Mo Physics Mo Problems

As I look back on the material we covered in physics this year, I can’t help but see the connections to my life as a professional.  I’ve spoken about Newton’s 1st Law of Motion in my last post .  But, the 2nd Law is equally relevant. It’s great to be in motion. But constant motion in the same direction at the same speed, isn’t always a good idea. What if you need to get somewhere faster, make a turn, or come to a stop.  In those cases, it is essential that you are able to change your motion. The physics term for change in motion (how fast or what direction) is acceleration. More specifically, acceleration is the rate at which your motion is changing.  So, acceleration is a function of time. The only way to change an object’s motion, or get it to accelerate, is with a push or pull.  In other words, an acceleration requires a force. To be more accurate, an unbalanced (or net) force. Newton’s Second Law of Motion describe the factors that affect this acceleration: The net for

In 2 weeks, my school year will be half over. Since we are on the block, I will have a whole new group of students and will be starting my courses fresh.  As I think back on some of my big ideas from the summer that I failed to follow through with, I think about Newton’s First Law of Motion.   Newton’s First Law of Motion states that Every object will remain at rest or in uniform motion in a straight line unless compelled to change that state by forces impressed on it. This law has also been paraphrased as An object at rest tends to stay at rest and an object in motion tends to stay in motion. I prefer to state it this way in my physics course An object’s motion will only change if acted on by an unbalanced force. What does this mean in a practical sense? If you are standing at rest, you have forces acting on you that are balanced, or cancel each other out.  There is gravity pulling you down, and the ground pushing you up.  The forces are equal in size and balanc

Have you ever gone to a conference and seen that one person in the back of the session who seems to be engaged but its not interacting with anyone else? Or maybe that one person who seems to be eating lunch at a table by themselves? That’s me. I attend around 3 educational conferences every year.  I have a great time learning from presentations and keynote speakers at all of these conferences.  By definition, a conference is meant to be a meeting of people with a shared interest. When I think about my conference attendance, I rarely meet new people. Am I defeating the purpose of a conference in many situations? I’m always quick to tweet out to a hashtag and follow presenters with great insights, but rarely will I find a new face to face connection.  It’s crazy to think about it. 90% of those attending a conference probably have something we could connect about or discuss. From edtech tools to educational philosophy, there is an incredibly population of individuals I could be

One of my proudest accomplishments of 2017 was helping to hold the first EdCamp in my school district, EdCamp Elmbrook. We are holding our 2nd annual EdCamp on March 3rd of 2018. It will be held at Brookfield Central High School in Brookfield, WI.   As we enter a new year, I realize a lot of us are making resolutions.  Why not make a resolution to attend an EdCamp?  In 2017, we had just over 100 attendees for our democratic PD experience. I've grown my PLN and learned from innovators like Michael Matera, Chad Kafka, Jennie Magiera, Tricia Louis, Tammy Lind, Carrie Baughcum, Joe Sanfelippo, Brian Durst, and the list goes on and on.   But, I’ve spoke at length about why I think you should attend an EdCamp on many  previous posts . So, I’d like to share the voices of some of our 2017 attendees from EdCamp Elmbrook as they explain why you should attend an EdCamp in 2018. I hope these words have convinced you to attend an EdCamp this ye

I like Star Wars.  I like it a lot. There are so many great lessons and quotes from the films. Yoda has to be one of the most quoted educational scholars ever.  That includes even in the newest episode “The Last Jedi” He has a great line about failure There is great power in learning from failure and I think many educators are embracing this. At times, though, I feel like rather than learning from failure, we’re failing and just redoing. I’m forgetting to make the learning from failure intentional. Am I placing as much importance on the learning as I am the grade recovery? Am I failing my learners in the process? When I think about the teachers in Star Wars films, they are not so good at providing safe environments for learners to fail. Ben Kenobi who allows his student Anakin to burn in lava and leaves him for dead Yoda who lets Luke go off and have his hand cut off by Darth Vader Luke who is driven to the point where he almost murders Ben Solo while he sle

Understanding one’s learning preferences is so important for any individual to be able to truly take control of his or her own learning. I’ve been incorporating choice in summative assessment for a couple of years now. But, I had been struggling this year when it came to thinking about providing more opportunities for students to choose their own practice options.  Who knew my inspiration for a possible solution would come from Panera.   I feel like this is not an original idea at all. But, it’s new to me so I want to share it out. I have often heard of student playlists and menus of options, but wasn’t sure how I could put that idea into practice. That was at least until I asked my students what options they wanted for practice. They gave me a variety of different options to build from. Using these student generated options, I created a Pick 2 Practice menu inspired by Panera.    A Pick 2 Practice session will run one day in a block.  It happens the day after a topic

I really enjoy attending educational conferences. There are always great keynotes and session speakers. But, many times I’ve been looking at session schedules and have chosen the least objectionable option.  Those times when nothing was related to my content area or professional goals. In these cases, I end up sitting in on a session that may not be applicable to my situation. No matter how engaging, it’s a hourlong experience that will not inform my practice. When I went to my first EdCamp in 2013, I didn’t know what to expect.  I had heard it called an UnConference, but that did not prepare me for the unique experience I had there. It was held on a Saturday in May at an area high school. I was amazed to see how many energized educators were present.  So often, I am used to people checking their email or doing work on laptops during the opening of a convention with a passing glance to what is going on up front. The opening of an EdCamp is energizing.  It is a model of how we ca