Course 2.0 Part A

Wicked Problem Part C

The past two weeks have been a little hectic.  Last Monday we had our second snow day of the year because the back roads were a sheet of ice.  However, I did not get to experience the joy of the snow day like most of my peers, I was at the Kellogg Center for an ACT conference.  Since, we were working while the rest of the district was off we were given a compensation day which, I had to take that Thursday and then Friday was professional development.  So I had students for two days and then this past week we had students for three days.  Monday was mid-winter break and then Friday we had another snow day!  So needless to say the past two weeks have been a little hectic.  However, I was able to have my students work on an simulation this past week, where they had to make predictions and then run several simulations and describe the results.

I had my students work in our science lab room, where they were in small groups.  I gave my students the following worksheet and they had to work two 48 minute class periods where they had to have the packet completed at the end of day two. (Note: one the first page the images are overlapping, but aren’t that way in my MS Word version. Darn capability issues)  They had to go to Phet website and launched the simulation.  The objective of this lab is for you, the student, to make a connection between mass, velocity, elasticity, and momentum.  Also, students are to work on practice problems at the end of the lesson.  The background knowledge students have coming into the lab is that they know Newton’s Three Laws of Motion and the basic definition of momentum.  At this point in the class we have not covered different types of collisions, only that the forces are equal and opposite.  
I decided to search the Phet site and look for a document that has already been created and modify it to match to what I expect from my students.  I started the lesson off by having a brief discussion of what momentum is and where it comes into “play” in the real-world.  After that short discussion I passed out the lab.  Then, with the help of my projector, I showed the students how to get to today’s lab.  Once I had showed them how to get the lab and set up their initial experiment, I took any last minute questions and left them to work on their own.  Now, I quickly realized a flaw in my plan.  The charts that I had included made perfect sense to me, however, that was not the case for them.  I immediately had several questions as how to fill out the charts and what some of the meanings were.  I did have the different headings labeled beneath the chart but it was slightly different than what we had talked about before.  Very quickly, my co-teacher and myself scrambled about the room to talk to the six groups to clear up any confusion and prevent further questions on this issue. Their questions certainly are not a bad thing, but we wanted them to be able to use their time efficiently for the rest of class.  From there, we made the decision to help reduce redundancy with the recording of data and had students cross off some of the cells that they had to fill in.  That alone eliminated most questions.  In the current version of the lab I have already crossed off those cells.  Students were given freedom to change values as they progressed through the lab.  This allowed for them to try several different situations and decide which one they wanted to record.  In the future I think I would have made a note for them to play around with it and then make a decision on what data to record.  It also allowed them to make some generalizations about what happens to the momentum of objects when they collide.  By the end of the first day, most students have completed the first section of the lab and were starting to look into inelastic collisions.  I added a comparison of kinetic energy so students who finished early could make some conclusions about conservation of energy while the rest of the class was catching up to them.
To start off day two, we discussed the findings of the class and their thoughts on the change of momentum of two completely elastic objects.  This also provided time for absent students to catch up with the lab.  As it turns out students enjoyed the format of inelastic much better because they were not given a chart to fill out this time rather, they had blanks to fill in.  This time students were familiar with the format of the lab and had a much easier time recording data.   At the end of this section students were once again asked to calculate kinetic energies and make note of changes of energies.  Also, there are some concept questions asked in regard to inelastic collisions.  Students then had three practice problems where they had to solve for velocity or mass of an object after a collision.  They also had to use the idea of elastic collision or inelastic collisions.
Finally, we started day three off with a discussion of what happens to the objects when it is an inelastic collision and how that differs from elastic.  Then, students started to make the connection of elastic and inelastic collisions to their practice problems.  I was excited to see that connection made between the lab and application, whether it be a small one or a complete understanding.  I could have told students the difference between inelastic and elastic and then how to set up those problems, but that was not the case and they were able to make those connections on their own.
After all was said and done with the lab I asked students for suggestions as to how I could make this lab better and whether or not anything lead to confusion.  Most mentioned the format of the table and what exactly had to be recorded.  Besides that, there were very few concerns from the students.  They said it was laid out well and they had a good idea of what was expected of them.  As for me, I was exceptionally pleased with the result of the lab.  I have thought about adding more directions to it but there’s the pessimistic part of me that thinks “that’s less they are going to read”.   So, for now, I am holding off on the idea of adding more directions besides the introduction session held in the classroom.  

Mobile Learning

I was looking at teen data for what activities they participate in when they are online.  I was shocked by the fact that only 13% use twitter online but then I looked at the date of the survey which was July 2011.  I wonder how much that data has changed since then.  Then, another survey from Pew Internet showed that 77% of teens (12-18) own a cell phone, but what I wish I knew was how many of those phones have internet access.  I currently have my students use their phones in class for responding to the calculator function and checking their grades.  I also have them listen to music while they work.  I have noticed that when they are listening to music they seem to stay on task longer.  I haven't thought about having them research articles or ideas by using their phones in class.  To me that idea is something that is done in the library or computer lab but the truth is we have a wealth of knowledge within reach of our fingertips.  This has me thinking about ways I can have students research a topic in small groups and then come back together to discuss their findings. This could also be done as a jigsaw.

