. They are do'ers who can fill rolls where there is little creative/independant thought taking place. Students need to be working in the math, science and engineering fields. The US needs people to fill rolls that are going to open soon.

After hearing about this conversation I am again left wondering if we are doing the best that we can to get studnets interested in the fields like math and science or are we turning them off? I cannot wait to try some of the new things that are coming to our school this year. I hope that this is a question that we as a group of teachers continue to ask. These are not the kind of conversations that teachers find themselves in all the time and I think that there was a lot of value in being a part of it. What will the flat world have in-store for my kids?

Torrance and Toyota

2006-07-19T23:28:00.000-06:00

For the actual press release about the Toyota International Teacher Program click here.

Let me tell you a little about june 23rd and 24th.

I was taken awayby United airlines to LAX from DIA for the start of an adventure that I was greatly looking forward to. There were four other teachers from the state of Colorado on our flight (Kelly from Greeley, Saralynn from Joes, TJ from Denver and me). How did we find each other if we had no met before the trip you might ask......

Well, the Toyota group that was "taking care" of us had provided a handy rolling carry-on that had the groups logo on the outside. We talked briefly about ourselves and then boarded the flight to LAX. While on the flight, I shared for the first of many times the excitement that I had about the trip. The man sitting next to me was the lucky soul that was able to hear the explanation about the trip and all. We had a great talk and what a small world it was already since we had some common friends.

Once at LAX with my bags in tow, alongside my new friends, I started to see that this was no ordinary trip for a teacher. There was a young man holding a sign for "Toyota International Teachers." He took all of our bags and led us outside to a waiting Limo! Then the short trip to the hotel in Redondo Beach, California. I had never been to this area of LA and was excited to walk around. However, I felt a little odd being dressed in what the group would come to call "Business Casual Attire"since I was on the beach.

We had a short getting to know you session and then it was on to the first of our many bus rides over the next two weeks. We went to Toyota USA offices in Torrance, California. These are some amazing buildings. There is even a "green" building that is environmentally friendly. We were treated like stars. There was food, drink and entertainment. We talked with some very important people at Toyota USA and became even more excited about the trip.

My roommate was a newly married teacher (Jeremy from Indiana) and he was just as excited as I was about going to see Japan.

We had breakfast in the hotel and listened to a few speakers. One of the speakers was from Toyota University (Michiko Powell) and she presented some of the basic do's and don'ts for travel to Japan.

What a couple of days! I have never as a teacher been treated this nicely. What would the world be like if teachers were treated like this all of the time in every country?

Camera Help

2006-07-19T16:24:00.000-06:00

Hey, I just purchased a Canon S3IS digital camera. Is there anyone who might see this post that can help me. I would like to post some pictures to this blog but I am not sure how to decrease the size once the photo is on the computer. I do not want to use too high of a resolution when posting since I am on a dial-up commection. I have Microsoft Picture-It on my home computer but I am not sure what to do.

Any help would be good.

Japan Itinerary - A Summary

2006-07-19T15:37:00.000-06:00

So, before I start talking about how the "Toyota International Teacher Program" to Japan changed the way that I think about the world, let me tell you a little about what we did.

The trip started on the 23rd of June for me as I left DIA (Denver International Airport) and headed west to LAX (Los Angeles International Airplort). There were three other teachers from Colorado and we were all on the same flight to LAX. We had never met before and had no idea of what were going to experience in Japan.

There was an evening orientation at Toyota Headquarters in Torrance California.

June 24th - Orientation/Cross-cultural speaker and departure for Narita Airport in Tokyo.

June 25th - Arrival in Tokyo and a free evening.

June 26th - Toyko Orientation, presentation by an environmental speaker for Toyota, a Kabuki performance and a free evening.

June 27th - Visited Soka University and met with students and a professor, visited a high school and talked with teachers and students, a baseball game in Tokyo and a free evening.

June 28th - Presentation at Roppongi Hills on architecture, environment and industry. We visited Meiji Shrine and the US Embassy. That evening we traveled to Nagoya by the shinkansen (bullet train).

June 29th - Visited Toyota Commemorative Museum, TMC Showroom and viewed the production line for the Camry and Prius. We also had an introduction to the Toyota Production System (TPS). That evening we traveled to Kyoto by the bullet train.

June 30th - Met Mr. Alex Kerr who gave an overview of all the stuff in Kyoto and an introduction to his program called Origin Arts Program. We were allowed to explore Kyoto for the last half of the day on our own.

July 1st - We were at the Origin Program today where we learned about Calligraphy, Waraku, Tea Ceremony and Noh Drama.

July 2nd - We departed for Nagasaki and then to the island of Hirado. We traveled to the hotel on Hirado, enjoyed an onsen and looked around the town. Another group of teachers went to another island for a stay there.

July 3rd - We took a tour of the town and castle, visited Hirado Elementary School and visited with the students, and that night we had an overnight stay with a family on the island.

July 4th - We traveled back to Nagasaki and had a program debriefing at the Art Museum. We were given time at the Peace Museum and Memorial Park. That night we had a farewell party.

July 5th - We traveled from Fukuoka Airport to Kansai to LAX to DIA.

July 7th - Jet-lag and head fog catch up with me.

July 8th - Finally have some clear thoughts and can write stuff on paper.

Well, there it is. The whirlwind tour of the country of Japan. Someone asked if I would go back. My answer was a strong "YES". I will put some detailed entries from the trip up over the next couple of days.

Summer

2006-07-19T00:10:00.000-06:00

I just cannot wait to see what the rest of the summer months have to offer.

