All hail the clip show

Dale 3 Comments

As a huge fan of The Simpsons, I’ve been slowly buying the DVD sets for each season. I have always thought about going through each DVD and pulling out clips that I could use in class. Perhaps I could create a log book to record the timestamp for each clip. I’ve even considered using some DVD ripping software to make a master DVD to hold all my physics-related Simpsons clips. Of course, both of these methods would take a lot of time.

However, I think I’ve found a better solution. More and more content is being put online for viewers to watch on demand. I think the service that does this best is Hulu.com. Read More

Resize margins- a simple way to save

Dale 4 Comments

margin2.jpgIn a recent episode of Stuff Happens, a new show on Planet Green, host Bill Nye explained how simply reducing the margins on the documents that we print can decrease the amount of paper we use by five percent.

If everyone in the U.S. shrunk their margins from ½ to ¼ inch we would save six million trees. This would prevent ½ million tons of greenhouse gases from being released into the atmosphere. That’s like taking 133,000 cars off road. (Check out the project these kids did; they got similar numbers.)

But it’s not just about trees; paper isn’t cheap. Many schools are looking for ways to cut costs. Here is a five percent savings that can be done with just a few clicks. Read More

Using viral videos to spark learning

Dale 1 Comment

Cell phone pops popcorn videoHave you seen the video where they popped popcorn with cellphones? Seems hard to believe? Well, you’re right. It was created by a marketing company and it’s known as a viral video. Viral videos spread across the web so quickly that they often wind up on regular television news programs. Even the MythBusters have taken on a few of these online gems.

I’ve had some success using viral videos in the classroom. This past year I used two videos; one with my ninth grade physical science students and another with my 12th grade physics students.

Mountain Dew Glow StickWith the ninth graders, I showed a video that demonstrated a glow stick being made out of Mountain Dew, baking soda and hydrogen peroxide. The students were thrilled to see the video and even more eager to give this claim a try. So we did! I provided the supplies and off they went. However, none of the students were able to light up their lab tables like the video suggested. With only a few minutes left in class, I told my students that their homework was to go online to find out what went wrong.

In my ten years of teaching, I’ve never had so many students come back the next day talking about yesterday’s lesson. Students rushed into class exclaiming, “I know how they did it” and “it’s fake, it’s fake!” Now that I had their attention, we explored how chemical reactions can give off light and made our own glows sticks that really worked.6 volt battery hack

In physics we investigated a video that claimed six volt lantern batteries contain 32 AA batteries. My students began to see if this was possible. I gave them the challenge of designing a circuit that used 32 AA (1.5 volt) batteries but still produced an output of six volts. With the help of an online circuit simulator, students were able to design the circuit. However, after measuring the volume of a lantern battery and a AA battery, students realized that the 32 AAs take up more space than one six volt lantern battery has to offer.

Viral video lessons do three important things:

  • use media that students find attention-grabbing and familiar
  • raise interest and give purpose to examinations and investigations
  • teach skepticism so students can spot rip-off artists and scammers

Viral videos are a perfect way to engage students. After all, the videos were designed to capture people’s attention. So the next time you see a video that makes you say, “no way” bring it into class.

Read books via RSS and email

Dale 1 Comment

DailyLitI’ve tried to read Moby Dick several times but I’ve always been interrupted. I start off strong by reading a little every night but then I skip one night. From there it goes down hill and I never finish.

That’s why I was happy to find DailyLit. Here’s how they describe their service:

DailyLit sends books in installments via e-mail or RSS feed. We currently offer over 750 classic and contemporary books available entirely for free or on a Pay-Per-Read basis (with sample installments available for free). You can read your installments wherever you receive e-mail/RSS feeds, including on your Blackberry and iPhone. Installments arrive in your Inbox according to the schedule you set (e.g. 7:00am every weekday).

With DailyLit, a short installment of Moby Dick shows up each day in my Google Reader. Each installment is short enough to read in under five minutes.

Use a Wiki to create a collaborative study guide

Dale 1 Comment

Final exams are next week so that means many of my students are anxious about reviewing the semester. In the past, I’ve given students a packet that outlined the learning objectives for the past semester. From the students’ perspective, this is quite the passive experience.

This year I’m trying something different. I created a rough outline that students can add to, update and modify online. It is essentially a ‘Wikipedia’ for my semester review.

Review via Wiki

I’m using the wiki that our school’s SharePoint service provides; it allows me to track what changes are being made and who’s making them. It also let’s me see which students are actually looking at the study guide.

However, you don’t need SharePoint to do this. Here are two other places you can get started with your own wiki.

