Video - A Powerful Tool

Where to begin with how video could be used in the Science Classroom. One such instance comes to mind last year while conducting an experiment on photosynthesis. The class ran out of time and our color indicator had not yet turned. Had we had a video on the lab set up with a clock in the picture, we could have just let it go and clocked it by re-viewing the video. We ended up missing when the color turned.

Other ideas to use video could be for student presentations. I could make the presentations coupled with proper public speaking. We could use the video to capture important data in field trips and labs.

We could do dissections, have one dissection on video for anyone who missed something or was absent or just could not find a body part on their own.

We could video things and then speed the video to see faster progressions (ex: mold on bread or some other food).

I could video lessons or additional lessons for kids to watch later - again or if they missed class.

Not sure if I could use video for behavior - video the class and if members of the class are misbehaving, use it to show their parents. Could email snipets of the misbehavior home to parents in an email (??) - would have to check this one out with administration but I like it!

Successful with the Net Generation

Through the reading of chapter 8 in Educause, I do not feel it will be that difficult to be successful with the Net Generation. The creators of online sites such as bugscope, webworks and other sites found and bookmarked, to utilize in science class, have done all the work. Yes, it is up to me to get on those sites, use them, manipulate them and incorporate them into the class curriculum but once doing so, the student experience will be well worth it. Many schools are not as up to snuff with their current science labs. To be able to plug into some of these sites, students are exposed to visuals that many other more funded schools are privileged to.

The visuals that are available via the internet allow students to see things that many students in the not so distant past could never hope to see. The exposures are incredible and they need to appreciate this technology.

I really like the segment in the reading discussing the Goals of Education and particularly this:

We must prepare all young people for lives of creativity, citizenship, and social responsibility as well as success in a workplace increasingly shaped by science and technology.

and

There are many approaches to articulating the purposes of a college education. All involve bringing together intellectual engagement and cognitive development with emotional maturity and social responsibility

I do not think I ever gave thought to this and it is articulated well here.

It is our responsibility as educators to make sure our students are kept up to date with current technologies. It is my responsibility to be successful in teaching the net generation by adapting to interactive sites and other computer based forums. It is what they are accustomed to and what they will be utilizing in their professional careers and that being said, I will be successful.

To quote from the text:

"As one faculty member put it, "Technology is a giant mirror reflecting back to you your own deepest issues. It challenges you to clarify what you value, to rediscover why you went into teaching in the first place, and to be honest about whether your original hopes have been realized. ". In the context of technology - I would be doing the students a great diservice by not being able to teach with all the current technology that is out there and sharing how to find such learning skills for their own betterment in my content area or any they are interested in.

Excel Ideas

As a teacher sent to a workshop on excel and being asked to share ideas at a faculty meeting, I came back with the following ideas and suggestions for the use of excel:

1. Placing the grades on an excel spreadsheet enables teachers to structure and organize the data to interpret it in numerous ways. Averages can be taken effortlessly. We did do this in class but you can take it a step further and produce statistics (ie: Boys vs. girls for example if needed) can be sorted out. This method helps teachers to evaluate how well the students do on assessments and tweak lessons or return to lessons accordingly. This data can be shared at faculty, team or departmental meetings. Other teachers with the same subject can show their data and problems can be worked out if one teachers data is askew. (Could be valuable for a department head looking into their teachers performances).

2. Keeping a record in excel of attendance also enables teachers to manipulate data. If a teacher wishes to see if a student who claims he/she wasn't present on a certain day, it would be very easy to sort the data to see if correct.

3. If an assignment is given with multiple due dates of materials throughout the semester, data can be stored and manipulated. You would set up columns of due dates and the assignments and the students names. This way, you could easily see who has not handed in one of the assignments and flag that or let the student know. You could show this spreadsheet as a link on your website to let students access it and see if they have any material missing. You could also post their grades here for the assignment and could import it into the grades spreadsheet when finished.

4. You could actually have a lesson plan that teaches students how to use excel for the management of their own needs. They will surely benefit from it in college and the work world. To keep them up to snuff on these programs that make life easier is very valuable. You would teach them while using content specific data from a lab, for example.

