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Thank You for 20 Years.

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After 20 years of teaching at Brookfield Central, I am saying goodbye. Although I spent the majority of that time in the physics classroom alongside my learners. That changed for my last 18 weeks. I ended up in a place similar to where I started, teaching chemistry and biology. So, rather than dealing with juniors and seniors at the end of their high school careers, I was in classrooms with freshmen and sophomores still trying to find their place. At the same time, I was learning and teaching a set curriculum I hadn't taught in over a decade. So, we were learning. But, of course, I already knew the content.  The point of this post is to take a step back, take in, and share the gratitude from the last students I had in my 20 years at Brookfield Central High School through the cards and notes they made for me on my last day with them.  I don't take many yay me moments. But after 20 years, I think I'll soak this one in.
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Standards Presentations Using Flipgrid

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Summative assessment can be a bit tricky in distance learning when relying on traditional pencil and paper test. One of the assessment options I have allowed students to use in the past was an evidence presentation in which they created a 1 on 1 presentation demonstrating their mastery of the unit standards by presenting artifacts from the unit.

 I'm trying something similar with my students as we wrap up our momentum unit. This unit was done completely via distance learning. We had several different activities and I made sure that students had opportunities to cover our main 4 science skill outcomes as they related to momentum.

  1. I can plan and carry out investigations
  2. I can analyze and interpret data
  3. I can use mathematics and computational thinking
  4. I can construct explanations
The goal for the summative assessment is for them to provide evidence for each of these 4 outcomes. I didn't want the technology to be the barrier. So, I choose Flipgrid which is a very simple to use video creation and submission platform that my students have an easy time with.


For each of the 4 standards, I created a topic. I gave them a brief overview of what was expected in the prompt. For the focus, I used Screencastify to record the workflow for creating the Flipgrid video and explaining the prompt in more depth. In addition, I posted one example submission video to the grid for them to watch. The topic itself is moderated. This means that the videos posted by students will not be able to be viewed by other classmates.


Some of the tools that I am looking for them to use (and modeled in the focus video) are loading images, adding text, drawing, and using the Flipgrid smartphone app to record writing on a piece of paper. For those who cannot respond verbally, they can use the text option in Flipgrid to construct their response.

I created a simple rubric for feedback within Flipgrid.


Eventually, these videos will be added into their portfolios as unit evidence. I'm excited to see what they students submit. I'll be sure to share how it went.


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