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
It’s nearing the end of term 3 here and I have a little time for reflection. As a part of their final exam, students are working on their digital portfolio for my class. As I reevaluate everything that I am doing, I am struggling with the “why” and “so what of ” of the portfolios. So it’s time to revisit the why of the portfolio in my class and let that inform what the function of it in my course. Currently in my class, the portfolio has become a vehicle for students to catalog and present summative assessments. Each page is categorized by objective. On a given page, students state the unit objectives and embed their summative assessment. In addition, they provide reflective feedback on the unit in terms of what helped their learning and didn't help their learning. The portfolio has become a place for these student artifacts to be curated and organized based on learning objective. The fact that it’s organized by learning objective prescribes the artifact th