Let see, since football camp at the end of the school year, I have:

1) Worked on the house
2)Rode my bike around Metro Denver
3) Traveled to Japan (more on this later)
4) Planned for our second daughter
5) Traveled to the mountains
6) Played with my daugter Megan
7) Read some books
8) Worked on some AP Chemistry problems (which is a new prep for me in the fall)
9) Stressed about making my classroom more student centered
10) Played around with my iPod
11) Worked in my yards
12) Attended some very important birthday parties (Megan turned two)
13) Sold part of my childhood toys on eBay
14) Read some blogs/made some comments
15) Met with some teachers at school to determine laptop computer use policies
16) Rewrote my classroom policies
17)Watched "The Tour"
18) I am sure that I am missing some stuff but this is what my brain would allow right now.

I am not sure but this sounds like a lot and I know that other teachers are doing the same kind of things. There are people out there who think that summer is just a nice time off for teachers. I am sure that there are those teachers out there who do little thinking on their practice in the classroom. I am not having one of those summers. This is not a post that says how good I am or how much I am doing to be better but one to just remind myself that there is constant work that needs to be done. The work is not only in the classroom setting but for me also.

Japan was amazing and the next few posts that I make will be about that.

Has anyone been watching the Tour de France? Did you see the Alpe d' Huez stage? This has been an amazing Tour and the more I watch the more I think about education. If you do not know, a lot of the riders favored in the Tour were removed before the start. What this did was it left the other riders with a very "open" ride where there was no one favored rider but everyone had an equal chance. I thought about this a lot and what if our schools were places where all of the students had an equal chance. One where the playing field was level. What would that look like?

A thought.

2006-06-20T21:37:00.000-06:00

In one of the books that I am reading to prepare for the trip to Japan there was something written that struck me and got me thinking. In the book Following The Brush, John Elder states:

...and to hear the depth of Bahso's declaration in Oku no Hosomichi that " life itself is a journey." So easily we give our hearts to suffering old wars and imagining new ones, and our minds to poring over bank statements. But walking out under the flower-bright sky, we can also remember larger forces at work in the world.

I sometimes think that we do not take enough time to watch what is happening and reflect on it. We, and I am talking to myself here, try to over analyze things most of the time. I wonder if there are really as many things to fix about the education system or if we are looking to blame one part of a complex thing for the problems that we have. Are we looking at things for the future generations or are we fixing them for ourselves? When new reform is started, is it focused on the right things or are the people working on it out for themselves?

Just a thought...

"...we can also remember larger forces at work in the world."

Elder, John. Following The Brush, Boston: Beacon Press, 1993.

Missing Items

2006-06-20T21:21:00.000-06:00

As I sit in my house, during what most people think are the best three parts of teaching (June, July and August), I feel as though I have been missing something. I was wondering what it could be...Contact with students?...Contact with other teachers?...Then it hit me.

Blogging, I have not been doing much of anything lately.

I am reminded why it is so important to write things down in this profession. I try to remember what it was that made a day so special and I cannot. I try to think about what worked during a lesson (one that I thought was going to go so well) and what did not work and cannot remember. I try to recall what I was thinking and doing and that is missing also. I have never been good at keeping a journal and now that I have one, I forget about it? What is happening to me?

As think about my classroom for the fall, specifically about blogs, I hope that I can be a little more consistent about them. My falling behind is one thing but if I am asking students to participate and I am not serving as a good example what am I doing? I am excited about the new technology that is coming to my classroom and AHS but will I be able to use it to the fullest potential?

I am going on a study trip to Japan for a couple of weeks and I cannot wait to see this part of the world. I will be allowed to visit schools and talk to students, administrators and teachers. I will be staying with a family for a few nights and experience teh fullest of Japanese culture. As I prepare for a trip to Japan I am reminded to write things down. I will be visiting schools, cultural places, and houses. Is there anything that I could tell pepole about the trip to Japan? (I am not an expert but will try to discuss things when I return.) Feel free to ask.

I will not be taking my notebook computer with me and I feel some form of withdrawl already. It is back to pen and paper for me. I hope that I can keep up on this trip. Pictures will be coming.

Driving Forces

2006-04-04T22:00:00.000-06:00

"Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school."

Albert Einstein

German-Swiss-American mathematical physicist, famous for his theories of relativity.

As I am sitting here tonight thinking about the world around me and the one that my children are growing up into, I wonder about what drives a person to do and be who they are? Is there some magic formula (you would think that a chemist could come up with one!) that helps determine what a person is and what motivates them? Is it genetics? Could it be just plain dumb luck? Do people decide what they are going to become? Does the world around them make the decisions? (Boy o' boy, I need to get some sleep.)

I know that there is a plan for all of us. I know that some people are motivated while others seem to not be. I think that school in general seems boring to students because they have lost a reason to be motivated. They seem to be looking for a way to find the secret easy path. (Not all of them mind you.) The question that I am really thinking about is how to motivate the ones that seem to not want to be motivated? I guess if I had the answer I would be a very rich person. Is it rewards that motivate? If so, why do grades defeat this?

If the goal of chemistry is to be a problem solving class then why are students not excited to learn about it? The world around the students is one filled with wonder and magic, I know, I see it in my daughter. I wonder how to get the students to be as excited about the stuff around them and how it all works together as my little one is. If some students are going into science and engineering because they like to look at the world around them and wonder then I guess I have done my job as a teacher. I do not think that I can get all of them to like science (that would be a Hatak utopia!) but just a few of them. What would it be like if one of the students that I have in class has the cure for cancer in them? or the details for space travel? or how to make the fields produce enough food to feed all who are in need? and I did not do my best to get them excited about science? I hear that the number of students majoring in science and engineering is lowest it has been in decades! Do they not want to work to find answers? Do they not wonder? How do I get these "lost" scientists interested?

