Camp Lesson Planning (The GraphJam Version)

Hey 486ers: Just the latest tasty morsel from GraphJam. It reminded me of the lesson planning you have been doing this week in class. Also, I highly recommend this website for funny graphs. Definitely preview before using with kids though, which is just good practice anyway with the interweb. Have a great weekend and good luck on Monday.  I’ll see you all later on that day for pluses and arrows.

Where in the blogosphere is Thomas P?

Hey all, I was having some issues with the URLs to my blog so I wanted to make sure that everyone has the most up to date (and most important, correct) links.  It is correctly listed on the blogroll of our class blog and I’m hoping they it stays that way for the time being.  Cheers!

Blogrolls

Hi everyone!

Here is a blog hint that I’m hoping many of you will implement.    Your blogroll is an area where you can keep a list of blogs you frequently read so that once you go to your blog, it’s easy to get to everybody else’s blog.    You can edit this list by going into the Admin area of your blog, clicking on “Manage” and then on “Links.”    That screen allows you to either add or delete blogs in your blogroll.   

One thing that would make it easier to navigate these blogs would be if everyone could, at least, add the Class blog http://08edu486grs.wordpress.com/  to your blogroll.     I posted the whole URL so that you can just copy and paste it.     If you don’t have this link in your blogroll, I feel like I have hit a dead end in the blogosphere when I read your blog.    Some of you have added all of our classmates and that gives me the flexibility to go anywhere – thank you!

Kathryn

joe’s inspiration – photos from yesterday

Following Joe’s lead, here are my pictures from yesterday’s amazing event…

Enjoy!!

Again, great job EVERYONE!

Let’s see, pluses and arrows (vectors) as promised:

+  You truly engaged with Freedom School scholars as PEOPLE first!  (evidence? eye contact, names, joking, connection, accessibility of language and physical presence, and it was CLEAR you loved to be with them!

+ Your stations were designed with EXPERIENCE FIRST (formal science language to follow)

+ Consistently heard language that prioritized process and rationale over outcome (final, one-right-answer)

+Teaching through questioning – heard it in ALL groups, consistently!  NICE!  (Tough to do well – keep practicing!)

-> Consider how you can “recognize” competent participation in the discourse of science (e.g. posters with contributors names next to ideas; verbally credit and re-use a new named construct such as “Michael’s theory about diffusion”)

-> Consider depth of probing – How many follow-up questions did you ask before changing topic.  As Alicia pointed out, everything can’t be depth work, but the depth work is what is often most difficult and therefore important for you to practice.

-> Consider ways to position students as resources for one another – e.g. develop cultural practices and norms in which it is expected that students respectfully respond to one another and push each other’s thinking forward.

->  Consider what your specific content-related objectives were for your station (e.g. Students will be able to identify 3 “controls” and define “fair test.”)  Did ALL students reach these objectives?  How do you know?  If not, how could you fix that?  For camp, because of incredible access to resources (small teacher to student ratios, more time, etc.), we have the chance to help EVERY student achieve rigorous (but few) objectives. What will those be?  How can you set up the best possible scenario to help EVERY student reach these objectives?

A few group-specific pieces of feedback:

+ The questioning strategies going on with the questions station with eggs were great.  Alicia: “What makes you think this is salt water?” (probing for evidence)  Kristin: “What’s a hard boiled egg sound like?” (scaffolding questions that invites physical investigation); and Michael: “That’s a good question, but let’s think of some more general questions.”  (working with the good in students’ contributions even when they weren’t exactly what you wanted.  Again, tough skill and important!)
(more to come… ran out of time right now…)

Personal professional blogging

Hi All -

As you all will now have your own personal, professional blogs, and you are trying to figure out what they can be fore you, I wanted to share some examples and insights to inspire you and your creative use.

Using Ms. Frizzle’s blog (more of her more recent blogging is here) as an example of exceptional blogging by an urban, reform-minded science teacher, here are some ideas of ways you could design and use your blog. If you want to check out other examples, click on Ms. Frizzle’s blog and explore her “Blogroll” on the side… that will take you to many other teacher blogs.

Make it your own! Use it to connect all the things that contribute to your professional identity development! Have fun!

*April

Possible things to do with your posts:

Building community

• Sharing resources
• Mentoring
• Dialogging
• Connecting
• Encouraging

Focus on self

• Displaying competence
• Self-directing
• Sharing emotion
• Critiquing self

Exploring ideas and resources

• Critiquing
• Wrestling with dilemmas
• “Experimenting”
• Making connections across time (keywords, trackbacks)

Promoting a perspective

• “Ranting”
• Advocating
• Building awareness
• Stating a position

Miscellaneous

• Documenting or listing
• Rambling
• Reflecting

Ways you could do that stuff:

