Tag: blended learning

Teaching Physics Online – One Year Retrospective

November 29, 2021 / dina

There’s been a bit of a lack of content here. Cavic has moved to the teaching Physics online world and it’s been a ride. I started teaching remote, like the rest of the world, during COVID. I loved it so much that I decided to move my career in that direction.

So here we are, a year later. Moving to full-time online teaching is definitely a transition, especially with a course like Physics. Here are five things I’ve learned teaching virtual Physics.

1. Know your course

I know it’s impossible to do everything yourself. Don’t reinvent the wheel and all that. However, it’s important to know the course and content you are teaching. As obvious as that may seem, a lot of schools and districts buy premade programs that teachers had no input in. If this is the case, learn the content and the way it is presented to your students. Write review guides and/or make videos for students to clarify information that needs it and teach things “your way.”

Whether you have the luxury of going through the entire course before teaching it or you simply go through the next unit the week before you start it, make sure you go through all information students receive and experience your course as a student. I have always used resources with this principle: Never assign something to students that you have not completed yourself.

Never assign something to students that you have not completed yourself.
Cavicchia teacher creed

2. Quality resources are essential

In the classroom, you, the teacher, are always there to answer questions and see when students need help. In online spaces, you lose that sense of when students need you. Enter quality, teacher-made resources. Start with identifying areas in your course that students typically have trouble with or have common misconceptions about. Create a help site for students with videos, lab template documents, guided notes, etc. to help them when you aren’t available.

Image of a Google Site students can access to located help resources. Having a place students can go 24/7 for help is a great tool when teaching Physics online. — You can make a simple, easy to create and use help site using Google Sites

If you need help finding quality resources to supplement your course, here are some of my favorite resources for Physics and Astronomy.

Of course, you don’t have to do all of this upfront, but it’s an excellent goal to build towards as you make your way through your first year of online teaching. Try to consistently add to your library of resources as you have time.

3. You can and should still do labs when teaching Physics online!

Hands-on, inquiry-based learning is SO important in Physics. Physics really is a course of doing. Labs are arguably even more important in a virtual setting – students have trouble connecting and engaging with just words and problems.

There are a ton of resources and simulations out there to help foster that hands-on experience in a virtual setting. Focus on adding and/or creating labs that have students actually manipulate variables, mimicking a real lab setting. PhET has amazing simulations for almost every topic in Physics. I also love oPhysics – they aren’t as flashy, but they have a ton of simulations to work with.

Image of an oPhysics simulation on Uniform Acceleration in One Dimension - one of the many simulations they offer. — Here’s an example of a great GeoGebra-based simulation from oPhysics.

4. Make yourself approachable and available

I know every school and district has different policies in place about how you are allowed to communicate with students. Work within your restraints and make yourself available to your students in as many ways as possible.

Google Voice has truly been game-changing – I love being able to text students from a work-only number. Students tend to see and respond to texts faster than any other method of communication. They also are more open to reaching out to me than through video channels – the camera-shyness is real!

Image of a sample daily teacher schedule created in Google Calendar. Having set times you are available to students will help create expectations and boundaries. — Be open and available, but within reason. Make a schedule for yourself and students to set expectations and boundaries. Here is an example day schedule for how I break up my day.

You can also offer live lessons, Zoom office hours, and hours in which you will quickly respond to emails. Make yourself a schedule to not overwork yourself, but have times when students know they can get a quick response from you.

5. Be understanding and flexible

Virtual learning can be a challenge. Some students thrive in a self-paced environment. Some students need structure and due dates. Be prepared to accommodate different levels of structure for your students.

The same goes for due dates and timelines. Depending on your online Physics situation, you may have students juggling a lot of classes in-person and online. Set realistic expectations and be flexible if things change! Communication really is key for successfully teaching Physics online.

There are my top five things I’ve learned the last year teaching Physics online. If you’ve made the transition to online or blended learning, I hope these tips have been useful in structuring your course and resources for your students. Happy teaching!