I think that what we are doing as a group and with the new methods that I am trying at least I am doing something to reach this generation. I hope that I do not forget that the material is not nearly as important as the method of learning and self-motivation that comes from school.

"Whoso neglects learning in his youth, Loses the past and is dead for the future.": Euripides (484 BC - 406 BC), Phrixus

Professional Blogging - My thoughts

2006-04-04T11:06:00.000-06:00

So, there was a recent post on the blog "2 Cents Worth" that discusses the views on "Professional Blogging."

http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/2006/04/04/professional-blogging/

The usual excuses are presented about why teachers would not want to blog. (Time being the main issue.) I could not agree with this more but I think that there is more to it. Teachers need to see the value of having a journal that can be shared with other teachers. I do think that there are those teachers who find the value in keeping a journal and those teachers who think that sharing with other teachers is very important. The struggle that I am having is finding the time to do all the things that I want to do. Truth be told, I will find the time in my day to accomplish the things that I want to do along with the things that I have to do. It becomes a list of priorities. I think that teachers need to stop using the time argument as an "easy out". We need to be looking at things that will help us to be more effective in the classroom and help the students to connect with material. Right now, I see the blog as a tool that can be more helpful to me and a way to discuss ideas with other educators.

As David Warlick says in the post referenced above:

Today, the world is the curriculum, and the world is changing every day. In a time of rapid change, education must become highly adaptable, a place where teachers can retool their classrooms every day. The time issue must be solved. ItÂs a very simple problem (granted that the solution would not be simple) that, if solved, would have a dramatic impact on teaching and learning. But a significant part of that impact would come from the professional discourse that would be necessary in order for teachers to productively manage adaptable classrooms. It would come out of well thought-out and compellingly written (and illustrated) conversations from teachers who are paying attention, reflecting on their observations, sharing their insights concerning the impact on teaching and learning, sharing, and continuing the conversation.

When I read this post, I started thinking about my classes. I cannot ignore the fact that the method of teaching science that is occuring now is really not science. I have said it before that I think the current method of science instruction teaches the students about science and what has been done in science but does a lousy job teaching the students how to be scientists. Then there is the issue of motivation. I do not just mean the motivation of the students, that would be a whole different entry. I mean the motivation of the teachers (I am talking to myself right now, so feel free to listen). It takes time, energy, resources, and a willingness to fail to change what is happening in a classroom. Time is the easiest scapegoat. I think if I can figure out the resources then the time will not be as big of an issue. The truth is that it takes a lot of work to create the changes that I would like to see happen. It is good to see that there are a few teahers out there who are willing to try to change and then continue to evaluate what they are doing.

"We are continually faced with great opportunities, which are brilliantly disguised as unsolvable problems."
-Margaret Mead
From: Teacher's Calendar, Andrews McMeel Publishing, March 30 entry.

Goals

2006-03-29T14:13:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I seem to have missed one. - The blogging....

I have blogged with my students once this semester. I am having a difficult time getting my students to see the benefits of blogging and how to talk to each other outside of the classroom. I do not feel like I set up the blogging very well. I hope that next semester will provide the technology to blog everyday. I am in the process of evaluating my goals (again) and seeking new ways of meeting the needs of my students. I am not happy with the way that the goals are going.

Tune in again soon for new goals and old goals revisited.

Vacation

2006-03-29T14:01:00.000-07:00

While I am on the central coast of California, connected at my mom's house, I recently came across a news article discussing the difference between boys and girls. The article continues to discuss that there are different learning styles between the genders and that the boys are being "left behind" by the girls. The article talks about the fact that schools are trying to find a way to meet the different needs of the students. They even point out that the percentage of boys entering college is 40% and that colleges are letting boys, who are not as qualified as girls, into school so the percentages do not fall too low.

It seems that the administration and the teachers at AHS are ahead of other places when it comes to gender studies. I hope that there is a way we can share the information that we are learing with other professionals in education.

While talking to my sister, who teaches in Bakersfield, about technology, we seem to be well ahead of some other schools. The school where my sister teaches is not seeking technology as a means for student learning. (Or, so it seems.) If schools want to prepare students for the "flat world," shouldn't they be proactive and not reactive? When are we as a profession going to team together to prepare students for the world and not wait for someone else to figure "it" out first? Is there a way to take our PLC's outside of the walls of AHS and connect with teachers elsewhere? How can we find the resources and time to do this? I am going to try somethings along with the trip to Japan this summer but are there other ways to get connected with people who are already very "busy"? Any ideas out there on how to get connected with other classroom teachers? (I mean in actual practice of a global classroom and not just reading about it.)

Next Fall

2006-03-18T21:50:00.000-07:00

So, as I am thinking about the down side to next fall's registration approach, I found a bright spot. I received an email from a student asking about their grade and that I grade papers harder than the person they had last term. The fact that teachers are not being consistant on common papers is causing my some troubles for the first time. I know that common papers are designed to make the learning equal for the students but if each teacher involved grades them differently then when the students make a class change it becomes very difficult to continue on with methods that I use first semester. I now look forward to having the same students for a full year.

I know that as a team we should be still talking about the use of common papers and how they are scored but there are times when the discussions are going nowhere. I wonder if there is an easy way to make sure the students are all being held to the same standards?

I also am having some thoughts on what to do with the notebook computers but I am having a hard time finding the time to write this stuff down. Any ideas? What about the three classroom teachers getting together to share ideas so that we can be consistent?

