This is the halfway mark for the year. Amazing. Today was a lot of online testing. The L, W, and S sections took their test in the library on the computers. It is a very cool way to do it--they can find out their scores immediately, as well as the ones that they got wrong. No waiting or worrying. It really is the way to go when I can pull it off.
The O section did the mirror star lab. Almost everyone got their graph printed without problem. A couple will have to come in next week.
I'm on my way to visit my family this weekend. A long drive to Indiana (600 miles).
Sweet justice.
January 18, 2008
January 17, 2008
Day 89
This was a great day--Outsiders day, Greasers vs Soc's, the preps vs the hoods. When I get a couple of pics of the teachers I will post them. I wore my high school letter jacket that I got in 1985 and a wig that made me look both 10 years younger and like a fool.
In class today, the W and S sections started pressure. The new study guide is posted on moodle. I assigned HW 7-1a and 7-1b but gave time in class to finish. We watched a short video explaining why the Titanic sank, talking about the upward force of buoyancy and the pull of gravity becoming unbalanced.
In the O section we took the online big vocab test in the library computer lab. It was hard; only a couple of students got B's. You can start studying for the next test now--get out all of the words and start to learn them.
The L section took their Unit 6 test today. I have no scores to report, but the W section had a much higher average than the last test on unit 5. That makes me happy.
It is snowing today. Sweet justice.
In class today, the W and S sections started pressure. The new study guide is posted on moodle. I assigned HW 7-1a and 7-1b but gave time in class to finish. We watched a short video explaining why the Titanic sank, talking about the upward force of buoyancy and the pull of gravity becoming unbalanced.
In the O section we took the online big vocab test in the library computer lab. It was hard; only a couple of students got B's. You can start studying for the next test now--get out all of the words and start to learn them.
The L section took their Unit 6 test today. I have no scores to report, but the W section had a much higher average than the last test on unit 5. That makes me happy.
It is snowing today. Sweet justice.
January 16, 2008
Day 88
Test day! The O, W, and S sections all took their test. I have graded the W section tests and the O section tests are almost done. So far, I have been happy with the scores. The average in the W section was a C+; it is hard to complain after my worry yesterday that the scores would be dismal. Now, on to pressure.
The L section has their test tomorrow after they did the mirror star lab today. They did well, did a good job with their graphs, and no one gave up, no matter how hard their first attempt was. Starting next week, we will be round-robining the groupings in lab, so that everyone gets to work with everyone else again. It will refresh things for us.
Sweet justice! Big vocab test tomorrow for the O's, Friday for everyone else.
The L section has their test tomorrow after they did the mirror star lab today. They did well, did a good job with their graphs, and no one gave up, no matter how hard their first attempt was. Starting next week, we will be round-robining the groupings in lab, so that everyone gets to work with everyone else again. It will refresh things for us.
Sweet justice! Big vocab test tomorrow for the O's, Friday for everyone else.
January 15, 2008
Day 87
The S section did a good job with the mirror star lab today--though only a few bested my record of 11 seconds and no errors, a few did, and everyone finished with time to graph. A couple tried the OWLS maze challenge, but no one won a Penny Hardaway folder.
The W, L, and O sections all reviewed. I must say it was a sobering day for me. I am almost always happy, and I held onto that reserve today, but it became clear very quickly that the OWL sections have a long way to go before tomorrow's test (Thursday for the L section). Yikes! We used the clicker system (a handheld response system) and students did, well, poorly. The average in the W and L sections was just at 60% correct for the 20 multiple choice questions we went over. The O section got just over 70%, but even that isn't so good. I will hope that everyone studies for the test. Please?
Sweet justice for those that do and don't study, I guess.
The W, L, and O sections all reviewed. I must say it was a sobering day for me. I am almost always happy, and I held onto that reserve today, but it became clear very quickly that the OWL sections have a long way to go before tomorrow's test (Thursday for the L section). Yikes! We used the clicker system (a handheld response system) and students did, well, poorly. The average in the W and L sections was just at 60% correct for the 20 multiple choice questions we went over. The O section got just over 70%, but even that isn't so good. I will hope that everyone studies for the test. Please?
Sweet justice for those that do and don't study, I guess.
January 14, 2008
Day 86
The S section ran into some technical difficulties today with the CPS computer response system. This system gives every student their own clicker and the chance to respond to questions that appear on the smartboard. In fact, it is a game for us, where the first person to respond gets a bonus of 5 points and every correct answer is 20 points. Sadly, my computer battery died with 10 minutes left in the class and we were not in my normal room so I didn't have my power supply with me :( They were good sports about it. I had set up this system for them: 80% correct (that means the total correct for every student for every question on average) and I would drop one essay from the 4 on the test; 90% and I would drop two; and 95% or more and I would drop three. When the computer died they had 96%! I stuck with my word and they can choose one of four.
The W section did the mirror star graph today. This lab has students look in a mirror while they try to follow through a star maze. Tough stuff, but everyone usually gets better over time. They graph their data at the end using a template they download from my moodle site.
The O and L sections today talked about momentum and got to see the great swinging pendulum balls demonstration. It is simply amazing to see the balls swing and knock out as many as are dropped. So, if I pull back one, one goes off the other side. Here is a video you can watch, actually using the same device I use in class. I do a lot more than this in class--I need a webcam so that I can record my demos! I'll keep working on that.
I hope the link works for you! I haven't had much luck lately with these.
No homework today for anyone, except to study study study for the tests coming up later this week.
Sweet justice.
The W section did the mirror star graph today. This lab has students look in a mirror while they try to follow through a star maze. Tough stuff, but everyone usually gets better over time. They graph their data at the end using a template they download from my moodle site.
The O and L sections today talked about momentum and got to see the great swinging pendulum balls demonstration. It is simply amazing to see the balls swing and knock out as many as are dropped. So, if I pull back one, one goes off the other side. Here is a video you can watch, actually using the same device I use in class. I do a lot more than this in class--I need a webcam so that I can record my demos! I'll keep working on that.
I hope the link works for you! I haven't had much luck lately with these.
No homework today for anyone, except to study study study for the tests coming up later this week.
Sweet justice.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)