Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Welcome to Chemistry
Hello All,
I will be using Blogspot and this blog in particular to guide students to some videos in science and to post some interesting explorations in chemistry for the brave hearted. So, check in here for news and interesting stuff.
This is going to be a great adventure!
MS. C
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Kicking the Tires
A whole new batch of kids just rolled into my cyberclass and they are an interesting and diverse lot for Iowa kids. We will spend a bit of time getting comfortable with Moodle and virtually kicking the tires to see what this vehicle is capable of doing. That involves some playing around.
I think every class should start with that and I need to ramp up my virtual class so that the playing around at the front end is more like what I like to do in face to face classes. One teacher puts a science toy in the middle of the table and has the kids go back to the table in small groups and just examine and play. There is a notebook there for them to record their observations. That is a pretty good way to start. It is scientific and it is generally fun (depanding on the toy).
We do have a tendency to move too fast in our effort to get kids from point A to point B in a semester. Stopping once in a while to just observe is a good thing. It is really a good thing at the beginning of the year as so much depends on how well we observe the important "stuff" from the get go.
So, here is my worklist:
1. Play and find more ways to move that online
2. Tie the play into the content of my course
3. Enjoy the start of the year...they are percious and someday it will be the last start up day for me.
I think every class should start with that and I need to ramp up my virtual class so that the playing around at the front end is more like what I like to do in face to face classes. One teacher puts a science toy in the middle of the table and has the kids go back to the table in small groups and just examine and play. There is a notebook there for them to record their observations. That is a pretty good way to start. It is scientific and it is generally fun (depanding on the toy).
We do have a tendency to move too fast in our effort to get kids from point A to point B in a semester. Stopping once in a while to just observe is a good thing. It is really a good thing at the beginning of the year as so much depends on how well we observe the important "stuff" from the get go.
So, here is my worklist:
1. Play and find more ways to move that online
2. Tie the play into the content of my course
3. Enjoy the start of the year...they are percious and someday it will be the last start up day for me.
Saturday, August 08, 2009
Start of the Year
Ok folks, it is time to start your engines for another year and a new batch of fresh young minds. This is the time of year when we cannot pass by a back to school sale without buying a few things for those kids who do not have the finances to shop. I love handing a new student a brand new calculator or notebook and saying, "it was left over from last year, why don't you use it this year."
On the idea of equiping students for the new year, how about equiping teachers. There are lots of sites that do a nice job of providing forms that we need to keep everything organized in science.
One of my favorites gives a host of graphic organizers:
http://www.region15.org/curriculum/graphicorg.html
You can download the organizers in several different formats. I keep a notebook of them handy so I can select the right one for which ever big understanding I am working on in science.
If you are moving into a curriculum review cycle check out Page Keeley's Curriculum Topic Study book and her "Formative Assessment Probes" at:
science.nsta.org/enewsletter/formative.pdf
The "Science Spot" site gives a list of teacher tested ideas for the first day of school. It is a great idea to check with other teachers so students are not experiencing 7 full periods of scavenger hunts the first week. The ideas can be found at:
http://sciencespot.net/Pages/ideafactory.html#Anchor
I promised last year to blog about the big ideas in science and that is what may come next. As you get into the rush of the year it is easy to forget that we are teaching big understandings and not bits of content.
Have a great start!
Shannon
On the idea of equiping students for the new year, how about equiping teachers. There are lots of sites that do a nice job of providing forms that we need to keep everything organized in science.
One of my favorites gives a host of graphic organizers:
http://www.region15.org/curriculum/graphicorg.html
You can download the organizers in several different formats. I keep a notebook of them handy so I can select the right one for which ever big understanding I am working on in science.
If you are moving into a curriculum review cycle check out Page Keeley's Curriculum Topic Study book and her "Formative Assessment Probes" at:
science.nsta.org/enewsletter/formative.pdf
The "Science Spot" site gives a list of teacher tested ideas for the first day of school. It is a great idea to check with other teachers so students are not experiencing 7 full periods of scavenger hunts the first week. The ideas can be found at:
http://sciencespot.net/Pages/ideafactory.html#Anchor
I promised last year to blog about the big ideas in science and that is what may come next. As you get into the rush of the year it is easy to forget that we are teaching big understandings and not bits of content.
Have a great start!
Shannon
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Sunday, December 09, 2007
Make your own Periodic table
Folks,
These are exampes of past periodic tables. This is not an easy task as the treand must track from left to right and another trend from top to bottom. So, each item in a horizontal row must have something in common. Likewise, each item in a vertical column must have something in common.
For a C you can just have common features inthose two ways. However, for a B or higher you need to have a trend that increases as you move from left to right in a horizonal row and a different trend that increases as you move from top to bottom in a column.
So, follow the rules:
1. Must have at least 25 items
2. Must be a horizontal trend
3. Must have a vertical trend
These are exampes of past periodic tables. This is not an easy task as the treand must track from left to right and another trend from top to bottom. So, each item in a horizontal row must have something in common. Likewise, each item in a vertical column must have something in common.
For a C you can just have common features inthose two ways. However, for a B or higher you need to have a trend that increases as you move from left to right in a horizonal row and a different trend that increases as you move from top to bottom in a column.
So, follow the rules:
1. Must have at least 25 items
2. Must be a horizontal trend
3. Must have a vertical trend
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