I started teaching the concept of the mol (not the animal…the amount) in chemistry this week. The problem is, the mol is such an impossibly large number to comprehend (6.02 x 10^23, or 602 sextillion, or 602 followed by 21 zeros) students often don’t grasp the quantity of things we are attempting to count. So,… Read More »
115th Anniversary of the X-Ray
Yesterday was the 115th anniversary of the discovery of the X-Ray. Physics Buzz, a blog run by PhysicsCentral.com, ran an interesting post on the X-Ray. It was good as my class is finishing up the unit on energy in atoms and the electromagnetic spectrum. Have a good Tuesday…
Moving to Moodle
I’ve been running my course thus far via Google sites (which I love). The site itself is easy to set-up, although the customization can take some playing around with. After a PD session or two, I’m happy with my class website. For my testing, I’ve been using another site called ClassMarker.com. It is functional because… Read More »
Periodic Table of Cereals
Update 9/18/2012 – Unfortunately, the videos no longer work because the students closed their accounts. Feel free to use this Google Doc for the activity. — A couple of weeks ago, I posted about students putting together a periodic table of cereals for a project. Well, the final drafts are in and I got some… Read More »
Objective-based grading implemented
The first attempt at anything is usually inefficient, clunky, and unpolished. That’s how I feel with my class at the moment. I’m trying to polish and refine, but I need to be patient, because I will probably never be completely satisfied…but I think good teachers are never comfortable with everything they do. We need to… Read More »
Coming Up: Student Periodic Tables
Part of the mastery system is assessing students through their own, unique work. For this next unit (beginning today) students have an opportunity to show me what they know through their own digital periodic tables based on…cereal. While this isn’t true student-driven assessment, it’s a step in the right direction for my class. I’m hoping… Read More »
Parent conferences…how to explain?
One of the challenges I’ve faced so far this year is explaining to parents how the class works and trying to convince some of them that this method is pedagogically sound. The biggest question I get from parents is: “With instruction based on videos and podcasts, what do you actually do in class? How is… Read More »
Easy web conferencing options
Part of the challenge of teaching today is finding a good time to meet as a group. And in a city as large as Seoul, meeting in person isn’t always an option. I’ve had a lot of trouble finding time to meet outside of school with students, so I decided to do some research on… Read More »
Mastering Chemistry
Mastering chemistry seems like it would be an oxymoron. Who can master chemistry? Is chemistry “master-able?” I like to think so. If we can teach students to think and make informed decisions, then we’re teaching them to be master learners. We shouldn’t be teaching only a textbook…in fact, the textbook shouldn’t even be guiding curriculum. … Read More »
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