Don’t blame cellphones; put them to work

Dale 2 Comments

Put that cellphone to workRecently I’ve had two separate conversations about blocking cellphone signals in school. Some teachers are a so frustrated with the interruptions caused by cellphones that they would like to put up cellphone jammers in their classrooms. Fortunately, this is against FCC regulations as outlined in the Communications Act of 1934.

I can see where all this frustration comes from. Students get addicted to their cellphones- particularly the text messaging feature. They’re sneaking it out under their desk to get a glance at the latest gossip, note from their sweetheart or even the answers to next hour’s quiz. Some student’s are even skilled enough to reply back by tapping out a message on the keypad without even looking down. Those with poorer texting skills just ask for the bathroom pass to type out their messages.

To make matters worse, there’s cyberbullying. Students are being harassed and threatened throughout the school day via cellphones. With problems like this, one can easily sympathize with schools that wish to put a stop to cellphones entering our schools.

However, sometimes new problems are actually not that new. To me, texting is like any other distraction in the classroom. In the past, students would pass notes. I know that some notes were used for cheating, many where love letters and some could have been called paperbullying.

Another example is graphing calculators. With enough memory to store games and cheat notes, the graphing calculator presented a new set of problems as they became more powerful.

My point is this- cellphones are not the problem; it’s the inappropriate usage. Banning cellphones to stop texting is about as practical as banning paper to prevent note passing. The cellphone is not going away. As smartphones become more mainstream we will see our students surfing the web from their phones next. You thought texting was disruptive? Wait until they start updating their Facebook status via their Internet connected phone.

The good news is that we’re getting more technology in our classrooms. In many ways the cellphone can be a great classroom tool. It’s time we put those phones to work for learning. Here are a few ways to get started:

  • daily planner: why not teach them to enter those deadlines and assignment due dates into something they’re always carrying
  • text them back: set up a Twitter account that students that can follow via text messaging. You can send out assignment reminders, homework hints, and much more. My students have use Twitter accounts too.
  • take some pictures: last week I needed students to take pictures of their lab. Only a few students had a digital camera but every lab group had a few camera phones. Put those cameras to work. Some even do video.
  • conduct a survey: at Mobiode.com you create a survey, students respond via cellphone, and you get a spreadsheet of the results
  • students create podcasts: set up an account with Gcast, students record and post audio online just by calling an 800 number. I had students do this during a field trip.

Cellphones can be used in the classroom but only if you set the ground rules first. While they do present some new challenges, I think cellphones can be part of the classroom just like calculators and notebooks. We just have to give them a chance.

What would be on Einstein’s Facebook?

Dale 3 Comments

Physicsbook ProfileMarch 14th was Albert Einstein’s birthday. I always like to do something Einstein related for the day. In the past, I’ve had students write short reports about his life but this year I decide to try something different.

I had my physics students describe Einstein by creating his Facebook profile. Since we can’t access Facebook at school, I had my students create a mock-up of the profile using Microsoft Publisher. I provide the students with a Publisher template, some screenshots of actual Facebook profiles and links to Einstein information to get them started.

I also provide the following requirements:

  • interests, occupations, education and work information must be accurate
  • make up some Groups and Networks that Einstein is in
  • put 10 stories in his mini feed
  • change his status
  • add The Wall and put a few posts on it
  • add two more things to his profile… something he would have in it for fun

Most of my students had fun with the activity and it was a way for them to bring a little bit of their recreational world into the classroom. Here is an example profile.

It turns out that this activity can work for objects too. Right now my ninth graders are creating profiles for the element they’ve been assigned. A few students even realized that their element (a noble gas) can’t have any friends.

Web site blocked? Code your way in.

Dale 1 Comment

Tumblr APII love tumblr.com. It’s such an easy-to-use site for sharing things that you find online. So I was disappointed when my school’s web filter started blocking the site.

I can see why our filter has tumblr on its blacklist; tumblr will let you post anything to their site. Students could use tumblr to chat or view inappropriate material.

But we’re not talking about students; we’re talking about me- the teacher.

Our schools roll clips like Did You Know Shift Happens and use terms like flat-world during staff meetings. Yet, they can’t come up with a process to filter teachers that is different from the one they use for students? In one breath it’s, “prepare our students for the 21st century” and in the next breath its, “just don’t do it on a school computer.”

Andy Carvin at PBS’s learning.now put it best when he wrote:

“…for educators who aren’t trusted to use their professional judgment, an important opportunity to teach their students about 21st century citizenship is being squandered.”

However, ranting usually doesn’t get me anywhere (I often feel better though). This time I decided to take matters into my own hands.

Using tumblr’s API and some php scripting I created my own page that can post to tumblr. Since my all the work is done from an approved site, my posts sneak right past the web filter.

I know it’s a small victory but it felt good to gain back some control for a change. (By the way, here is the script if you’d like to use it on your own web site.)