EDU App Review: Cell Defender!

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Cell Defender is an iOS app to help students learn more about cell biology in the form of game.  The player becomes a part of the storyline!  

While learning about the role of organelles, the player also learns about how the functions of the different organelles contribute to the cell's overall health and homeostasis.

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This app could be used to introduce cell biology to students (the Explore portion of a 5E lesson) or as a review.

EDU App Review: Tinkerbox!

EDUApp Review: Tinkerbox!

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Tinkerbox is a FREE iPad app where students of all ages can figure out how to manipulate mechanical systems to achieve stated goals for different levels or create their own systems.

This app would be great to use in physics or physical science courses to help students learn how to apply physics concepts like force, motion, vectors, gravity, etc.  Each level has a different goal that could be linked to national or state standards.

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Tinkerbox could also be used in guided inquiry or project-based learning  Teachers could have students show them when they have figured out the solutions for each stage or have them create a system according to a rubric. Students could record and post their efforts to a blog or learning management system as a performance-based assessment.

Anticipatory Guides and Collaborative Learning in the Flipped Classroom

While teaching an ecology unit in Biology, I decided to turn a True/False assignment into an anticipatory guide.

First, I told the students to answer the questions about energy flow through ecosystems based on current knowledge.

Next, I told them to find evidence to support their answer or change their answer from the textbook by incorporating the Kagan structure Rally Coach.

I told the students to work in groups of two. Partner A would find support for the first statement. Partner B would find evidence on the second statement, and so on. The students were told to write the page number to support their answer. Partner A was the person whose birthday was closest to that day.

I also told them to correct the incorrect sentences.

When pairs finished, they could confer with another pair (Kagan structure Round Robin).

Finally, we discussed our findings as a whole group.

Things I liked about this activity:

• Prior knowledge was acknowledged and utilized
• Misconceptions were discussed and addressed
• Cooperative learning strategies were incorporated
• Students were allowed to be experts
• Struggling students and students who engage in off-task behavior were on-task and helping other students

In flipping my class, I need to provide engaging activities from bell to bell. This particularly important because Our classes are on a block schedule. As I work to improve my teaching, I will continue to update this blog.

Teaching Higher-Order Thinking Skills in a Flipped Classroom

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As a Chemistry teacher, I spend a great deal of my time helping students figure out how to solve word problems. Currently, my students are learning how to use gas law equations. While my students know how to use algebra to solve problems involving variables, some students struggle through the problems. My experience has been that just giving students more problems doesn't improve their understanding of the concept.  I have to figure out what steps are giving the students trouble.  Often, there are steps I do in my head that I may not always verbalize.  

Here are some of the decisions students have to make when solving problems: 

• Determining what information is given in the problem 
• Matching given quantities with variables based on units  
• Determining whether one or more sets of conditions are provided in the problem 
• Determining which equation to use based on variables provided and conditions 
• If ideal gas law is needed, determining the correct value of universal gas constant R to use based on units used in the problem. 
• Converting Celsius temperatures to degrees Kelvin 
• Determining how to rearrange equations to solve for specific variables - involves knowledge of manipulation equations with fractions 
• Determining how to substitute quantities for variables correctly 
• Performing calculations by hand or with calculator correctly - some students will do all steps correctly and then incorrectly use the calculator 
• Using knowledge of direct and inverse proportions to determine whether calculations make sense 

After students performed below my expectations on their first test, I decided to re-teach gas laws with more attention to the individual steps listed above and the relationships between the variables.  One of my goals in flipping my classroom is to incorporate more metacognitive strategies and math review into my chemistry videos.  I also want to relate science content to other content areas to help students bring those foundation skills into the science classroom.  The attempt to flip my classroom has been a work in progress, but overall flipping has helped my teaching.

5 Reasons Why Flipped Instruction Is More Than Video

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1. Video is only one type of content.

Video is just one of many tools available to teachers who want to flip their instruction.

2. Flipping is about engaging students with 21st century learning tools.

Teachers could present content online using Prezis, Google Presentations, audio podcasts, and other tools.

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3. Flipping is about increasing students' responsibility for their learning.

