Shawn

My school google site: []

I really like the idea of using onenote for class, I just need to work on it and get it set-up. I have never used the server, but really should get all of my work on there in case something happens to my laptop. In this meeting we learned how to do more with the smartboard. Some of the basics I had, but I did learn some capabilities that I did not know about. I was able to use one of them on 2/26, as seen below. Tonight I read others wikispaces and left some comments/questions on them. I think Lee's idea of a school news wiki is an excellent idea. Although she was mentioning it for middle school, I think it would be a great idea for the school pub class or even teachers/Mr. Mirich to update with news as it happens for parents to see. I read others wikis, but mainly looked at Rochelle and Kathy's class wikis. I left some comments, and also sent a few messages to comment to some students. I would like to do a wiki for my physical science class to use on some of the topics we debate in class now, mainly for next year. I am a little concerned that the students will get "wikied-out" if we all use it, but see 2 reasons i will probably use it anyway. one is tat they will be writing their opinions and reactions for the discussions either way, and many would rather do this at home when they can think and revise than in class. The other reason I don't think the will be over-wikied is that mine will be for my freshman, while the math and English ones are mainly for the upperclassmen right now. ( 5:00 -5:30 / 15 total hours ) I spent a little more time posting some questions on the qestion page, and a discussion question on the home page. I viewed the stats for our page, and some of them were impressive. It does seem that as we have been reaching our hours, or getting busy with the end of the school year, the activity to and on the site has been waning. I think that this wiki could be used well beyond the required hours for us to ge answers to questions and share ideas. I know it takes time to do our own pages, but if we could at least keep looking at the questions page to help each other out and maybe have a "great technology use" page to share ideas, I think that would be good. The individual pages wil probably die out as we don't have time to update them, or as no one looks at others. ( various times/3-6 hours ) I have spent at least 3 hours on this wikipage with my reflections, but did not include them in my total time.
 * Training time:**
 * 2/12** ( // 4:30 - 6:00 / 1.5 total hours //)
 * 2/16** ( // 4:30 - 6:00 / 3.0 total hours //)
 * 2/23** ( 4:30 - 6:00 / 4.5 total hours )
 * 3/1** ( 9:00 - 12:00 / 7.5 total hours )
 * 3/16** ( 4:30 - 6:00 / 9 total hours )
 * 3/20** ( 9:00 - 12:30 / 12.5 total hours )
 * 3/23** ( 6:00 - 7:00 / 13.5 total hours )
 * 4/18** ( 8:00 - 9:00 / 14.5 total hours )

2/26 (** // 30 minutes first hour / 0.5 hours total student //**)** I used the smartboard for student practice. Earlier in the year, with physical science, I gave half of the classroom 15 problems and the other half a different set of problems. As they work on the problems, they improved, but I had to walk around and help a lot of different students while others waited for me to help. I had taught them how to do it, but balancing just takes practice and by the end of the sheet most understand it. For physical science 1A, I tried something different. I had both sets of problems copied to the same sheet. I did the first 3 out of the 15 for the class as examples. Then I used the smart board to have the students actively try problems. I have 4 rows in my room, so I used 1 spinner to pick which row the student would come from randomly. I only had 12 students that day so a second spinner was labelled 1,2,3 and teacher. I used the spinner for each problem to see who came up to the smartboard to work through it. The first few students were very slow and I had to help a lot. It allowed the whole class ot help or see the process though. By the end of the problems the students were getting them with very little help. I could see this while walking around, but I think this was better for 2 reasons. First, it was much more efficient. Second, as the students came up and could solve them on their own you could almost see them gain confidence.
 * Student technology use:

I worked on building a powerpoint with pictures and some interactive class questions to teach the new unit. This also will allow me to post it to my google site.
 * 3/14** ( 1 hour / 1.5 total student hours )

I used the powerpoint for notes in class. It was nice to have the pictures built right into the powerpoint, instead of pulling them up separate or using google image to find them. There were a few students gone, so it will be nice for them to get the notes. We did some math together in class on the notes, but I did not think to save the writing directly into the powerpoint. If I use this and the students have laptops next year, they can save with our class contributions. I may have all powerpoints in a onenote notebook for the students, but I am not sure if I can get it all done and how much to include. More about that in the onenote day.
 * 3/16** ( 30 minutes 4th and 30 7th / 2.5 total student hours )

