Friday, March 12, 2010
Liveblogging Probeware Session at MACUL
http://www.coveritlive.com/index2.php/option=com_altcaster/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=be8105926b/height=550/width=470"
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Having Fun with Physics Homework
I keep surprising myself with how engaging this new career of teaching is becoming for me. I am actually enjoying even grading tests and homework because I want to know how my students are doing. I expect this joy may fade with the years, but it is consoling for now that I am on the right track in finding a fulfilling career in teaching.
On the subject of homework, I am still struggling to find the right balance for students as well as myself. Grading and entering those grades into the computer system is time consuming with only two classes. Five or six classes would be unsustainable even at two or three homeworks per week. But how will students learn physics if they are not practicing the problem solving? So here is a question to throw out into blog world: what is an appropriate homework frequency for high school students? And as a follow up question, what is reasonable for accepting late homework assignments? I so dearly want my students to succeed that I have been accepting assignments weeks past the original due date, but this is a grading logistics issue. I have forgotten the solutions and struggle with the time needed to get back into the grading system for each late submission. At this point I am cutting it off at the end of the unit. Any suggestions out there?
On the subject of homework, I am still struggling to find the right balance for students as well as myself. Grading and entering those grades into the computer system is time consuming with only two classes. Five or six classes would be unsustainable even at two or three homeworks per week. But how will students learn physics if they are not practicing the problem solving? So here is a question to throw out into blog world: what is an appropriate homework frequency for high school students? And as a follow up question, what is reasonable for accepting late homework assignments? I so dearly want my students to succeed that I have been accepting assignments weeks past the original due date, but this is a grading logistics issue. I have forgotten the solutions and struggle with the time needed to get back into the grading system for each late submission. At this point I am cutting it off at the end of the unit. Any suggestions out there?
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Ready to Teach?
It's finals week! I have observed Physics classes for a whole semester and learned much about students, schools, curricula, and assessment. Student teaching in an urban environment has made me aware of another sector of society that I had heard about, but never experienced. I will do my best to teach these children more than just Physics next semester. I hope to help them learn new habits like self mastery and self control and self direction. For those that make it to college, they will have to accomplish most of their learning. Just listening part time in class won't cut it anymore.
In the process of planning units for second semester, I will be working to address and overcome what I see as the greatest deficiency observed in first semester, namely lack of student involvement and interest. I feel that good instruction has been made available by my mentor teacher, but for various reasons, a majority of students have elected not to participate meaningfully. After a semester of viewing this, the results are to be expected: these students have failed to learn the material and are failing the class.
To overcome what appears to be a very natural lack of motivation, I plan to use three strategies simultaneously. First of all, as stated above, each lesson will contain multiple activities to build a sense of energy and progress each day. Secondly, I will directly relate the content of each of these activities to relevant concepts from students’ lives. For example, many of the students are involved in sports. All athletic sports can be understood scientifically and individual games improved through correct understanding and application of physics. Friction, forces, velocity, angular momentum, and inertia are just a few examples that relate directly to sports applications. As we discuss these examples, I will apply the third strategy: increased student involvement. Current lessons consist mainly of teacher lecture and demonstration of problem solutions. I plan to engage students by having them bring their own questions to the classroom and then working together to apply the science and mathematics to their own lives. For example, on New Year’s Eve, a stunt man in California set a new record jumping a Subaru 290 feet off a ramp, across the water and onto a ramp on a barge. The ramp angles and velocity can tie directly to our first chapter on projectile motion.
I hope some of this approach works with at least some of the students. Please comment if you have any other ideas to share. Thank you.
In the process of planning units for second semester, I will be working to address and overcome what I see as the greatest deficiency observed in first semester, namely lack of student involvement and interest. I feel that good instruction has been made available by my mentor teacher, but for various reasons, a majority of students have elected not to participate meaningfully. After a semester of viewing this, the results are to be expected: these students have failed to learn the material and are failing the class.
To overcome what appears to be a very natural lack of motivation, I plan to use three strategies simultaneously. First of all, as stated above, each lesson will contain multiple activities to build a sense of energy and progress each day. Secondly, I will directly relate the content of each of these activities to relevant concepts from students’ lives. For example, many of the students are involved in sports. All athletic sports can be understood scientifically and individual games improved through correct understanding and application of physics. Friction, forces, velocity, angular momentum, and inertia are just a few examples that relate directly to sports applications. As we discuss these examples, I will apply the third strategy: increased student involvement. Current lessons consist mainly of teacher lecture and demonstration of problem solutions. I plan to engage students by having them bring their own questions to the classroom and then working together to apply the science and mathematics to their own lives. For example, on New Year’s Eve, a stunt man in California set a new record jumping a Subaru 290 feet off a ramp, across the water and onto a ramp on a barge. The ramp angles and velocity can tie directly to our first chapter on projectile motion.
I hope some of this approach works with at least some of the students. Please comment if you have any other ideas to share. Thank you.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
E is for Effort - Happy New Year
Welcome to 2010, SMAC Class of 2010. It is great to be in the classroom everyday. Only seeing students on Tuesday and Thursday always felt interrupted and disconnected. My mentor teacher distributed grades this week to help focus students preparing for the semester final exams. I was shocked! For the Accelerated physics students, the most popular grade was E, next came D, then C. Very interestingly there were no B's and then a small group of A's and A+'s. The lack of B's is most interesting to me because I think I know why. Any student who applies even modest effort can easily get an A. The other 80-90% of each class are just floating and taking whatever they get without applying effort. How do we motivate these students? Inspirational speeches come to mind, but how much will that help in the long run? Somehow we teachers need to build in daily high expectations that challenge and motivate students. These strong expectations must be set up front. Please send me any suggestions on how to create a class environment that motivates students.
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