MP3 Player recordings

2006-03-11T23:51:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking about the issue that recently came up in another local high school. I recently was listening to a local radio station that was discussing how easy it is to edit digital media. If a student is recording lectures in a class and has an issue with the teacher it would be very easy to edit the recording and make it so the teacher is saying things that they never actually said. Should we be worried about this? Perhaps we need to be recording ourselves, if we are having these kind of discussions in class, so that we have a copy of what we actually said. I think that it is important to have classroom discussions and I also think that the students should have the ability to record the conversation for later study (afterall, I did this in college). I think that the classroom is going to be changing in a significant way in the next few years and I feel like we need to be proactive about these issues and not reactive.

Management

2006-03-11T23:44:00.000-07:00

I am having an issue with one of my classes that falls into the category of classroom management. I keep thinking that the problem is with the material or the students. I cannot stop thinking about how to fix the classroom dynamic. If there is a magic cure I sure have not found it. However, I started thinking about the fact that studetns need to "slow down" when they come to school. How do we get to the point that school looks more like their fast-paced lives? Is there a way to make classes more relevant to students? Are we trying to get students to take classes that they are just not wanting to take? Are we placing students in classes that they are not ready for (I mean content wise and work ethic wise)? Is the fact that there are so many ability levels of students in one classroom leading to my issue of management? I am thinking that the notebook computers that are coming are either going to really add to the issue or they are going to help solve the issue but I am not sure right now what is going to happen.

Reading? Who, me?

2006-03-03T23:16:00.000-07:00

I never thought these words would come out of my mouth. (That is why I am going to type them.) I am excited about teaching reading to my science students. It has always been intimidating to me to teach reading. I never was good at it. I did not really like it. I, only recently, have found topics that I really get into. However, after hearing the presentation today by Jesse and Michelle, I needed to write this down. The resources that were shared will be very helpful as I try to get my students into the material of the class. I know that not all of the students will be reached, that should be the goal, and I might make mistakes in teaching this but at least I am going to try. It seems that in the past, I was just hoping that the reading would take care of itself. I mean the "good" kids will do the reading, right? Now, I think that I need to be helping the students through the reading process and not just complaining about the fact that they are not doing it.

Boy, oh boy, this group is really having an influence on me. I cannot wait to try some not so new ideas in my classes.

Okay

2006-03-02T07:02:00.000-07:00

I seem to be doing "okay." That is the answer right now. After finishing a unit on the study of thermodyanics, heat transfer for non-science people, I asked the students how things were going. They responded by saying "difficult." I started thinking about this response and thought that if I had taught them exactly the way that I had before, then maybe things would have been a little easier on them. Then I remembered what the study was about. Chemistry is not an easy topic. That is what I am forgetting.

I think that the fact that I am asking them to do more about their learning is not a key part to the "difficult" answer. I know that it might be a perceived portion of the "difficulty" but it is not the entire reason. I also know that when the students are asked to stretch their minds then they can accomplish much more than just the course material.

So, "okay" might be a little misleading. I am doing better than that. However, I too am being pushed out of my comfort zone and am learning more each day. That in itself is the best part of the changes that are happening in my classes.

WOW!

2006-02-23T22:21:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe the people that I get to work with. I am amazed by what you all do on a daily basis. Walking by your classes and seeing you with the students I am reminded about why we do what we do. I consider it a great privlidge to work at this school, on this team, in this department and to call all of you my friends.

Thank you for what you do for me and the kids!

Japan...

2006-02-23T22:16:00.000-07:00

Well, I did not think that it would happen. I am going to Japan this summer. I tied my application to the blogging process. What I mean by that is I am going to try to:

1) Use the blog as a journal for my experience.
2) Use my class blogs next fall as a way for my students to experience education in Japan.
3) Keep open lines with the people that I meet on this trip through the blog.

I am not sure what the trip really looks like.....

I am not sure what the blog will look like....

I think this is what my students are feeling when I give some of these assignments. I guess that the teacher can be a life-long learner also.

HaHa

2006-02-17T10:48:00.000-07:00

When will we get to this point?

Crayons

2006-02-14T14:34:00.000-07:00

"Don't count crayons......Just color" -Mark Sharenbroich

At the assembly today, the students heard a lot about choosing their own path in life. It involves living and loving and not losing the joy of learning. It seems that this talk fits right in with the things that we are trying to "fix" in education. I am going to start thinking of this as an educational improvement group and not a reform. I am not even sure if the CIT group (from the grants) is actually a reformation group. It seems like more often, I am trying to tweak the things that I am doing in the classroom and not totally redoing them. I need to try to focus on the positive a little more.

In the book Flow, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi states:

The best moments usually occur when a person's body or mind is stretched to
its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and
worthwhile. [3]

...optimal experiences add up to a sense of mastery - or perhaps better, a
sense of participation in determining the content of life - that comes as close
to what is usually meant by happiness as anything else we can conceivable
imagine. [2]

What I seem to be trying to do in my classroom is figure out what the "flow" should be.

Oliver Wendell Holmes
"One's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions."

How can we get students and teachers to actively seek what they truly find imporant and enjoyable? When there are so many students in one class, that have different interests and abilities, can we reach them all?

The students that I talked to today said that they see me as the type of person who does not "count the number of crayons but just likes to color". If I can get my students to start thinking this way then I think I am changing the eduactional system for the better. If students seek what makes them happy in their studies then that is where I hope they will be at this point of the journey (I choose not to call high school the "end" of the journey but it is just another point on the map).

So, I will continue to try to figure out how to get the students to be the captain and driver of their own ship while I serve as the mechanic. Needless to say, I will continue to find ways to make school enjoyable for students and try to reignite the fire that they had when they raised their hands in first grade.

Back At "It".

2006-02-12T23:05:00.000-07:00

Okay, after a week of non-posting, I have recovered and am back at it.

This past week was interesting.

