1) Earth Science students are learning about the Earth's interior. I created a voki to introduce the topic (http://www.voki.com/mywebsite.php). Xtranormal is better because you can actually create a conversation, and the program is very user friendly. Xtranormal's downfall is that you are only given enough "points" to create one video (although this video can be very long). A Voki account allows the user to make unlimited videos. However, the voki only allows for monologues, which are not as natural as 'socratic' conversations. Also the Voki avatars tend to read through text too quickly, and there is a limit to the number of characters you can use. But, in the end, you cannot beat Voki's price. I plan to create an additional Xtranormal account and use Voki more throughout the remainder of the school year.
On March 10th, there was an earthquake off the northern coast of Japan. The quake generated a massive tsunami that washed away entire cities and caused significant damage to several nuclear reactors. Dangerous amounts of radiation were potentially released within a 20 mile radius from one of the reactors. Fortunately, a complete meltdown of Chernobyl proportions has been avoided. The utter destruction and loss of life for the Japanese people places one's own personal stresses in stark perspective. Current economic conditions threaten (in very real ways) to undermine the educational experiences offered by our schools. But at least our schools and our students are still standing. Our problems pale in comparison.
2. Earth Science students are beginning their unit on "The Dynamic Crust". Obviously I have used the events in Japan as a 'teachable moment'. I used several video clips from National Geographic, BBC News, and CNN to frame our discussion of earthquakes. Students had already completed the vocab for the unit, and these video clips helped to connect the vocabulary to the real world. Students asked several good questions about the earthquake and tsunami. These before and after photos worked really well with the Smartboard: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/03/13/world/asia/satellite-photos-japan-before-and-after-tsunami.html
3. ESF students have been busy preparing their independent research projects. Many of my students will be participating in the GSSSF (Greater Syracuse Scholastic Science Fair) at Solvay High School next Sunday. I think that the lesson I learned here is to provide more guidance with independent research. Students picked their topics in October, and I reminded them periodically to make sure they were keeping up with the research, and also required students to reflect on their progress. Next year I will provide much more rigid guidelines in terms of due dates and expectations. I will also factor in more time for peer critiques of progress (as would be done in a college research seminar).
For me personally, there has been a significant learning curve with the use of the new Windows 7 Excel program. It takes some getting used to, but young scientists can actually do more with it, and it is somewhat user friendly after completing a lot of trials and errors.
4. Spring arrived in Syracuse this week (March is finally converting itself into lamb form). It was 60 degrees in Syracuse on St. Patrick's Day, which made for nice conditions during Syracuse's annual city/county-wide party. The participation level of Syracuse residents on this holiday is impressive, albeit perhaps a bit excessive.
Be sure to check out the moon tonight (March 19), its going to be a clear night. The moon is at its perigee (closest point to Earth in its elliptical orbit). This happens once a month but rarely coincides with a full moon like tonight.
5. Student 1: "Oh, you have coffee, I always wanted to taste coffee. Is it good?"
Student 2: "It not like really good, but its good to drink...its a good thing to drink with like toast".
Student 1: "Do you like Dunkin Donuts coffee?"
Student 2: "No, its too sweet".
Student 1: "That's why people like it. My grandma be tearin' up some Dunkin' Donuts coffee".
No comments:
Post a Comment