• poems – yours or others’
• “rants”
• photo galleries or a series of images that tell a chronological story
• kids quotes
• embedded links to other’s blog posts – do you know how to do that? ask!
• movies
• poll your readership (using a survey tool or just your comments)
• invite and nurture your readership (write to them directly, make your writing interesting and useful, consistently update, choose a few blogs to read and link to often, add people to YOUR blogroll, invite people in person to read and comment)

Possible things to write about:

Classroom focus

• Assessment
• Content
• Management
• Pedagogy
• Planning
• Students

Other professional activities

• Mentoring
• “School” work (making copies, department meetings, lab set-up)

Professional resources

• Blogging
• Web resources
• Community-building

Self

• Personal interests and adventures
• Connections to your history
• Self-as-learner
• Self-as-teacher

Global professional issues

• Education in general
• Urban issues
• Teaching profession
• Values
• Vision

Miscellaneous

• Stress
• “day-in-the-life”

Cultural Power and Science Education

I found the article for today very pertinent to my philosophy.  Working in the reserach field I mainly see men and a few women.  Why is that?  I feel that our society and culture has brought this on.  We have such a set image of what a scienctist is suppose to look like.  I think that that is one of the main reasons for me going the teaching route.  I have work with all male scienctist.  I think that our educational system needs to take an active role in getting females involved in science.  Also the culture of minorities should not be scrutinized when one is a teacher.  Just because a student presents her or himself as being from the “wrong side of the tracks” does not mean that they cannot have an interest in science.  We as educators must operate with our eyes wide open as well as with an open mind.

 

I found the task of coming up with our concept interviews a bit tricky.  We had to keep in mind in our group the age group that we were working with.  We needed to stay on track and not go off the path for fear of loosing the interest of our students.  We had to keep it real and pertinent to the students line of thinking.

Google Earth for Educators

Google Earth can be thought of as highly dense visual reference guide of the earth’s surface.  It provides an incredible amount of information at your fingertips. 

Basic Features

• Forms a complete map of the earth that you can interact with.   
• Images are formed by the superimposition of images obtained from satellite imagery, aerial photography, GIS 3D globe and 3D building rendering software.
• Allows you to view remotely geographic features, manmade structures, landmarks, etc.
• Allows you to set up waypoints
• Basic version is free and fine for most purposes. Google Earth Plus is available for $20 per year and   provides faster processing and a few extras. Google Earth Pro ($400 per year) is designed     for commercial use.

 

Basic Functions

• Navigation – Located at on the right side of the screen and is used to control views.
• Search – Located in the left window.   Can be used to find specific locations and directions by typing in an address or name.
• Places – Located in the left window. Used to save, organize and revisit placemark.  The “add content” button can be used to add files from the KML Gallery.
• Layers – Located in the left window. Provides the ability to view different geographical and geological information on earth depending on which boxes you check.
• For more detailed information on basic features click here

Key Features

• zoom in to view highly detailed images of a location
• terrain feature allows to you view 3D elevations of natural geographic features
• new 3D buildings feature allows you to view buildings more realistically         
• with the measurement tool students can measure surface distances (and areas with the upgraded version)
• with the sun and shadows feature students can visualize the effect of sunlight throughout the day.  This works when the entire globe is viewed (as from space) or at a specific location on the earth’s surface.
• street view allows students to obtain a view from the street as if they were actually there
• up-to-date location specific information is available for certain areas.  For example, traffic information, news events, weather, and even earthquake info. 

Affordances

• The aerial point of view allows students to gain a unique perspective and visualize connections between rivers, lakes, cities, streets, etc.
• Google Earth allows to students to view geographic features in 3D that they may previously have been able to only read about. Canyons, volcanoes, river basins, and glaciers are just some examples.
• Students may measure latitudes, longitudes, distances and areas first hand. It even allows comparisons between areas by overlaying them, for example I could compare the size of Lake Ontario to the size of Cuba
• Students will have access to information about a location through Google Earth (e.g. through links to Wikipedia, NY Times, Google Community, etc.).
• Google Earth has a number of data layers, which show data about a specific region, that students may view and learn from. For example some data layers include oil consumption, power generation, and military deployment (visit the KML Gallery to learn more).
• Students can visually experience Earth’s seasonality and how the earth spins.
• The ability to see astrological views is possible using the sky feature.  At this point it seems to be limited but will probably expand…within a few years it maybe Google Universe!!
• Google Earth is highly interactive and may allow for students to add their own findings to the Google database.
• Google Earth is just really cool!! It is a great attention grabber and can keep students interested.

 

Limitations

• Pictures are not in real time (some students don’t realize this).  However, most of the visual information presented is based on imagery gathered within the past year.  
• Some remote locations have less detailed imagery than others and high security areas (like Dick Cheney’s House) will appear unfocused. 
• Satellite images look cool but may be difficult to interpret.
• The interface can be kind of tricky and requires some time to get used to.
• Searching for some things maybe like finding a needle in a haystack.
• Google Earth also requires fast computers to use, some older machines (like those found in a lot of schools) will not be able to effectively run Google Earth.