High School Astronomy Ideas – Less Lecture, More Engagement!

April 29, 2020 / dina

I’ve talked in previous posts about my hatred of lecturing. I end up doing all the work, while students sit passively. Sure, there are ways to make lectures more engaging. However, I discovered with a particularly challenging Astronomy class last year that lectures simply weren’t working. I stopped lecturing. I stopped pretty much all teacher-led instruction. What did I do instead? I created student-led, student-centered activities. I posted about student-centered instruction before, but now I want to share how I did it in my Astronomy class. Here are five high school Astronomy ideas, along with example lessons you can use in your Astronomy class.

Gallery Walks

Astronomy is definitely a very visually important subject. Looking at photographs is a major part of my class. However, instead of looking at pictures as a class and discussing them, break the discussions into smaller groups with a gallery walk. I call these Astronomy Art Galleries. They are one of my favorite and most engaging high school Astronomy ideas. I have done them virtually with Google Slides/PowerPoint and with physical pictures around the classroom.

Here is my Galaxy Gallery assignment I used this school year. Click here for my full lesson plan. This activity was done with laptops (one laptop per group of 3-4 students)

Here are some easy topics to create your own Astronomy Art Gallery:

Types of galaxies (shown above)
Types of eclipses (check out my free Teachers Pay Teachers lesson plan!)
Moons in the Solar System
Nebulae and supernovae
Planets
Constellations

Station Rotations

Station rotations are not only engaging but a great way to cover a lot of content in a short amount of time. I tend to do four stations in a 50 minute class period (~7-8 minutes per station). There are eight total groups in my classroom, so I do mirrored stations.

I usually have at least one station where students are using a laptop or phone. Some types of stations you can include are:

Watching a short video
Playing a Quizlet game
Coloring/labeling a diagram
Using question dice
Reviewing work with the teacher
Reading a news article
Completing practice questions/problems

One of my favorite high school Astronomy ideas is to incorporate station rotations - get those kids moving! — Here is a brief station overview of an activity I did on the terrestrial planets. Click here for the more in-depth station directions.

I like to have one station with new information, one with review information, one with a video, and one with a group discussion. That’s not a perfect, works-in-every-lesson formula, but it is my skeleton I start with!

Questioning and Research

Students tend to be interested in Astronomy, even if they aren’t always engaged with every lesson. I like to give them the opportunity to ask questions. Then, we structure a research activity based on their research.

For this lesson on black holes, I asked students to write something they want to know about black holes. I used the Nearpod Collaborate tool so I could see who wrote what, but it was anonymous to other students. The next day, I brought out every book I own that mentions black holes, along with laptops. Students were tasked with trying to answer some of the questions they asked. The culminating assignment was to write a news article about black holes.

Sample student work of a news article about black holes — One of the news articles my students produced. I encouraged them to think of a creative, “click bait” title and I love this one!

Simulations and Virtual Labs

Labs in Astronomy can be difficult, but there are many you can do. However, I often use simulations and virtual labs to do what we can’t in class. I’ve talked about PhET simulations many, many times, but a lot of teachers don’t know that they have a lot more than just Physics!

This PhET simulation on blackbody radiation is a great way to introduce stars! — I use this simulation from PhET to introduce the H-R Diagram and different types of stars. Here is a sample worksheet to go along with it.

Some of the more Astronomy appropriate simulations PhET has are:

In addition to PhET, I have also used simulations from UNL, eduMedia, Stellarium, and Celestia.

News Articles

I feel like every single day I find a news article about something we are learning about in Astronomy. There is always new information and celestial events going on! I use news articles all the time in my classroom. This is another one of the most engaging high school Astronomy ideas!

For example, I found a news article about Mars One, and another describing why it won’t work. Students read those two articles and debated whether we should go to Mars. Here is the lesson plan for that activity.