On Monday, I returned to my classes after sending them to the computer lab, with a sub, to investigate the bonding of atoms in molecules. Even with guided questions and web page suggestions, they did not spend much time trying to figure out the material for themselves. They even asked if they were going to " get points" for doing the activity. (ARRGH!!!) Will this be easier if I start it earlier with them?

In lab, I watched a lot of copying and not much comprehension.

Test on Friday. Same results as last year. New methods tried. Refinement needed in lessons. Will I figure this out? I mean the constructivist approach to science education. Is there an "Idiots Guide To" out there? Will students continue to ask me to teach them the material that is in the text? I understand that they might need clarification but "spoon feeding"? I mean come-on.

Concern

2006-02-01T22:30:00.000-07:00

So, I set up a computer activity for Friday. My only concern is that there will be a sub here. I know that the kids that are doing the activity should have no problems but I still worry. I wonder if this will get better as I have them do more of their own learning? I know that this just another something new and it will go fine but I sill wonder.

Review Activity

2006-01-26T07:51:00.000-07:00

I have to give credit to Amanda for this one. In chemistry we are getting ready for the first assessment of the semester. The topic of study is the electron and the Periodic Table. I started by putting the term "electron" on the board in class. Next, I asked the students where we started the study. The first response was one that amazed me. "History" one student said so, I wrote that on the board. Then other students started to chime in with terms and concepts that we have studied in the past three weeks and even from last semester! When all was said and done, we had a list of close to fifty terms on the board. Next, I asked a student to choose a term that was directly tied to "electron" and she picked "orbital" and we connected those terms on the board. We worked together for awhile on this and then I turned it over to them. I explained that if they could make the connections between the material that we were investigating then it might be easier on the test. I also told them that if they could not make the connection then that would help them figure out where to focus their studying.

I cannot belive how this worked, or at least seemed to. I wonder if the students see the value in this type of concept map? I know that they were not happy about doing this at first but the conversations that I overheard were amazing. My goal is to have them do this for each unit of the semester and then for the final we are going to try ot make one big concept map. I hope this goes as well as I think it will...

(To Be Continued...)

Outsource?

2006-01-24T17:22:00.000-07:00

So, after I have calmed down a little, I talked to my wife. (Go figure, I have time to do that when I am also doing this stuff.) We talked about how and if the world is becoming "flat." She works for a health care company in an after-hours clinic (nice since I work days and can then hang with my daughter). Sometimes she needs to consult an "expert" like an orthopedic doctor. The other night she said there was a call for a consult and the person on the other end had a strange accent and lots of noise during the phone call. It seems that the "after-hours" consult call went to an orthopedic doctor in New Zealand! Since it was the daytime there the doctor was "in." The x-ray was sent via e-mail and the doctor looked at the film and decided there was a break. She could not believe that the help came from that far away. The two of us are now talking about what this means for our children (yes, there will be another soon) and for the students that I teach. We do not think that this type of outsourcing is a "bad" idea and I am wondering what other people think?

Grading Discussions

2006-01-24T16:21:00.000-07:00

Anyone else confused? It seems like I just went through an entire day of meetings and talked some about grading. One meeting had us looking at the idea of getting rid of grading all together. Then we have talked about how to give feedback. Finally, we talked about using letter grades for a method of telling students/parents about reaching benchmarks. It seems as though we (I mean me) are looking for a way to make grades more meaningful than they are currently. I wonder how to do this.......

Are we just seeing different ideas right now and the answer is coming from some higher power? Is this one of the "cycles" in education that my college professors talked about? As I am looking for answers about grading? I am just becomming more and more frusterated about the discussions? What are we trying to decide? I am looking at what I am doing in the area of grading? (Knowing that I could do more to help students.) I am just a little afraid about what I have been reading/hearing and the direction that this is going. Is a decision coming about grades or is this just going to be one of those "neat"discussions in education?

Anyone else out there feeling these things? Thinking these thoughts?

Interesting Point

2006-01-24T16:16:00.000-07:00

Today in our group discussion, an interesting point was brought up. The fact that history repeats itself. As we know with the fall of the great empires, which found an untimely demise, the United States seems to be falling from the top of societies. I wonder if this is a perceived fall or an actual fall? Are we really falling behind? Is this a method for people to make money? What is the best way to change? Do we need to change? Where are we going? Is there a destination at the end of this path we are walking, in educational change, or is the destination the path itself? Are the things we are trying going to cause a change or are the students going to continue through education the way that they have in the past?

GOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLL!

2006-01-23T22:35:00.000-07:00

Hatak takes the assist from the corner and shoots and scores...... Oh, wait this is not what Karl meant.

I guess if I had to come up with a goal this semester it would be to engage the students in meaningful discussions which are a means of investigating the essential learnings in class. I would also make sure that the students understand what the essential learnings are for each of the classes that I teach.

Plan of Action:

1) The primary means for engaging the students in discussions will be the classroom stucture that enables the studnets to take an active role in the investigation of the material that we are studying. This will be through continnued use of inquiry based experiments, blogs for discussion and classroom activities.

2) The students will use blogs to discuss topics that we do not have time to cover in class. This will cover material that is important to the study of the sciences but should not be limited to the core material.

3) The students will encorporate a greater use of technology into their understanding of the essential learnigns. They shoudl use the internet and other resources to research, discuss, evaluate, and compose writings that are based on the topics that we are studying. These documents will include but are not limited to lab reports and discussion papers.

Grading Processes

2006-01-17T11:48:00.000-07:00

Today in Astronomy, we talked about grading (by we I mean the students and I). I started by listing possible categories for IC. Next, I asked the students to write down what they thought about each category. (what the meaning was, what it should include, what good and bad examples are etc.) We had a large group discussion about this. SInce it was first hour and the seniors are not quite with it, they really did not want to participate. I had a hard time with the silence. The students would even turn their eyes from each other. I am sure that they were uncomfortable with the discussion. Then I had the students write down what percentage of the course should each category be. This is where it got interesting. I had some students who were really into this and others who could care less.

