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Less Physics Mo Problems

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Why am I writing this personal entry? Well, it is not an attempt to gain any sympathy. It attempts to show what is possible if a clear intention and goal serve the learner's needs.  In May of 2022 just near the end of another fantastic school year, I do not remember what happened. But, I was unable to finish the school year and was unable to teach the following year.  Why? On May 21st, 2022, I fell down a flight of 16 stairs (luckily carpeted) from the 2nd to 1st story of our home.  I was found at the bottom of the stairs. I was found foaming at the mouth. This would lead to a 2-month hospital stay which included an induced coma because my seizures would not stop, several rounds of lumbar punctures, and relearning basic physical movements like something as simple as being able to roll in the hospital bed. Simply put, when I was admitted to the hospital, I was diagnosed as being “critically ill.” Please take a moment and read those words: critically ill. They are not terms that are
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Make it Your Way: Summative Assessments in Flipgrid

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This year, our students have the choice to be in person or virtual. So in my physics classroom, roughly 20% of my population is virtual. This has resulted in me making major changes in terms of labs (not sharing materials for in person and coming up with solutions for virtual students.) But this week is our first unit assessment. One assessment structure I used last year during virtual learning was so effective, I decide to use it again this year.

This structure was a bingo choice board in which students submit responses using Flipgrid. What I love about Flipgrid is that it provides such a wide variety of expression options. So when I tell students to create a video using Flipgrid, they have so many options in terms of creation. They can use audio, they can add text, they can capture video, they can upload video, they can upload images, they can add emojis. In addition, they can annotate live over everything. On the Bingo board students choose the content of the video. On Flipgrid, students choose how they will express the content. 

The structure of the Bingo board was built around 3 main sections of our unit

  • Conceptual Understanding of Terminology
  • Applying Equations
  • Analyzing Motion Graph

So in building the board, I was sure that any bingo would require at least one from each category. From there I filled in different scenarios for each (there are some that appear multiple times on the board.)

I then made a separate Flipgrid topic for each category.  Each category has it's own requirements for demonstrating mastery.

Definition

  1. Identify the term
  2. Provide a definition 
  3. Give an example
  4. Provide visual for the example
  5. How can it be calculated

  1. Provide the Formula
  2. Identify each variable in the formula
  3. Walk through a sample calculation
  4. Provide visual for sample

  1. Show the motion with drawing or on camera
  2. Come up with NUMERICAL DATA
  3. Show how the motion would be translated to the graph
  4. Explain any changes in motion seen
  5. Explain what the slope of the graph indicates

In setting up each topic, I recorded a video to explain the content requirements for the submission. I also recorded one example for each topic so students can get a sense of what was expected. It will be up to the students to make sure they submit the correct number of videos. Finally, I made a topic where they will need to show how they got their bingo. 

I made a copy of the topics in a group here if you'd like to take a look. 

Students have 3 different assessment options at the end of our current unit:

  • A traditional paper test
  • A experimental design in which they record videos of motion and analyze them with graphing software
  • Flipgrid Motion Bingo

As this is my first assessment with these students, I'll be excited to see what they go with and how their assessments turn out.  

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