Let the Podcasting Begin!

Hi all,

Most importantly, on our right is a picture of the first snow angel of 2008-2009 created by MBO. Yeah for snow!

Wow, we have been focused on the class wiki for the last few weeks. So much so that I haven't taken the time to blog anything; I feel like I've been online so much I'm starting to forget what the real world looks like. I have here something that I think might make class and studying a little bit easier. I made a podcast of today's notes. Some students are audio learners, so this will help them quite a bit. Some students spend a lot of time in the car so this will let them study for science with their headphones on. Now, these aren't professional-quality audio productions. It's me. With a microphone. And 15 minutes of free time.
Here's a short video of how to get hold of the podcast.

How to get the podcast

Students can listen to the notes online, they can download them and listen to them on their laptops, or they can use iTunes to put them on their iPods and listen to them that way. Let me know how this works out. If no one uses the podcasts, I'll stop wasting my time. But if your child really makes good use of them and feels like they help I'll keep it up.

I should make it clear that these recordings do not replace classroom notes. The podcast is not as comprehensive as our classroom note session. But it does give a quick overview of what was discussed, and offer another "quick and dirty" study option. MrE

Classroom Wiki

This week the students have been using a wiki to create a study guide for our upcoming (date TBD) test. If you haven't used on before, a wiki is a webpage that can be edited by anyone with access. In our case, only students (and I) have access to the page. Input on my part is minimal; I put up two bullet points and a video about using the interface, and they did the rest. I just check every day to make sure that what they write is scientifically accurate and Calvert School appropriate.
Some students have made lots of contributions; they're wiki all-stars. Some have made small ones, like leaving a comment. But more than half of the class has given some sort of input thus far.
Over the course of 2 days students began a process that they will be using for the rest of their lives. They're working collaboratively to create the best document possible. Sure, there have been setbacks: there is a currently a great debate raging on which color font should be used. One student mentioned that if you don't add important information to the study guide, you shouldn't get to change the color. I agree. But our students are working it out amongst themselves.

I couldn't be more proud.

Swamps, Bogs, and Marshes in the News

We've been talking about wetlands in class today, and I read this article the other day, so I thought I'd share it with you.

Global Warming Dries Up Peat Bogs

Take a look! MrE

Echo Hill Reflection

Tonight's homework:

Choose one picture or video on which to comment from the Echo Hill trip. Make sure to include a description of the setting (so we know which picture you're talking about), and a similar or contrasting experience that you had. Or talk about something that happened in that location; or talk about something you've done in your life that connects to that picture or video. Make sure to post your comment before the first bell rings for your class tomorrow--no posting in class. JE136

Echo Hill Day Two

Hello Interweb,

Camp Life has been great lately. We've been seeing whitetail deer and all kinds of other animals, we've been canoeing, playing ball, and having a great time with our friends all over the campground. Here are some of my favorite photos.



When we're not lounging around and spending time on the water, we've been going on some some pretty serious adventures. The Echo Hill Staff has been working with us in setting group and individual goals. This morning some students did group exercises with Nate, the Director of Questions while others went with Scott and Erin to climb the Giant's Ladder, an individual challenge. I was lucky enough to participate in both. Here's some shots from the giants ladder and a video of one student riding down the zip line.




I was talking to Ms. Herrity and she said that every kid made it to their goal, or at least part of their goal. That's impressive! Students were encouraged to take on an extra challenge if they felt the climb might be too easy; there were routes that were more difficult than others, and some kids even chose to carry along an extra challenge like a rubber chicken.



The Echo Hill staff member that supervised the Ladder from the ground said that this was one of the most focused, positive, and socially aware groups that they've had come through this summer, and that everyone was looking out for everyone else the whole time.

What else can a teacher ask for?

Echo Hill Day One

Hi All,

Here are some pictures of our first day at Echo Hill. We had a nice ride up and then went about our business here at the school. My first class was Bay Studies. We took one of the vintage wooden skipjacks out on the bay and learned about all kinds of things -- fish features, bay history, adaptations, antique and current fishing methods, predator-prey interactions-- it was fantastic, Captain Carrington did a wonderful job.

We caught a 2 foot blue catfish that had been living in an old crab trap on the bottom; our cod net (now outlawed except by special educational permit) pulled up the trap, the catfish, and decaying catfish that the first cat was living off of.







A bit disgusting, but awesome nevertheless. We caught a Blue Crab (too small to eat), a bunch of white perch, a couple of pumpkinseeds and a couple of American eels.



Capt. Carrington and 1st Mate Molly told us the story of how all American eels travel to the Sargasso Sea to mate, and how the European eels make the same trip, but that the two species never interbreed.

What a day. I'm ready to crash. Too much learning.

The Molly Harris Garden

I know that Mr. Martire sent this around to the faculty earlier this week. It's hard to imagine just how much rain fell that day. Luckily we recently studied the water cycle, so this makes a great example of concentrated runoff.

Life, or Something Like It...

Today we collected water samples from the ponds in front of Castalia in hopes of finding some pond life. Our homework for the afternoon is to visit the Pond Life Identification Kit and the Smallest Page on the Web and choose three organisms from three different groups to draw and describe. The descriptions on the page are in short phrases, but since I'll be reading your descriptions they need to be in complete sentences. The information in your description should be information for identification.

Example: Water fleas can be almost six millimeters in length; you can barely see them with your naked eye. They have two large antennae that look like arms which they use to move through the water. They have a single, really dark eye. They look sort of like tiny penguins with arms like Frankenstein's Monster.

You need to go through this process for three organisms. If you get a spare moment take a look at the microscopy site by Mr. Lazaroff that shows you how to make wet mount slides, which we'll be doing tomorrow. I can't wait to see what you learn.

Water Cycle Movies

Now that we've seen my rather pathetic attempt at directing a short film, its time for the real stars to come out. Today students began brainstorming and storyboarding ideas for a 1-2 minute film on the water cycle that they will be making over the next week or so. Their ideas are already better than mine. We'll be making short movies on various topics all year, so this is a chance to learn the process and get our feet wet, pun intended.
Everyone was so excited that about a minute after I introduced the project, a student yelled "We're ready!!" and grabbed 2 cameras off my desk. But we're not going to start shooting anything until at least Friday and I can already see some students champing at the bit.
So ask your favorite student about their movie idea. I hope you'll get an earful.

Proof to support my hypothesis...

I told parents last night that their kids were awesome--I offer evidence in favor of my argument. 5th graders designed their own experiment to disprove my idea that somehow water leaks through pores in the glass, or crawls over the edges of the glass in microscopic trails to escape to the outside.



6th graders had 3 minutes to design, script, and shoot a short film that demonstrates the water cycle. I think they did a great job in the time that I allotted them. I love how "runoff" does the running man in the background the whole time.

Parent Night Information

I thought it would be nice to provide some of the info needed for parent night online instead of handing out 45 copies of 3 or 4 documents. There are three things that you all might need to look at over the course of the year--the 6th grade science syllabus, a short letter to the parents of 6th graders, and our class rules and procedures. Just click on one of the links above to get them from Google docs.

Whoops!!

When blogger says "Are you sure you want to delete?" it would be best to always say "no."

Accidentally deleted my blog a few minutes ago. Silly mistake.