I had the students pair up and try to convince each other of why the persentages should be the way that they decided. Then they were to agree on percentage assignments. Next, the students had to pair up with another group and do the same thing. The groups kept getting larger and larger until we were back as one group. We then decided as a class what the percentages should be.

Some students left happy and others were unhappy. The group of students that concerns me is the group that did not care. Do they really have no input? or has no teacher ever asked them? I wonder what this will look like if I do the same activity with a single assignment and not the course? I know Cara has tried this and I am excited about trying it also.

Quote

2006-01-17T11:46:00.000-07:00

I saw this and it got me thinking about what we are trying to do.

"Creative activity could be described as a type of learning process where teacher and pupil are located in the same individual."

-Authur Koestler

Posting

2006-01-15T20:08:00.000-07:00

I find it very interesting as I post to this blog and the "Fisch Bowl" that most people are making one post. Isn't this suppossed to be a conversation? Does everyone have but one opinion? (I am saying this to myself as musch as to others if not more...)

If we have a hard time doing this, how do we get the students to participate more?

LCD

2006-01-15T19:24:00.000-07:00

I recently found an article in a printed source about LCD displays and how they are made/work. It is written for the high school level. I would like to make the source available to the students so that they can look at it. I do not know how to go about this. Any ideas?

Second Semester

2006-01-15T19:18:00.000-07:00

Well, it seems like it has been some time since I last posted.....

This week, I took my classes to the computer labs and had them send me an e-mail. This seems to work better than when I assigned it as homework. After they sent the e-mail, I had an online assignment for them to complete. This was helpful since some of the mail came fast and others took a little while. (They had to set-up an account.)

I have not given them a blog assignment yet. I am waiting a little bit so we can have some discussions in class first. When I asked the students about blogs, only a handful of them said that they used them before so I wanted to wait.

There seem to be a lot of topics that I could choose from this semester to blog about. Maybe my brain is now thinking about them.

I tried Amanda's idea of introducing the semester as a key concept and then having the students attempt to tie everything to that concept. I am overly excited about trying this and I think it will help the students see the big picture.

Student Connections

2005-12-20T06:52:00.000-07:00

Wow! I mean Wow!

Yesterday, listening to Amanda talk about how she has her students make connections with the topics of study I was thinking about the change that is starting. I am thinking about the scince classes that I teach and how I too hope the students learn something about education in general before they leave. I hope they learn that they do not need to be passive but can be active in their education. To see what other teachers are doing to get the students to be excited is very helpful to me. I start to wonder what I am doing that makes a change in the system and a different feel in the classroom.

I cannot wait to see what the people at AHS are doing next.

On line Astronomy

2005-12-13T10:09:00.000-07:00

So, I tried something new. (This group is having an impact on me.)

In my astronomy class we did an activity, I think it was a scavenger hunt, that used a Word template as a guide. The activity was on the small bodies in the Solar System. The websites were on the worksheet and this guided the student's work. The students were on task the whole time and seemed to enjoy seeing what was out there. My current struggle is with the grading. I had the students turn the assignment into the class drop-box. I do not know if there is a way to give the student feedback. Any ideas?

Here is the assignment:
http://arapahoe.littletonpublicschools.net/media/EDocs/hatakbasteroid.dot

Low Scores? Are they important?

2005-12-08T10:41:00.001-07:00

The following article talks about states that fail on standardized science tests.
http://acs.yellowbrix.com/pages/acs/Story.nsp?story_id=86437804&ID=acs&scategory=Chemicals&

Are we failing these kids since we are not meeting their needs or are they failing since the instrument is not well written?

This article worries me when I start to think about it. The media drives a "craze" sometimes. This seems like one of those cases. When we do the CSAP science portion this year I am frightened to think what will happen in our classrooms if the scores are not good.

Maybe we need to look at what we do and see if it is meeting the needs of the students. But what about the test? If we are trying to meet the test then are we missing the point of getting studnets to construct their own learning (at least in some cases)? If the scores on a test drive what we do in the classroom then I think we need to rethink standardized tests and their use. How do we start that discussion with people that are interested in the test scores? Shouldn't we be worried about the idea of creating an interest in science that would lead students into future studies of science? (These are the things I have been occupied with and are taking away from my time reading.)

Learning Styles

2005-12-07T08:26:00.000-07:00

I wonder if the fact that we are trying to think of all students (actually all individuals) as one group we are missing some of them? What I mean is, if we are changing our thoughts on education are we going to still be "missing" some of the students?

If people cannot agree on how to raise a child, how can we agree on the best way to change the education system?

I think that we can change things. The only issue that I am trying to figure out is how to make the changes in my classroom reach all the different learning styles. Since people learn by doing, seeing and hearing (basically) I need to find ways to have the activities that I am doing reach these different people. I wonder if the changes to the classroom setting are not including some of these people?

My other question to myself and the others in the group is what to do about the learners who are apethetic? There are going to be people who just don't care about what is going on around them. Do we try to undo nine and sometimes more years of "education" where the person has only learned that they don't want to learn?

I guess these are the things we are trying to answer.

Help............

Math?

2005-12-06T13:54:00.000-07:00

Karl asked about the math involved in the gas laws in chemistry. There are some simple conversions with gas laws and there are some substitution into equations and then the rearrangement of the equations to solve for the missing variable. Like P1V1=P2V2 this equation shows the inverse relationship between pressure of a gas and its volume. When the students have three variables they are asked for the fourth.