When students own their learning experiences, they seem to be more likely to understand and add information to their long-term memory.

4. Flipping is about leading students through rigorous and relevant learning experiences.

Flipped instruction creates more class time for activities. Teachers should fill this time with activities that are hands-on, project-based, inquiry-based, and career-oriented.

5. An expectation of making videos for all topics during the first year of flipping may be unrealistic in some cases.

I don't have the expectation that I will be a master at flipped instruction in year 1. Making instructional videos has given me a better idea of how I can make better instructional videos in the future. Also, making instructional videos must be balanced with planning engaging classroom activities.

Working as an individual teacher flipping instruction is possible, but educators may want to consider collaborating with other teachers in creating content. While I agree that the a teacher creating content for their students is ideal, giving students access to multiple experts benefits students of all teachers involved.

Bottom Line - Flipped instruction should be more about what students are able to do and less about what method of online instruction the teacher chooses.

5 Reasons to Flip Your Classroom Now!

1. Additional time for student practice

Allowing students to watch videos outside of class allows students to practice in class instead of at home.

2. Additional time for teacher feedback

Practicing in class allows students to get help and feedback from their teacher as they work through problems or activities.  Previously, students would work alone at home without help, possibly reinforcing misconceptions or allowing them to give up because they did not have help.

3. Additional time for collaborative learning

The additional class time provides more opportunities for collaborative learning and project-based learning activities.  Students should have more opportunities to create products that are authentic learning experiences, rigorous and relevant, and prepare them for college and careers.

4. Increased student engagement

Students should be more engaged at home and in class.  Freed from the traditional lecture format, students can stop, rewind and pause videos to increase understanding.  In addition, they can find additional learning materials online of their own choosing to help them attain mastery of content.  This allows students to own their learning experiences.

5. Increased time for planning activities instead of planning lectures

Instead of planning lectures, teachers can plan activities for students to learn through hands-on experiences.  This also creates more time for reflection on how to further improve your students' learning experiences!

Building a Better Science Teacher

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This academic year marks my 5th year in the teaching profession. I am thinking more about what I want students to know and do as a result of my teaching. While I am guided by state and national standards, I also have ideas about what skills I want students to develop in my courses:

- technical writing


- making and interpreting tables and graphs


- presenting lab data and science content in multiple formats


- thinking/inquiry skills


- reading and vocabulary proficiency


- content knowledge

This semester I will design activities to balance content and skills development. This is consistent with efforts to flip my classroom and incorporate standards-based grading practices. While my students do hands-on activities and experiments on a regular basis, I want to be more deliberate about what I want my students to learn from these activities.

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One way I can more deliberately incorporate process skills is having all of my students compete in the Google Science Fair. My intent is to break down their projects into small assignments they can complete before the submission deadline, April 1st.

First, I want them to develop their own research questions. I want them to understand that they can apply the scientific method to many subject areas.

I am hoping that participating in the Google Science Fair will get my students excited about science and help improve their Science understanding and skill set.

Before You Assign Another Lab Report...

As a science teacher, I regularly assign lab reports as a way to incorporate writing skills and science process skills into assessments. However, I often assigned lab reports as traditional reports. While this format definitely has its place, allowing students to submit lab reports in more creative formats may increase engagement and keep students focused on the goals: increased content knowledge and process skills.

Examples of innovative lab reports include:

Booklet
Booklets are simple and low-tech, but allow students to draw and use color.

Foldable
Booklets and foldables are especially helpful if most assignments are submitted online.


Google Presentation
Students can make Google Presentations instead of traditional PowerPoints.


Prezi
While PowerPoints and Google Presentations present content in a linear format, Prezis integrate several media types, but allow the reader to choose their path through the information.


Screencast
A screencast incorporates audio into an online presentation so students may explain the steps of the lab report.


Google Site
Students can create a website dedicated to their experiment or research project.

Hopefully, at least one of the ideas will work in your classroom!

Tweet of the Day!