5. You can have the students in science or various other subjects utilize the charts, tables etc for submitting homework, labwork or other assignments. The various charts can manipulate data in many ways. Letting them know that excel does this is a great lesson to be taught.

Social Book Marking in the Classroom

Some of the ways that social bookmarking can help teachers and students is evident from our very class. Ms. Mislevy is able to pre-post all the articles that she wishes for us to read, or videos to watch, or other venues in one place, in one category and organized. This frees her up (as a teacher) or any teacher from having to print out an article etc, photocopy several copies and distributing. So many times while I was teaching, I spent a great deal of my valuable time at the photocopier. I would freak when I would find several of the papers I handed out, scattered on the floor on in lab stations and not taken with the student. The paper that is used is also a terrible shame. My job as a teacher will be easier by keeping things electronic so that I can save time, energy, and paper.

Students can benefit by always having the sites available to them. They can read or view right on line and not have to worry about lost or unorganized materials in binders. They can also span off from the sites to find other similar sites that can benefit them in doing their research papers, projects or just studying. They can also bookmark the sites themselves and share them.

I will absolutely use social bookmarking. Its a no-brainer.

I chose delicious because it was the first one I went to. I am sure they are all pretty good, but I settled their first. I chose it before I realized that Diigo was one or I may have chosen that site. I will probably experiment with both to see which one fits my needs best.

My delicious address is: http://delicious.com/juliehmn

collaborative Google Apps - Question 1, 9/22/09

I can think of a time when I had a lab going on in a Biology class that I was teaching and the data was a nightmare (although I always turn it around to "That's science" and how we discover new ways to do things or not to do things-its all a lesson!). Anyway, Period six (not surprising in that by the time period six did anything - we had worked out most of the kinks!!) had great data. I left the data on the chalk board for a bit in hopes that it would not be erased or vandalized. To have been able to put the data in google docs, the two classes would have been able to correspond, share, compare and add to eachothers findings - good or bad data. Period six could learn "what doesn't work"! I asked the earlier period to use period six's data. They could have corresponded with period six to ask questions as well.
An area where I could use the sites learned this week would be Science Club. We could have a Science Club Cite on google apps that would be collaborative. That would be really cool. I could also utilize it for forms (Parent signed lab safety sheets for example, handouts etc) for students to utilize. If they lose a handout, they could retrieve a new one here. The students could submint lab reports here where their lab partners could collaborate and make changes.

Google Apps Lesson Plan #2

Okay, I guess I am not "exploring" enough. I stated in my last blog that there weren't many science lessons in google apps. No sooner did I move around the site to other areas, did I find another. The site is massive (i think!?!) and a bit overwhelming for me at this time. I am not navigating through it in a good way because I do not know how I found this lesson and why it isn't where the other one was (it is listed as an idea though). Idea; Plant genetics research and data collection.
What they suggest is to have students collect data about plants with gene mutations and then share the data with other students, schools or elsewhere. They can add pictures too. This is done with google docs! There is a partnership for teachers to sign up for called: Partnership for Research and Education in Plants (PREP). Collaboration can even be done for lab reports. Very helpful and educational. I like that the kids see that they are contributing to a larger and more important cause than just be tested on it for themselves. They see the relevance. Good stuff.

Google Apps Lesson Plan - Phototsynthesis

The Google Apps Lesson plan that I am summarizing here was the only one that they had in my content area for my high school grade level. I did find one other science one for 4-6 grade but there were only two. I may be able to get a job at google adding more science app ideas!!! hahaa
Anyway, the lab for photosynthesis is great. I actually did this lab but did not know about the google docs collaborative to incorporate into the lab. This feature (google docs) could be used for any lab and for so much else. It is definitly a great tool for a science teacher. In summary, students conduct the experiment and then the data is put into a google document for sharing. They compare data, contrast and analyze the data. There are even graph templates for data to be, well, graphed. Spreadsheets of the data can be generated as well. A teacher's dream (and no, this is not an advertisement) ha ha