I can’t love technology

Today, I actually had notes on my computer, in a little PP presentation, to save some time while reviewing and to have fast access to some practice problems.

The LCD projector would not work. It searched, and searched, and searched for my computer. I tried to play with it after class, but no dice.  Why???

It was okay. Review can be okay.

An Open-Ended Test

I think some of my students are going to HATE the upcoming test. This test came from two places. First, I like to give my students a chance to “show me what they know,” and not just what I ask them. Second, it came from the joy of stoichiometry that I discovered when discussing games.

I give them a chemical equation, amount of one product, and maybe some volumes, and they have to tell me everything they know about the equation. They have to classify the equation, classify the products and reactants, calculate exactly how much of each chemical will react and be produced, etc. They also have to diagram the reaction.

The reactions that will serve my purpose best are all double displacement reactions that form both a solid and a gas (I want to revisit gas laws…). I have found some great ones. One even connects to the environmental chemistry, so maybe I will use the reaction later in a lab.

This is a lot of work. I plan to give them two days. We will spend the next two days practicing.  I like it because it accurately reflects what people do with stoichiometry; they begin with very little information and can find whatever they need. It reflects what I want them to be able to do

The River

I have been expanding on my environmental chemistry unit idea. The only problem is that I am not sure if six weeks is enough time. That is what I have between Spring Break and the end of the year. It would encompass just about everything we will do. Electrochemistry, Acid/Base chemistry, concentration, ions and metals, potentially organic (I’m not sure about tests for organic pollutants) and we could at least discuss radioactivity in connection with pollution even though that is not a problem here.

The final lab/project (possibly test) would be to write a procedure and run a series of tests on the river water over the course of two class periods. They would have to do a write up and presentation on their test results, and on possible problems from the pollution or clean-up ideas. (clean up ideas have more potential for chemical explanations).

To prepare them to do this, they would need to do at least four preparatory labs to learn the lab techniques and theory so they could write the procedure. They would need to have at least one, preferably two previous lab write-ups so they knew how to do those (they are not really part of the curriculum here for some reason). They would also need to learn about environmental chemistry in a more general way.

The coolest idea I have is that they can do a lab where they make solutions of known concentration and measure their absorbance, and then when they get the data from the river they will be able to figure out the concentration from the class graph of concentration vs. absorbance. (each pair would do a different concentration so that we could have 10 or so points on our graph).

Can I plan this fast enough, so that I can start them on it????? Is this actually possible or is it way over my head?

Part of me thinks this easier to plan, because I have this big goal that everything needs to lead up to. Every concept we learn, every equation we practice, will somehow need to help them be able to do this final task.

I am less worried about my students content knowledge than about their lab/problem solving and general independence. Can I teach them how to be that independent in six weeks? That is a lot harder than just teaching them the chemistry.

Lab Today

Today lab was pretty good.

However, the pre-lab needs work. It apparently was not clear enough what reaction was happening, and what product they were forming. Most of my students didn’t realize what they were making, why they were filtering, etc. Maybe that is typical of high school chemistry labs. It drives me crazy.

I realized that some of their calculations are really hard (seven or eight step problem, novel twist on limiting reactant). I have decided to do work on the lab tomorrow in class. We can do the theoretical calculations as a class, and then they can use their data to do the rest of it.

I have started making notes on post-its, and sticking them to the page protector that my document is kept in, so that I can remember what revisions to make.

Flexibility

If there is one thing I can safely say that I am doing very well, it is being flexible. I have had a number of things get in the way of what I had planned, from the students not knowing something they should have been taught, not having my photocopies made, programs updating within 24 hours, and so on. Each time I have had something else as valuable, if not as exciting, for my students to do.

Of course, it is easier to be flexible when you know exactly what you want them to learn (usually), when you have a lot of ways for them to practice and review (almost never), and when you have what you are doing for the next week at your fingertips (almost never).

The Search for Labs

My search for labs has intensified, because while lecturing on molarity and solution stoichiometry, I found myself saying things like, “now, if we were in a lab, and you were going to make this by mixing these two things, you would do this, because…..” and so on. How awful is that. So hard to follow, and so simple fix, if one could just find/design a decent lab.

I will have to think about my criteria for a good lab. At the moment I have a “I know it when I see it” thing.

Apparently the state standards say that 25% of time in a science class should be spent on lab work. That doesn’t even happen in the AP course here. Of course, labs for labs sake is no better than math or homework for their own sake, and there are some awful activities out there. But quality lab work should be a priority.

I’m stating what may seem obvious because my mentor advised me not to make it a priority. To be fair, he was thinking of labs-for-labs sake, and he is worried about me getting to overwrought with this whole teaching/grad school/ life thing. Which is kind. But I have to learn somehow. More to the point, my students have to learn

Environmental Chemistry

Looking for labs, I found some great ones on water quality. (I should of thought of this myself, they do a huge unit on this in FOS 1)

Edited to add: Here is the link with the lab that inspired me.

Potentially encompasses acidity, metal ions in solution, redox, organic, absorbance (turbidity), and the environment.

I am “fortunate” enough to live near a rather polluted water source, so this could be very interesting. Practical. Not that they care about how yucky their water is, but it has to be better than me lecturing.

Games

Criterion for a worthy classroom game: the game must proceed naturally from the joy of the discipline, and not be foreign or imposed upon it.

Bad game: a standard computer game where you have to solve a math problem to get more bullets.

Why do I care about games? Apparently when kids solve puzzles and play, their amygdala is less active, they are less stressed out and afraid and they learn more.

The joy of stoichiometry

I want to come up with some good equations, give the students one or two pieces of information (e.g. grams starting material) and make them tell me everything they possibly can about the equation. I mean everything. Classify the reaction, name the compounds, identify them as ionic or polar, calculate their molar mass, and calculate themselves in circles.

I wonder if there is a way to make this into a game. I thought of this, because the joy of stoichiometry is that with very little starting information, you can calculate yourself silly with all the relationships and principles.

I also like tasks where the students have to tell me everything they know.

A Voice of Experience

One of my teachers got back to me right away with math ideas.

There are two videos that he made last year, mini-documentaries that I found inspiring. And yes, I did spend my Saturday night watching them. (family was asleep or at departmental parties).

Here are the links, but I will also keep them on my video resources page.

amazing teachers

student interviews

The first one profiles award-winning math teachers, and the second one interviews students about what makes a really good math teacher.

I am familiar with the principles presented, but it was wonderful to see the different personalities and classrooms of the teachers, and to see some concrete examples of the theory.

Basically, I am on the right track. I need to start simple, use baby steps, take time, and repeat. Two things that hit me especially from the first video were the teacher who was amazing at using humor and fun in his classroom, and the teacher who emphasized a variety of problem solving strategies. I want signs like the teacher from Baltimore. It made sense to me, to have a tool box of strategies that the kids are familiar with. Then when they are having trouble you can ask them, have you tried X strategy? what about Y strategy? and they have reminders on the walls.