@rmbyrne Free Technology for Teachers: AccuTeach - Connect With Teachers and Parents bit.ly/s2frMr #edtech

— Edwards Learning Lab (@EdLearningLab) January 3, 2012

"Apps for Professional Development"

#edtech Apps for Professional Development dlvr.it/12t69L (@VAMCE2010)

— Paulo Simões (@pgsimoes) December 31, 2011

Standards-Based Grading and the Flipped Classroom

This week I am attempting to incorporate aspects of Standards-Based Grading into my Biology class.  Here are some of the details:

1. I am introducing a standards-based rubric. 
2. I am providing the students with a learning plan of activities for them to complete throughout the week.  Activities include performing inquiry projects, finishing vocabulary activities, watching relevant videos, and completing online activities.  Students will have to demonstrate mastery by writing open-ended responses to questions about the content as well as take quizzes and a unit test.
3. Students will have the opportunity to retake an assignment to demonstrate increased levels of mastery.
4. I will also create an online standards-based gradebook on Google Docs.

I believe standards-based grading is consistent with the flipped classroom movement because:

1. Allowing students to watch videos outside of class gives them more time to develop and demonstrate mastery in class
2. The additional activity time gained by flipping a classroom should provide additional time for teachers to help students attain mastery.
3. Flipped classrooms should be classrooms with evidence of student work linked to content and process standards.

I will write about how this process worked in this unit during future posts!

Screencasting!

In my attempt to create my own flipped classroom, I have begun making screencasts to deliver content to my students. After reviewing several screencasting websites, I settled on http://www.screenr.com.  So far, I made videos about base pairing rules, types of chemical reactions, and types of mutations.

Listening to myself talk and getting used to the microphone have been very helpful for me as an educator.  Listening to my screencasts helped me get a sense of what my students hear when I speak.  As a result, I want to demonstrate even more enthusiasm and use more voice inflections when I speak.  Whether listening to me in class or online, I want to make sure students are engaged in the learning process.

There are several other screencasting sites.  Pick one you like best. Other screencasting sites include:

• http://www.screencast-o-matic.com
• http://www.screencast.com
• Jing
• Camtasia

There are also screencasting apps for the iPad.  With these apps, write on the screen using a stylus or your finger.  This might be helpful when showing students how to perform calculations.  However, to my knowledge, iPad screencasting apps do not allow users to access content outside the app (websites, documents, etc.).  iPad screencasting apps include:

• Explain Everything
• ShowMe
• ScreenChomp
• http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/replaynote/id419786855?mt=8

Block Scheduling

This year is my first year to teach in a block schedule. Overall, I find that block scheduling works very well in science. With the longer class period (1 hour and 20 minutes), my students can complete multiple activities in one class period. Also, students are more likely to complete an experiment within one class period and have time remaining to process what they have learned from the experiment. However, instead of teaching a group of students each day, I teach a group of students every two days. Ultimately, I am very excited about the opportunity to teach in a block schedule this year.

Flipped Classroom

This year I learned about flipped classrooms and I made an effort to try to flip my classroom as well. I began recording videos of myself explaining content for students to watch on my YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/edwardslearninglab .

 However, while I enjoy making videos, I know that there are many great videos already on YouTube. I began creating playlists with these videos for students. However, some students did not have Internet access and others were not able to watch the videos. To encourage more students to watch the videos, I created online assignments with embedded videos. The students have to answer questions about the content in the video. To accommodate students with limited Internet access, I give students a week to complete the assignment. While this is not a true flipped classroom, I have found this works well for my students. I try to make watching the videos an active process by assigning a few questions with the videos, but use class time for practice and hands-on activities. I realize that "the flip" is a long-term process and I am giving myself permission to learn and grow.

