Screen Cast

My goal this week is to get my screen cast finished. I am going to screen cast different examples of how to calculate photoperiods for different cities. Every year, no matter how many times I show the students how to do the calculations, and no matter how many times I remind them to come get help, a handful of students still miss the calculations. This then affects the outcome of their project (and their grade). So, if the examples are online, the students can refer to them if they need help. I think they would rather watch the screen cast online then come meet with me at lunch for help anyways:)

Photoperiod Project

I'm trying to cut out all of the paperwork from the photoperiod project and condense it into a google doc. I created a research sheet: http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dfwtzkm9_1cnqkzwfd for each group to use. In the past, each student had to fill out a research sheet each week while working with their group. Now, it will be much easier for groups to communicate if they are working at home. Also, it was always difficult for me to tell who had done most of the work, so now I can grade them individually on what research they have found. Instead of giving each student a research sheet each week for 5 weeks (52 students), I can have absolutely no paper work to grade. I can just make comments on their google doc. Also, it used to be that I wouldn't see what they had done until the project was over with, but now I will easily be able to track what they are finding. I think it will make the project much easier for me, and more interesting for the students.

I have been looking at google docs and I think it would work really well for my photoperiod project. The students have to do a lot of research as a group, and it is sometimes hard for me to tell how much work each student is doing. By using google docs, each student could write in a different color so I could see the amount of work they are doing. Also, it would save a lot of paper. The students could also easily communicate on the weekends, breaks, etc.

Photoperiod Project

I would like to use a blog in my seventh grade science class for our photoperiod project. It would be a great place to do a "practice city" for the students. They could help each other out on the blog and explain stuff to each other, and I could post helpful hints and answer questions. It could possibly save me a lot of time later, once we get the actual cities.

First Blog

This is my first time blogging, and it is much easier than I thought it would be! I think that learning these web 2.0 tools will be very helpful for my classes.