Data Visualization Blog

After playing around with ArcGIS Explorer, Many Eyes, and Google Fusion, I have found that there is a large difference between them.  I am familiar with ArcGIS from working at the City of Ann Arbor and helping maintain their sidewalks but did not realize the true depth of the program.  It's an extensive mapping program that stores data and can publish the results in many different fashions.  I was hoping there was going to be an aspect of ArcGIS that would allow the publication of "simple" data, for example, data from excel.  Nevertheless, it appears that most if not all of the data is dependent upon geo-mapping.  Granted this could be used in a earth science or engineering classroom where students would have to analyze data based on a map.  The second data visualization site that I visited was Many Eyes.  Many Eyes brought the attention to representing data in a way that I had not thought about before.  The flow chart of UN Climate Strategy was interesting to me.  I think that I could use this site in my Senior Math course where students work on statistics for half of the year.  The only issue I had with it is that JAVA kept locking up my browser and I had to "kill" my pages several times.  I hope that, the issue is worked out in the near future.  Last, I used Google Fusion because I have used Google Docs for a lot of other school related work and haven't heard of it before.  Initially I wanted to look at my student growth, by comparing pre- and post-test data.  However, I ran into an issue because of the way I have my table setup in Excel made it a challenge to work with in Fusion.  Therefore, I went and got some data, gas consumption of my 2001 Taurus, that was more user friendly for Fusion.  This is how I know I am a math nerd when I was keeping track of my mileage and gallons used.  Just now it came to me as I'm making my students prepare for the science portion of the ACT, that having them create their own charts and then commenting/analyzing classmates charts will help them on the test.

Flipped PD

          As a group we decided we wanted to do a flipped presentation of two different apps.  One that focuses on creating flipped lessons using Educreations and the other, Quizlet, is a method for students to study those lessons using online flashcards.  We wanted to create a flipped PD where educators could come up with lessons for their students and also provide a way for them to study it.




          Educreations is a great application that educators could have their students use and make their own lessons for their classmates, and in the process become "masters" of their lesson.  We felt that this application would be a nice benefit to a classroom for the hands on approach.  Then, it could also serve as a way for the teacher to progress lessons when they have an upcoming absence.  Also, if students create a quality lesson, the teacher could hang onto the lesson for future use.
          My focus of this project was working with Quizlet. I included mini-quizzes where I could get feedback from a user as to whether or not they were able to use and create different parts of the app.  The nice thing about Quizlet is that they allow students to study in multiple locations.  The app works on Apple products and also with different browsers.  I like the app because teachers can make the card sets for the students, or, students can make their own sets.  Also, there are multiple different ways for students to study; listening, reading, or matching.  In combination these two apps could be extremely helpful in today's classroom.  If there are any questions, comments, or concerns feel free to leave me a message on here.

Group #2- Storyboard and Script

Our group decided to do our Flipped PD assignment on two apps that can be used in the classroom using an iPad or PC.  Specifically we want to use the apps in a math classroom.  We are focusing our presentation to be directed towards math departments and math teachers.  We have four members in our group, including myself so we broke down our project into four sections:

1. Pedagogy (Why teachers should use the app) of Educreations - Natalie
2. How to use Educreations - Liz
3. Pedagogy of Flashcardlet/Quizlet - Sophia
4. How to use Flashcardlet/Quizlet – Corbin

A link to my portion of the script is provided here.  I used my Google Drive that way I could easily share it with the group when we have our "hangouts".  My portion of the script is more focused on the application itself and how we could use it in the classroom.  I decided to have an outline for my script and simulates the flow of our Flipped PD.  The highlighted portions, serve as a reminder of including wait time for "students" to complete a given task themselves.  Then as a group we have created a Google Doc that allows for us to communicate our progress along with our work.

Web-Conferencing

Our group decided to use Google hangout for our web-conferencing for several reasons. First, we all have Gmail accounts which made it easier for everyone to join the hangout. Second, the hangout allows for us to record the session without the need of any other programs. Then, the extensions allow for us to work on a Google document while discussing the changes in real time. Also, the effects extension is something fun to use and helps to keep the conversation light. 

The beginning of our Google Doc

However, an issue that I ran into was that I had to update the plug-in to run the hangout air which caused me to have to restart my computer. There isn't much that I would change for next time except to make sure that all of the plugins are up to date prior to the hangout. The only other issue that we ran into was some echoing by Sophia and myself so we had to mute ourselves while others were talking.  For me, I just had to remember to un-mute myself or use the chat feature.

Elizabeth discussing different apps

I think that Google hangout could be a good integration into the math and science classroom. We could chat with engineers and scientists and they could share information with the students not only with the webcam but also with the screenshare extension. I think that it would make it easier for the presenter to share their information rather than coming to the school. I know that my schedule of classes is not the most conducive to their work schedule but the flexibility of using a web chat can help meet both of our needs.