Edmodo

I began using Edmodo this year to provide online assignments. Here are some of the reasons I love using http://www.edmodo.com:
 - No cost to K-12 educators and schools
- Layout is similar to Facebook so students can easily navigate the website
- Notifications box tells me how many assignments have been turned in since my last login
- Notifications box for students tells them how many assignments are due and how many assignments are late
- Embedding or linking to videos is relatively simple
- Privacy controls keep student information secure
- You can assign quizzes online and allow Edmodo to grade them for you
- Easily provide feedback on student work
- Integration with Google Docs allows the teacher to link from Edmodo to Google Docs for presentations, handouts, or assignments
- Parents can set up accounts to view student assignments and student grades as well as communicate with teachers
- Administrators can have accounts
- Teachers and administrators can view analytics on student, class, and teacher utilization of Edmodo (site visits, turn ins, etc).
- District or school subdomains
- Teachers can reset student passwords
- Teachers can award students badges for positive behaviors

Connecting Labs to Math Process Skills

In Chemistry, I am currently teaching the mole concept.  Students were trying to understand what moles are and how to do calculations involving moles.  The students were completing a lab where they had to determine the mass of three samples.  This lab gave them the opportunity to use different types of balances.  Next, the students had to determine the number of moles and number of representative particles associated with the masses of their samples.  After determining the masses of the samples and cleaning up the lab, the students watched the following YouTube videos from ChemistNATE (http://www.youtube.com/user/chemistNATE):

Calculating Molar Mass: ChemistNATE

Calculating Grams from Moles: ChemistNATE

Calculating Moles from Grams: ChemistNATE

After watching each video, the students completed the calculations necessary needed to fill out the appropriate section of the data table.

This lab involved hands-on learning skills, lab process skills, and calculation skills.  Integrating each of these skills in one activity improved student understanding of a difficult concept.

Foldables in Science

While I have used foldables for some time now as a science teacher, I am more familiar with using foldables to help students understand concepts. However, this year I have used foldables to help students decide which formula to use in chemistry.

For example, this week my students learned about the mole and calculations involving the mole.  My students made 4-tab matchbooks which they could paste into their interactive notebooks.  The titles of the tabs were "Calculating Molar Mass," "Calculating Mass from Moles," "Calculating Moles from Mass" and "Calculating Particles from Moles."  Behind each tab, students wrote the corresponding formula.  I allowed the students to use the foldable on their exam.

The class average on this exam exceeded class averages on previous exams.  While I can't go so far as to state statistical significance for this instructional tool, there seems to be some evidence that foldables help students learn difficult concepts in chemistry.

Update: Google Docs!

I created a concept map using Google Drawings this week.

While the program takes some getting useful, I like being able to create concept maps in Google Docs and having the ability to insert them into Google Documents or Google Presentations as needed.

This concept map involved mole calculations in chemistry.  I plan to share the concept map with my students after the Thanksgiving break.  I will provide an update later regarding their feedback.

Google Docs!

This year I've tried to use Google products as much as possible since the sites are not blocked on our campus.

Here are some ways I use Google products at my school:

Google Documents
- Class handouts
- Class assignments

Google Presentations
- All presentations this year are made on Google presentations
- Students complete six weeks projects on Google Presentations and share them with me

Google Forms
- Science Book Checkout Form
- Tutoring Sign Up Form
- Lab Data Collection and Analysis Form: Students submit their data and all data goes to Google Spreadsheet
- Online Student Quizzes

Google Spreadsheets
- Analysis of lab data/Class discussions
- Grading of student quizzes using Flubaroo
- Documenting parent contacts and discipline issues

Google Groups
- Groups for each class
- Sharing files with group email gives students access to my presentations, assignments, and handouts

Goal:
- Use Google Drawings to make graphic organizers

The Power of Inquiry Labs

In chemistry this week, my students completed an inquiry lab involving the law of conservation of mass.  While many teachers and students have done this lab, my students had not previously performed this experiment.

The students were told they could use a Ziploc bag, an antacid tablet, a graduated cylinder, water, and a balance to determine the total mass before and after the reaction that occurs when antacid tablets are placed in water.  The students had to develop their own procedure before receiving materials.  The students then completed the experiment with their materials.  Watching the students work together to make decisions about the amount of water to use and how to set up their equations to determine initial and final masses was informative for them and for me.  Next the students calculated the percent difference before and after the reaction.  They were excited when they realized a small percent difference meant they had evidence supporting the law of conservation of mass.

In the future I plan to incorporate more inquiry labs in biology and chemistry classes.