I looked at a few ideas, but mainly I worked on onenote. The more I look at it, the more I think it is the piece of technology that can have the biggest impact on my students. It is very powerful and incorporates a lot of the other technology into one place. I started to set up a physical science notebook for next year. I want it running by next fall, but it will take at least 50 hours and probably more to get it set-up reall well. I can not assure I will get it all done this summer, but any is better than none. What I want to do is have almost all of the materials a student needs for class in one onenotebook. The option to use it will be up to the student, but it will be much more organized and easier to keep than a paper notebook, and also more environmentally friendly. Across the top I started setting my tabs for the class. The first top tab will be organizational stuff such as learning targets, grading and periodic tables they will need on the right side tabs. The second top tab will include forms I am asking my students to complete by pen now. It will have sheets such as their learning goal proficiency summary sheet, daily effort/understanding log, activities the like/dislike and learn/don't learn from, and I think i want their writing assignments in here too. The rest of the top tabs at this point will be the units we cover. Each unit covers a few of our learning targets. Onenote has a lock feature, so I will probably lock the unit tabs with separate passwords until we reach each unit. In each unit I will have side tabs for notes/powerpoints, homework sheets, labs and videos we will watch. I may have them do the writing in this section and have the tabs in the order I usually run stuff, and we can rearrange if needed. I only got 2 units started, and a few documents imported from word, but once I get going I think it will go quicker. Another onenote feature I would really like to use is the live session as we can do activities like the A-Z brainstorming to begin a unit and activate prior knowledge as a class at one time, instead of pen and paper and then assembling a master copy. It will save both time and paper. The main concern I have for onenote is that some students will not pay attention in class because they have the notes and /or powerpoint. I can remedy this some by having blanks and problems to fill in, but they could still just transfer someone elses. I think that writing the notes alone can help with retention, and wonder if taking the note copying away will hurt some students learning. At the same time, having the notes there will allow absent students to keep up, and students that don't understand time to go home and look through it again. I can also include videos and links, so students can look at those at home, freeing up more classtime for questions and hands-on activities.
 * 3/22** ( 4:00 - 5:30 / 4.0 total student hours )

since I was going to miss my afternoon class, I talked to my students about some of the technology I am looking at using, and had them write their thoughts down on a piece of scrap paper ( one side already used - saving trees). Only one student did not have internet access at home, but that student still liked the ideas. One idea we looked at was doing much of the writing we do in class on a blog or onenote at home, possibly in response to a video, article, picture or thought question. We do this in clas in a writing section of their notebooks. All but 2 students said they would prefer doing it on the computer at home over doing it school in class. There were a few reasons given. One was that it would free up more class time for help and labs. Another was that at home they could take their time and think of their answers more. A third reason a student mentioned was that they could use editing software such as spellcheck or even an online dictionary. Overall, it looks like I should try and set it up this way next year. I am note sure which format is best yet, but have time to look at each. I think I can even tie the questions and this section into the 3rd state standard to help build their portfolio to show proficiency, if I chose my writing prompts well. The 3rd state standard is : History of nature of science in personal and social decisions: Students recognize the nature of science, its history, and its connections to personal, social, economic, and political decisions. Historically, scientific events have had significant impacts on our cultural heritage.
 * 3/23** ( 11:15-12:00 / 4.75 total student hours )

I also asked them about giving a onenote notebook at the start of the year with notes, and this time only one student did not like the idea. Most thought it would be helpful in studying and organization. A few questioned if it would hurt learning because they weren't writing it down, or because some wouldn't pay attention because they were given the notes. I have some of these same questions, and I think this is where I will need to work on it so that it is not all powerpoint, and there are still sections the student fills out as we go, or answers during class to check understanding (and attention).

I set up a delicious account, and started putting some of the bookmarks to the futures channel videos that I think would be good for physical science or physics. I think I could use short videos such as these ( usually 5 minutes or under) to have the students watch and then do the writing about. What I am not sure is if it would be better to bookmark them on delicious as I did, or to sign-up for the futures channel and then download the videos and put them in onenote. Putting them, and all links, in onenote puts them in one place for the student. the advantage of delicious is that I can quickly tag a site right when I find it. It can also be added to throughout the year, whereas the onenote would probably be set at the start. So while I may end up embeding the vidoes I found in onenote, I think I will end up using delicious too.
 * 3/24** ( 5:00 - 5:45 / 5.50 total student hours )

Since we had another 2 hour delay and missed 4th hour, I discussed technology ideas with my 7th period class. A few more in this class did not want to use the internet more and thought we may be making things too internet dependent and complicated, but in general most still liked the ideas. One point not brought up in the other class is that some would like it, but only if they had their own school laptop. Starting with next year's physical science this shouldn't be a problem, but I would have to wait 2 years to incorporate some of this into chemistry ( it may take that long to set it up anyway). A last idea we talked about was having either e-mail reminders or text reminders the day before a test. Most that liked the idea favored e-mails over text. It would be good for some as they check e-mail or texts often, and can forget about tests or homework ( Don't they have planners?) We also discussed how this could be good, but maybe it is starting to intermingle their personal lives with school too much.
 * 3/31** ( 3:15-3:45 / 6.00 total student hour )

4/5 ( 2:00-3:30 / 7.50 total student hours ) Worked on onenote. One of the things I would like to have on here is a student learning target tracking system that they fill out themself after each test. It would show what score they got on each test target, which all fall under specific learning targets. What they can then do is keep track of whether they have met each goal and if not find ways to remediate and reach them. This may be through another test (retest) or maybe through a project. One of the state standards deals with proper use of lab equipment, which is also something in our expectations. I have not figured out how to have each student do this and have them not just take out bad scores, but what I would like to do is have a sheet with every lab we do where the student gets a proficient/not proficient for lab performance. At the end of the semester or quarter ( and then year) they would get a score of below basic to advanced based on their lab performance. What I would really like to get to with this is having tentative grades thoughout the quarter with homework and tests, so that parents and students canmonitor progress; but looking at the overall achievement of learning targets in the portfolio and giving a grade at the end of the semester based on just that. I will have to see what I can get accomplished toward this being fair over the summer.

