On Friday, I was so pleased to be able to return to one of my favorite days of the year, High-Interest Day at Brookfield Elementary School. This is a day where I have been able to bring the concepts of physics to k-5 graders. You may be asking yourself, "Elementary students doing physics?" YES! Not just experimenting, but understanding the concepts behind the physics of electricity and sound. This is a very special day I have had the opportunity to be involved in since 2017. So, how are we able to bring the concepts of electricity and sound traditionally taught to high school 11th and 12th graders to the elementary level? There are a few keys 1) make it a hands-on experience 2) remove the mathematical calculations and make it practical. In the past, I had the luck of bringing a handful of my physics students with me to guide the elementary students through the concepts that they had learned over the course of the year. But in my new role as a Teaching and Learning Speciali
An ePortfolio is a chance for a student to make the argument that they have mastered all the objectives in a course. In the climax of Oliver Stone’s film JFK, Jim Garrison sums up his entire case by providing pieces of evidence in the hope of finding Clay Shaw guilty of conspiracy to assassinate President Kennedy. Although the accuracy of many of the facts in the movie have been brought into question, there is no doubt that the entire closing argument sequence of the film is a masterclass in editing and screenwriting. Stone uses multiple film stocks to create the sense of cinema verite alongside of stocks that denote a subjective perspective. If you have never seen it or haven’t seen the section in a while, seek it out. I could probably teach an entire semester course on it. The ultimate goal of the ePortfolio in my class is to take the place of a traditional paper and pencil final exam. The portfolio has a home page and a separate page for each unit. The pur