Some other topics you could use news articles with are:

Comparing types of supernovae
Exoplanets
Meteor showers and what causes them
Types of eclipses
Discoveries from probes such as Juno and New Horizons

I hope these ideas have inspired you to rethink your classroom!

5 Tips for Blended Learning in a Science Class

May 13, 2017 / dinacav

Blended learning is one of the new trends in education, but this trend isn’t all talk. However, blended learning in science classrooms can be a little tricky. Here are five things I have learned in my blending learning endeavors that have greatly impacted student achievement.

1. Immediate feedback assessments

The biggest pitfall of assessments is the lack of feedback. Students take a test and wait days, weeks, or even months with state assessments for their results. This model does not support the learning process.

Enter online assessments. These can be done through your learning management system and provide instantaneous feedback. I have given pre-tests to my students through Canvas and used that data to drive how to break students into groups and where to go with instruction. It is amazing to have this data the moment they are finished with the assessment.

With most LMSes now, you can even secure your tests to make sure responses are genuine. Timed assessments, access codes, password protections – all of these things help remove the threat of cheating. I also like using online assessments for free response questions – even though I still have to grade them, virtual rubrics make scoring a breeze.

Remember that blended learning does not use technology to simply replace pencil-and-paper work. The advantage of using online assessments is the immediate feedback both the student and teacher receive.

2. Personalized learning menus

This is perhaps my favorite review method, and it makes blended learning in science classrooms so simple. I discussed how I use this for AP exam review earlier, and it can even work for introducing new content. Students are given a choice of several different assignments, with a goal of how many to complete or how many points to earn. I like weighting the assignments differently to give more complex assignments an incentive to complete. This strategy gives students choices in their learning and allows them to pick what helps them most.

Here is an example choice board that I made for my AP Physics 1 class. Students had to make tic-tac-toe through the middle but had the choice on which path to take. Choice boards are one way to create a learning menu. I created this board using Blendspace.

With learning menus, the assignments can vary from practice problems to videos to labs. I like including a small group lecture so students that benefit from having a real person working with them get a chance to have more guided direct instruction. This is also a great strategy if you only have a few computers available – perhaps only one or two of the items are technology based.

3. Reinforcement videos

This one can go hand-in-hand with the learning menus, but it’s a good one. Sometimes it just helps to have something explained by more than one person. While showing videos all the time isn’t the best teaching method, assigning videos to help reinforce concepts can be extremely beneficial.

I like assigning videos for homework when I feel like my class needed further explanation. Including these videos on a work-at-your-own-pace assignment can help students get the reinforcement they need or provide extension opportunities for your ahead-of-the-curve students.

Khan Academy is always for videos. I am also a fan of Crash Course and Flipping Physics.

4. Virtual lab notebooks

I am still experimenting with virtual lab notebooks as part of my blending learning endeavors. However, I have used Canvas, Google Docs, and OneDrive’s collaborative document integration. Students can submit their lab work online, work on lab reports together, and the teacher can track who added/edited in the document.

Virtual lab notebooks enhance the laboratory experience by allowing for a more collaborative data analysis phase, as well as being closer to what students can expect in college and career.

5. Virtual lab experiences

Virtual labs are excellent tools for a variety of reasons, and they are such a natural place to include blended learning in science classrooms. Whether you don’t have the equipment, the topic is too abstract, or just to reinforce an idea, virtual experiences enhance the learning process in a profound way.

I love using the PhET simulations from https://phet.colorado.edu/. I often create inquiry-based labs using these. Many are being converted to HTML5 so they can be used on mobile devices as well.

Perhaps my favorite PhET is the Energy Skate Park. Students always have so much fun while exploring energy!

Another example of a virtual lab I use is the Photoelectric Effect from PhET. My school does not have the equipment available to perform this lab, and students often have trouble understanding it without a visual. However, the virtual lab for this is the perfect resource to give them a laboratory experience without the supplies.