4/7 ( 7:00-7:45 / 8.25 total student hours ) I graded a bunch of physical science work that used 2 pages per student and didn't need a lot of feedback for most. It made me think of online work and quizzes. I have heard calculus students mention this from the college. I looked for some online sources and the one I think may be best is [] It only costs $30 or so a year for a single user, and then the students are free. It can be used for a lot of different things. For the math problems we do in physical science, the students can log in and do it, and get instant feedback on if they are doing it right or not. I would get individual student scores, to be able to see students that need more help. It also showed reports with item analysis, so I could check if one problem was worded porrly, tricking the students or just a certain type that we needed to work on more as a whole class. Quizzes could also be done this way, but I like to use short answer/ explanations on quizzes, plus be able to see all f their math to make see if they know the concept but just made some simple math errors. It also has a lot of other online tools the students could use. One that I looked at and would use was flashcards. the students could use them with our essential vocabulary words. After hearing the idea at our inservice of having 100 words and testing 10 randomly a week, I think that I would like to do that next year. The flashcards could be a great way for the students to learnt he words. They also had crosswords, hangman, jumbles, webquests and a long list of other options to explore that the students could use to learn. I really think this site could enhance student learning and give quicker feedback for work that does not require longer feedback.

First I started my physical science wiki. I would like to use this for the students to show they have met the third state standard for science. We will be able to move some of the writing we do in class to out of school for those that need more time to develop ideas, but as the students suggested, I will also give them some class time to work on these discussions. I may still use open discussion in class, bu this also allows each class to hear ideas from the other class. It also gives a more organized place to express ones opinion if the subject is one in which students have stronger opinions, such as global warming. The link to my new wiki is : http://bhhsphysicalscience.wikispaces.com/
 * 4/18** ( 3:00-5:00 / 10.25 total student hours )

4/22 ( 8:15-9:00 / 11.00 total student hours ) I had my physical science 1A class join my wiki. Some of them already had an account, so they could join quickly. Most of the freshman had to set up an account. I had one student that refuses to use wiki. I am sure this will happen again. What I will do in his case is have the student view the wiki and write a paragraph to turn in to me. I am surprised that so man students commented how much they hate wiki. I think this will depend on how it is used. Since we have started the pdp, they have started using it in some math classes and English. Some see it as more homework. I don't think some realise that when work on a wiki is assigned, most of the time it would not be exta work, but it would be replacing the work they would be assigned. Since I would usually do the writing for many of my discussions in class, I will probably also use the wiki as a start to class to activate prior knowledge, or at the end to wrap it up. Next year this will be easy to do since the freshman will all have laptops. One last problem I ran in to today, is that since the students weren't writing there response out, many answered the 4 questions with 2 or 3 words. I will need to clarify that even though it is a wiki discussion, they will need to follow all writing rules and use complete paragraphs and sentences. I will probably post this on me home class page. On the good side, I had one student that noticed a link I had started for later on that will deal with global warming. I had put a space on it for student site links, and he added one for globalwarminghoax.com or something similar and started a discussion that asked how many others thought global wamring is a myth. While I want to eventually show them that global warming is not a myth as the temperature has risen, which is warming, the causes of it are somewhat debated. Hopefully I can get them to see tht they don't mean to say global warming is a myth, but that humans causing global warming is a myth, it is natural. I personally think man has contributed, but this type of discussion is what I hope ends up happening with many topics, and that it is student led/started like this one was.

Final thoughts: While the students are just beginning to use a lot of the technology I learned about, I think it is going to make vast changes in how I do things next year. A lot of the paperwork I want the students to do, but they lose, will now be online or on onenote. This should prevent it from getting lost. The discussions will move to wiki for the most part, which allows ( or forces) everyone to share and respond to each other, and hopefully be student initiated at times, like the one mentioned in the paragraph above. I really want to move to online, instant feedback homework/classwork for the assignments where that would be appropriate. With that method I could even have some extra problems for the students that want it only, and the rest could ignore them. I don't think tests will end up online, as I like short answer to see if the student understands the concept, and I don't grade on the number corrct, but by below basic through advanced. While I have been fairly up-to-date on technology in general, I have learned a lot about some tools and programs that I may not have discovered on my own.