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
My school district will be out next week to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Over these days students will be assigned virtual learning assignments to be completed at home with the assistance of their Chromebooks. I'm designing a series of daily activities for my students using a number of resources. I just wanted to do a quick share and provide some 1 minute videos just in case you were interested in trying these tools out. Pear Deck I will be providing guided content instruction and videos through the use of student paced Pear Decks. These are Google Slide decks with added interactivity via the Pear Deck for Slides add-on . Some slides have videos embedded and others have the ability for students to respond to prompts. In student paced mode, students join the deck via a link and progress at their own pace. The teacher is then able to view their progress and responses to prompts in real time. To learn more about using Pear Deck for virtual learning, check out this post b