 

Get Real! Science camp Applications

• Allows students to see an aerial view of the beach with respect to the Genesee River, pier and other major landmarks
• Students can visualize sample locations once in the process of developing a model and place a marker on their exact location
• Enables students to gain perspective on the geographic features related to the beachfront including the Genesee River.  For example, students could follow the path of the river from the U of R to the lake to gain a sense of perspective and distance based on landmarks they know.
• Gives an opportunity to visually explain the unique embayment feature of the waterfront in the Rochester area. 

 

Reminders and Warnings!!!

• The vast amount of information on Google Earth can seem overwhelming.  Determine objectives up front to keep students on tract.
• Step by step directions are important to minimize confusion.
• You may want to give a “warm up” demo to allow students to get comfortable with the program.
• Google Earth may not display recent changes that have occurred due to the time lapse between photography updates.
• It is very easy to get distracted while using Google Earth. It can be a toy as easily as a tool.
• Don’t forget about low-resolution areas; some areas may not be available due to security reasons and/or low population density.
• Monitor students; make sure they stay on task.

 

Useful Links

Google Lat Log Blog

Google Maps

Google Earth and Geoscience Education

Designing and creating earth science lessons with Google Earth 

 

Palms as Classroom Tools, Continued

Here are some links we found for apps that can be installed on Palms that are useful in the classroom:

http://www.versiontracker.com/palmos/

http://www.edteck.com/palm/software.htm

Palm Zire 72 Official Website

The PalmOne Zire 72: A Dying Breed

Basic Uses:

Specific functions on the main menu:

· Notepad: This function uses a “graffiti” style system, allowing the user to draw or type using the stylus

· Memos: This function allows the user to write messages to him/herself quickly and easily either through a patterning system using the stylus, or through a QUERTY keyboard

· Calculator: Allows the user to have full access to a calculator when needing to process numbers or data

· Calendar: Although typically used for personal organization, this can be utilized as a timetable for gathering data and observations

· HotSync: This allows the Palm to sync itself up to a computer host, which allows it to transfer settings and data easily

· Photos/Video Recorder: Allows the user to easily take and store videos or pictures. This is particularly useful in the field where observations can be quickly recorded

· Preferences: Allows the user to customize the Palm to fit their needs

· Voice Recorder: Allows user to record audio and save it. This is useful when recording observations in the field as well as notes to the user

As an Organizational Tool:

This form of technology was initially and predominantly used for personal organization in businesses. Users could store contacts, write themselves notes, and generally use the Palms to act as personal assistants. Today, with the rise of Blackberries and iPhones, this is becoming obsolete. However, in field work, the Palm can still be used as a solid tool mainly for recording and observing a variety of data. Furthermore, downloadable software is available that can allow a multitude of specific programs on the Palm, ranging from spreadsheet organizers to drop-down periodic tables. Ultimately, this can be used for a variety of lessons in the classroom, provided that the right programs are in place. They can also keep students organized in the same way they were meant to be used in businesses.

For Use at the GetReal! Science Camp:

Here, the Palms will function more in data collection and observation. Notes can be jotted down quickly using the stylus, and pictures and video can be recorded of procedures as well as observational data. Calculation of data (for instance bacterial counts on the petri dishes) can be done easily and efficiently using the calculator. Overall, these will be used mainly for field work than as a sort of representation of data.

Limitations of the Palms:

As mentioned before, the Palms are quickly becoming an outdated form of technology. The rise of smartphones (like the Blackberry or iPhone) have surpassed the Palm due to the number of available functions as well as the ease of use. Furthermore, the cost to keep these around is somewhat expensive considering that the niche they are occupying in the technological world is diminishing. Lastly, they are somewhat fragile and if broken, are difficult and costly to fix. In the classroom, they can be a distraction for the students who would rather play on the Palm than listen to the necessary directions of the educator.

Warnings of Use/Reminders for the Palms:

The most prominent limitation of the Palms is the battery level. If the screen is left on, it consumes a substantial amount of battery and so the use of Palm can be limited. On a full battery, the Palm gets approximately 24 hours of use, but when constantly using power, this number can fall. Furthermore, when syncing, a specific name must be used in order to link with other Palms or computers. If this is not done, data can be erased from the Palm. The stylus itself is also very small, flimsy, and breakable. It is very easy to lose or to break. Although the Palm can function without it, it does not do so nearly as efficiently and using it can become time consuming. The Palm itself is also somewhat fragile, as it has a large screen that can easily become broken if dropped. Due to its size and relative cost, it is also frequently a target of theft.

Welcome to our class blog

The goal of this space is for all of us to bring together our varied experiences, twist, tie and integrate lessons learned and insights gained from these different experiences, and work together to help each of us develop professional visions and passions for science teaching and learning.

So bring and post your thoughts and ideas here as the semester moves along. Watch the site for things Michael or Joe might post as well as your peers. Link posts you’ve written or read from other places to this space.

What an amazing this experience this will be for all of us! Thanks for being such an important contributor!!

*April