Brett


 * February 12** - (1.5 hours) - First organizational meeting for PDP. Discussed goals and learning.


 * February 16** - (1.5 hours/3 total) - Group meeting.


 * February 23** - (1.5 hours/4.5 total) - Group meeting.

7th grade Wiki (most work today) http://bhms7science.wikispaces.com/ 8th grade Wiki (just create) http://bhms8science.wikispaces.com/
 * March 1** - (3 hours/7.5 total) Today I explored a Google site as a way to provide information to students and parents. I created a site with 2 subpages for each grade. Although you can customize these pages quite a bit and you can post a ton of information there, I will probably stay with my Wiki. The Wiki allows me to have the students interact on-line in addition to hanging files and posting information. To that end I created 2 Wikis today, one for each grade. I plan to have students post weekly science journal entries on them.


 * March 3** - (.5 hr class/.5 hr class total) Today I prepped my science journal page for 8th grade. I'm doing this for a couple of reasons: it gets kids writing which meets school improvement goals, and it give kids a chance to reflect about what they've learned in science while also providing a non-threatening way to ask questions. I put in the requirements and some sample sentence starters. Then I created a sample journal entry to model my expectations. Since a bunch of kids will be at the math contest tomorrow, I'm going to have one class test it out and get some feedback from them.
 * March 3** - (.5 hr online/8 hr total) Read and respond to other posts and questions.


 * March 4** - (2 hr class/2.5 hr class total) Only had 6 kids in one 8th grade class so I tried to introduce them to my science journal. We spent the whole period just learning about the Wiki. I showed them each of their pages, how to edit and post pictures, and rules for editing (only their own page, cyber security concerns). I also had them create a Word document to store all their usernames and passwords used in school on the laptop for easy retrieval.


 * March 4** - (30 min class/3 hrs class total) Marcia and I introduced her reading Wiki to our 8th grade reading class. There was a lot of enthusiasm for customizing their own pages. We went over all the information that I gave my science class earlier today. The barely had time to get started on posting the assignment, which was to post a creative question from the chapter they read and come up with key definitions from a list.


 * March 8** - (1 hr class/4 hr class total) Read and responded to discussion posts.


 * March 13** - (30 min online hrs/8.5 total) Reading and responding to discussion posts. I also add some more content to my journal wikis regarding cyber security. Stuff like no names or personal info, identifying information on photos, no personal photos for your profile picture. Since the 8th graders are PAWS testing all next week, I plan to introduce the journals to the 7th graders and have them reflect on what they learned during our last 2 dissections.


 * March 14** - (2 hrs on-line/10.5 hrs total) Read and respond to posts.


 * March 16** - (1.5 hrs/12 hrs total) Group meeting.


 * March 17** - (1.5 hr class/5.5 hr class total) 7th grade classes introduced to science journal wiki. Became members of the wiki, which takes some time, and make a practice entry. Went over cyber safety and rules for wiki.


 * March 19** - (.5 hr class/6 hr class total) Only had time for one section in 7th grade to put in their first science journal entry. First attempt OK, but I have to give them some feedback on expectations. I'm hoping for more details and reflection on the next go around.


 * March 20** - (1.5 hr/13.5 hrs total) Group meeting. Showed up late because of dentist appointment. Worked late after most people had left.


 * March 22-27 -** Unavailable since I was at Teton Science School


 * April 7-8** - (3 hours class/9 hrs class total) Spent 1.5 periods with each 7th grade class on Toondoo.com. We made 3 cartoons about parts of a cell and benefits of being multicellular. The feedback from my science journals was positive. Those that wrote about Toondoo expressed that it helped them learn and remember about the function of organelles. Many had questions about how to do more with the software.


 * April 9** - (1 hr class/10 hrs class total) After the unit test, the 7th grade sections had 30 minutes to write in their wiki science journals. Entries are getting better for the class that was on the 2nd attempt. The class that was on the first attempt was shorter and less detailed. I saw some good improvement between 1st and 2nd weeks. Providing feedback and questions back to the students on the discussion tab was very beneficial. Next week I will start with the 8th grade, finally!


 * April 12** - (3 hrs class/13 hrs class total) Reading journal entries and catching up on the Tech PDP wiki.


 * April 13** - (1 hr class/14 hr class total ) 8th graders wrote their first journal entry. I've found that I need to give more time to allow them to write 3 entries.


 * April 16** - (1 hr class/15 hr class total ) 7th graders used Toondoo again to create a cartoon about a food chain.


 * April 16** - (1.5 hr/15 hrs total) Group meeting. Spent time learning how to copy "snip" and paste into the wiki.


 * April 17** - (2 hr class/17 hr class total ) 8th graders wrote their second journal entry. They are getting better at picking a topic that isn't too broad or too narrow to write on. The 7th grade learned how to snip their Toondoo cartoon and paste it into their journal wiki. It become 1 of their 2 entries this week.


 * April 21** - (.5 hr class/17.5 hr class total) The 8th grade used Inspiration to create a concept web on the different forms of energy. We learned how to use graphics in place of the circular bubbles. Graphics helps them remember the term or concept better than just a colored oval.


 * April 23** - (1 hr class/18.5 hr class total) 8th graders wrote their 3rd journals on their wiki. I've found that it helps them get started when I list the main ideas taught during the week. They can't seem to remember what was done the day prior, let alone on Monday!