I do not like the way that this attempts to explain the situation. I think that the kids are learning how to plug in numbers and get an answer. I do not think that it explains the situation. What I would like the students to understand, for example, is that when volume goes down then pressure will go up. If they setup the math first and in the above example first multiply the smaller volume and then divide by the bigger volume. (This will give an answer where the final pressure is smaller than the new one.) The understanding of the material is more inportant than the answer to the math. However, it seems that the students want to knwo the equation and not the concept behind it. How do we get the students involved?

A lot of times the students can do the math with numbers but not with units. Lets say we need to get meters to concel out when we start with meters per second. The students do not seem to understand if meters is on top of the units we are starting with then they need to divide by meters to get it to cancel out. How do we help them see the math of words?

To answer Karl's other question all students need to be concurrently enrolled in advanced algebra.

Gas Laws

2005-12-05T20:03:00.000-07:00

In the science office we were talking about the student's inability to work simple math problems. In my class we are discussing the gas laws and how the variables relate. The students were having a hard time with the math of these laws. One student even mentioned that they were working with these types of expressions in math. Some other students could not see the math relationships in the chemistry. I am wondering how one group of students can be asked to reach their own understanding of chemistry if they do not understand the math principles in class. How do we "adjust" the background information to make sure that they actually have it?

Lab

2005-11-29T22:51:00.000-07:00

I think that instead of assigning the labs that the students will write-up they should pick them. Next term, I will have the students pick three labs (one each six weeks) to do a formal write up on. The only question is how do I make sure that they are picking at least one lab that is qualitative (with numbers)?

Lab Reports

2005-11-29T11:50:00.000-07:00

Most of the labs that we do in chemistry are ones where the answer sheets are fill in the blank with the data tables already arranged. I am trying to figure out if I can develop the labs into ones where the students need to use a comp-book during the lab. I am really struggling with the logistics of this. How often to grade them? Right now labs are graded weekly.

The other issue that I have is the "team" approach to teaching this class. There are some people who think that we need to do stuff the same way as each other. The problem comes from the idea that other people do not want to conduct their classes in the same fashion that I do. In chemistry, we do not have the same students in lab as we do in lecture so that complicates things.

I am trying to figure out ways that the students can improve their writing in science and the comp-book seems like the easiest way to do this. I would really like to see "original" student work and not just the fill in the blank kind. I just do not know how all of this works here. (Needless to say that I am experiencing frustration.) I would just like to try but with it causing issues in other people's classes, I think I need to be sesitive to that.

Inquiry........and patience

2005-11-29T11:19:00.000-07:00

We are currently doing a couple of experiments in chemisrty that are inquiry based. The students are asked to reach a conclusion about the relationship between different variables that affect a gas. The problem that I see is that the students are waiting to be told what to do and what to think. How do we get away from that? Will students ever be comfortable enough to make a mistake? Are the grades that the students earn the stmbling block to this whole process?

The students want to know if they are conducting the experiment "right". I thought that true science was not based on the repeating of ohter experiments but by designing your own to test a process or theory. Should the students be developing their own experiments? I know this does not always go good but science, and education, are not always about success stories.

Even Winston Churchill said "Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm." I am wondering where all of the student's enthusiam lies?

Reading in science.

2005-11-28T08:22:00.000-07:00

Before the break, I had my chemistry classes complete some assigned reading. The next school day, I had them work in groups and decide if there was anything that they still wondered about and wanted clarification on. They then wrote their questions on the board and that drove the classroom discussion. (I saw how this worked in Anne's english class and you know what? It also worked in a science classroom.) The students were all involved in the discussion and the fact that we were only talking about what they wanted to knwo about keep them really engaged. I need to rememeber how this worked.

Regress?

2005-11-28T08:18:00.000-07:00

Why is it that I seem to fall back on my old ways of teaching? Is it because I don't want to put the time into redoing my lessons?

Having the students in the "driver's seat" works so well for a lot of what I do but there I times when I need to present the information. I know that this is okay but when I do it once then I want to do it again and again. I think I am having a hard time letting go of being the one in front.

Other Schools

2005-11-25T19:23:00.000-07:00

I was talking over dinner to a family member who teaches in another school district in Colorado. After sharing the things that we are doing at AHS he shared some of the things they are doing. The most interesting part of the whole discussion was when he shared the fact that at the beginning of each semester, he gives the students a list of possible subjects to study. The students then are allowed to pick and that determines the course of study. All parts of the curriculm are designed around this topic for example, the topic right now is "birds". Oh, by the way, the students are in an elementary school. It seems that if the teacher has the drive and students still have the want to know, then the constructivist approach works the "best". The teacher shared the fact that he was worried about not getting through all of the curriculm but it seems to "take care of itself." I know that I have had the same worry but this conversation made me feel better.

I hope that I can just make myself sure that the reason I am trying all the new stuff is because I value the student's learning and I hope that school becomes a life altering activity not just a time that they dread.

Student Perceptions

2005-11-17T21:03:00.000-07:00

I wonder if students know the difference between a teacher who is "hard" and one that is "unfair"? I had a student tell their parent that I was a "hard" teacher. I think that the parent thought the term "hard" was "unfair". I also was told that lately my classes have been a lot "harder" than before. I think that the student is thinking that school should be the way that it always was. The student is trying to compare my class with other teacher's. I have started to move away from me doing all of the teaching and I am asking my students to do some of the teaching/learning themselves. I know this will be difficult for the students but will they eventually see the worth in this style? I am trying to change the way that students view a class. What is going to be hard is changing the way that students and parents talk about classes.

I guess that I should be glad the student thinks of me as "hard" and not "unfair".(At least, that is what I think....I might need to ask my students.)

What to do about a course?

