Mo Physics Mo Problems

As I reflect on the past school year, I just wanted to share out a couple of the final class portfolios my students made using Google Sites to share out and document the current iteration. Although this semester was altered by the COVID-19 Pandemic, students were still able to complete the portfolio process.  Physics Portfolio The Portfolio created by my physics students has several key pages Home Passions Learner Profile Unit Pages But I think it would be best if we just let Morgan introduce her portfolio. Passion Page On the passion page, students describe themselves in 4 different categories with the help of YouTube videos they embed. Hope & Dreams Favorites in Media Hobbies What I Like to Make Click the Image to Access Morgan's Passions Page Learner Profile The learner page consists of 2 major elements. The Learner Profile developed by Barbara Bray and Kathleen McClaskey in which learners apply a UDL Lens to identify their strengths, challenges and preferences as a learner...

As Megan Peschke and I were closing out our collaboration between here kindergarten and my Physics students, I asked her what one thing she would like us to do. She said that she would love to love to have my students create books for her kids to read about physics. Immediately my mind went to Google Slides for digital book creation. It is something that I've heard advocated from many of my EdTech heroes like Kasey Bell, Matt Miller , and Eric Curts . Since we wouldn't be able to meet to read them in person, we decided to insert audio into Google Slides of the high school students reading the story. This insert audio idea is one that is not original and I for sure have heard Kasey, Matt, and Eric mention as a use of audio in slides. In this post, I'd like to walk through the creation process and share the works my students created. The goal of the project for my students was to create a short children’s book for Kindergartners applying a basic physics concept. Below, you...

I recently posted about the collaboration Megan Peschke and I have created a shared Flipgrid grid between her kindergartners and my high school physics students. We conducted introductions which took on a life of their own. We have moved on from hellos to address to science content. My students are currently in a unit on sound and waves. Flipgrid was a great way to share learning during our energy unit. So, my students are sharing their learning with me and the kindergartners. The one major online interactive hub for exploring sound that is easily accessible across devices and different age levels is Chrome Music Lab . If you are not familiar with it. It is a free set of interactive labs created by Google exploring different aspects of sound.  This exploration and sharing took place over a couple of different activities. In our physics class, these activities were part of a series of applications of concepts students had learned during flipped interactive lectures conducted in P...

I have been lucky to do many collaborations with Elementary School teachers with my physics classes. I’ve had great collaborations with Jessica Ebert , Kate Sommerville & Angela Patterson , and Katie Spadoni . Our transition to Virtual Learning has put a halt to any ability to have a face-to-face collaboration. But, my experience with Flipgrid and a new friend has allowed me to start a new collaboration between High School Physics students and a class of kindergartners. It all started when  I had this Twitter conversation with someone in my district. Now, I’ve only met Megan Peschke face to face twice. (And, I only remember one of them. I’ll leave it to her to tell the story of that one.) Well, the idea was launched in that conversation of using Flipgrid as a place to create a connection between the two classrooms: My 2 sections of Physics and her Kindergartners. I’ve been using Flipgrid with great success with my Physics students all year and it has really taken off during o...

In this new landscape of Virtual Learning, I've lost many of my favorite activities and labs. But thanks to ideas from my Professional Learning Network and the support of my administration, I feel like I've been given the freedom to think differently. To not simply retrofit activities and assessments into a virtual model, but to try something different and leverage the change in instruction and environments. In a recent podcast, Kasey Bell presented 12 practical tips for remote learning that forced me to rethink what I was trying to do . It was a fantastic episode that moved me to question my current practice and try something different. So, I took a tip from another one of her episodes on Choice Boards . As we finish our energy unit, I wanted to create a more unique opportunity for learners to demonstrate mastery. So, I created an Energy Bingo Board. I would not consider this a true choice board for a couple of reasons. But, I'd like to discuss the design of the ass...

As we find ourselves outside of the classroom attempting to find ways to utilize the digital tools and ask learners to demonstrate mastery on new or past content, I continue to see the power of student portfolios for this task. The portfolio could be used for different purposes, but Google Sites can work as a powerful platform to house this product. Many districts have students create a portfolio that covers multiple years and courses. But in these times, the ability to coordinate this type of project might not be feasible. So, I’ll focus on the use of a portfolio in one course. These purposes center around providing artifacts that could be used to highlight Mastery of Unit Outcomes Mastery of State or National Standards Habits of Mind Learner Strengths or Growth Over Time We’ll get to how this decision of purpose will drive organization. But let’s start with how students can create a new google site. Create sites In the video below, you can see how you can create a new ...

I was thrilled when I learned all about a distance learning hack for Pear Deck's Flashcard Factory from Stacey Roshan. If you're not sure what Flashcard Factory is, it is a free platform for students collaboratively to build digital flashcards that include text and visual representations. These flashcards can then be printed, saved as a pdf, or exported to the online quiz game Gimkit. You can learn all about Flashcard Factory from the Pear Deck Website here. As we are all involved in distanced learning right now, students can't work on Flashcard Factory in real time. This hack from Stacey will allow all learners in the class to work on creating a set of cards that can be used by the whole class. The main difference is that instead of students working in pairs, they are working on their own. Be sure to set a firm deadline. After the deadline you can go in and approve or reject cards. Then, share the PDF with the class, or launch a Gimkit with them. Don...