2005-11-17T20:48:00.000-07:00

There is a class that I teach that I am now wondering about. The class is titled "Pre-AP chemistry" and I am wondering if this is a good offering. My understanding is that the class is intended to be student centered. (At least that is my understanding from www.apcentral.com) The class is anything but that right now. The planning of the class is not just me and I do not know what to do with the structure of the class. I am not at peace with the splitting of students into different ability levels. I currently think that the students should remain together until they can take an actual AP class. I know that my thinking changes from week to week but this is one of the weeks where I am questioning what I do.

I wonder not just to what extent grades and points drive a student's work ethic but what about course titles? When we label something honors, AP or skills does that predetermine a level of student that will be in the class? Are we putting those students in our box?

How do we start to change the preception about classes? What do we tell parents? How do we convey the idea that a class is just as difficult as it always has been even if all of the students are together?

Does CCHE change my thoughts? Maybe.......I am confused by all of this but I know I want to learn more...

Opinion Paper

2005-11-17T10:04:00.000-07:00

I recently had my astronomy students do some research into the Moon landings. I was hoping that some of them would argue that the landings never occured. When I asked them why they thought the Moon landings did occur they responded with "we ahve been told that they happened". I wonder if we are trying to get students to formulate their own understanding of the world, how to we begin to get them to question what they "have always known to be true"?

I would like the students to form their own understanding and not answer with statements about being told about it. I think that students who form their own explantions can defend and actually learn the information better than students who are told the information.

Grading.

2005-11-17T09:54:00.000-07:00

After listening to the presentation on grading, I think that I am ready to make a small switch. My questions come from the communication with parents and the other members of a curricular "team." I am wondering how to send information home that tells the parents how to use the new information that is included in the report. Do you change the class information page? What would I do with assignments that need their own category? If the class is a "team" approach what do I tell the other team members who might be a little resistant to change?

If the constructivist approach is a philosophical idea how do you change people's minds when they agree with the behaviorist view?

Moon Trip?

2005-11-16T11:15:00.000-07:00

This week I was out of the building and had a sub in. The astronomy students started a webquest about the NASA missions to the Moon in the 1960's. The goal of the assignment was the have the kids form an opinion about the Moon landings and if they actually happened or not. They are to form an arguement on the topic and then produce a document to that effect. Next week I think we are going to have a classroom discussion/debate. The interesting thing was the sub left me a note saying that the kids were all really involved in the research part of the assignment. I can only hope that they will be as interested in the document and discussion part. Any ideas on how to structure this discussion/debate?

Time Management?

2005-11-08T10:03:00.000-07:00

I would really like to develop a webquest for astronomy but I am having difficultly setting aside time to do this. There are a lot of things going on right now and I cannot seem to find a comfortable middle ground on all of the stuff. (I just told Cara that I am venting about time management buy using up more time venting, irony here?) The class meetings for the technology stuff seem to be coming very fast and I do not feel like I have given justice to any of the topics that have been shared.

I guess I am just a little frusterated with the amount of stuff that I want to do and the amount of stuff I have to do and how all of that fits into a busy schedule.

Any answers?

Blogs in Class

2005-11-08T10:00:00.000-07:00

I have had my students work on blogs in the astronomy class and it seems to be going okay. I would like any feedback or ideas on how these blogs to be used to foster further learning. I think right now I am using them as an end in themselves and I am not sure where to go from here.

Today in astronomy

2005-11-01T09:23:00.000-07:00

Today (11/1) I had my students setup blog accounts and then comment on their thoughts about the fieldtrip last week. While some students took the time to post thoughtful statements most just worked as quickly as they could. (A product of the educational system in which they find themselves perhaps?) Some of the students were wondering why they could not just "write a response." I was trying to find a good way to answer that question when Anne told them they would be wasting trees. What are some other ways to answer this question that the students have? I wonder if they will become more comfortabe with the blogs? Will I?

Hope.

2005-10-19T06:43:00.000-06:00

I was working with the astronomy students on a project in the computer lab where we were looking at pictures of the Moon. The students were asked to evaluate each image and decide the identity of each geologic structure. I was trying to figure out if there was a way that the students could post their results on-line for others to see/comment on. One student said, "I wish we could ask an expert how to do this." I was hoping to find a way to connect students with professionals in the field so that they could have "conversations" with each other. Is there a way to do this?

Reform

2005-10-15T21:39:00.000-06:00

"The principle goal of education is to create men who are capable of doing new things, not simply of repeating what other generations have done - men who are creative, inventive and discoverers"
Jean Piaget quotes

This quote really shows what the constructivist approach believes. I think that education, as a whole, would change if people started thinking this way.

How do we get students to see it this way?

Overheads?

2005-10-15T21:04:00.000-06:00

My current concern is that the LCD projectors in the classrooms will become fancy replacements for the overheads that we currently have. I would like to take the technology to the next level past PowerPoint but I am currently having problems seeing how to do this with the number of students that I have.

Concern

2005-10-11T22:14:00.000-06:00

So, I am sitting here wondering how I can use blogs effectively in a chemistry classroom. I was wondering if there was a way to get students to use the blog to voice questions that they have and ways to get other students to offer help. Are there any sites where students are helping students make sense of difficult material? I know that I can have students respond to readings in the science area. I also know that students can work on their writing in the science area but are there other things that the students can do with blogs. I do not want them to "always do the same stuff" only electronically now.

Astronomy seems like a more natural course for the blogs but after trying to set them up, I have given up for the time being. I experienced a "set back" with the blog accounts that my students would be using. The Macs had some unexplained problems and the other computer labs are used by the same teachers when I need them. I do not know if there is an easy fix to this problem.

I think that there is so much going on that I am struggling with doing something else new.