Mr. Kruglinski’s Teacher Blog

This is a great video that demonstrates the 8th grade science standard of “transfer of energy.” It is an amazing Rube Goldberg with no special effects or edits. I showed it to my students a few weeks ago and they really liked it.

I remember how inspired I was by the old Cosmos episodes of Carl Sagan on PBS.  Well, I found a load of podcasts, similar to Cosmos, with futuristic music, colorful images, and fantastic voyages into the mysteries of the universe.  I used iTunes, and did a Podcast search for “astronomy.”  I especially liked #20, Jack Horkheimer: Star Gazer.  He was sitting on the rings of Saturn, giving a lesson while the spacy music of Tomita played in the background.  Great things to share with students, or just to get ideas for making the classroom more engaging.

Photo Credits:

Lit Match, By David Lindes Photography  http://flickr.com/photos/lindes/248114531/

Elephant Toothpaste, By Dr. Slime http://flickr.com/photos/62292905@N00/45650997/

Double Displacement Reaction, By cyndylp59 http://flickr.com/photos/petersoncl/3209937064/

Combustion Reaction, By cyndylp59 http://flickr.com/photos/petersoncl/3209937016/

One of my jobs as a science teacher is to inspire the next generation to care for the Earth.

Like David Jakes says in Communicatiing Visually in the 21st Century, a strategic, visual image can spark emotions and inspire action. I like the way this photo communicates humankind’s responsibility to planet Earth.

Although this photo was uploaded to Flickr by “aussiegal,” she uploaded it from the NASA website, which allows it to be used for free.  See http://www.flickr.com/photos/aussiegall/759309122/

I wish I knew about this six months ago when I was working on my Master’s project.  I was designing an educational video game and didn’t want any copyright problems so instead of using easy-to-obtain art from google images, I instead had to draw all of the art by hand.  It was very time-consuming and I am not the best of artists.  If I knew there was free art available, it would have spiced-up my project with speed and ease.

I have been adding images to my opening assignments in the classroom, and once you get used to it, it is hard to go back.  The opening seems so plain without some kind of attractive picture.  If I am teaching about the spectrum, the students walk into the classroom and see a breathtaking photo of a rainbow to get the students engaged and fascinated!

Since images have become much easier to project in the classroom, it has also led to experimentation, because it is now convenient and easy to experiment.  One of my experiments includes photos of students being quiet and studying.  The idea is that the photos model the behavior I am trying to promote in the classroom.  I believe I can motivate students to be more serious with such images.

Since John Travolta was recently in the news, I wanted to find out about the religion of Scientology.  I didn’t realize it was so controversial.  In fact, it seems that The Simpsons did a parody of some of Scientology’s recruitment techniques and methods fo abstracting money from members.

What was so interesting about Wikipedia’s entry is that the leaders of Scientology are know for being very quick to sue.  So there is much pressure to get the facts just right, and it seems the Wikipedia entry is written very carefully, and yet reveals much scandal.  It really was interesting to read and learn the many secrets and great controversies (See the Time magazine article cover-story that Wikipedia references if you are interested in more.)

I think it would be great to have science classrooms across the globe discussing the little things that we do not normally pay much attention to.  For example, what color is the dirt under your feet?  What chemistry does this color indicate?  How does this unique chemistry affect the kinds of plants that can grow in it and the kind of bugs that can live in the soil and eat these kinds of plants?  How does a seemingly little thing like soil-type have a chain-reaction effect on so much of our environment and our lives?

I got the idea when I was recently watching a Nigerian movie and noticed how very red the soil was.  This is an indication of a high iron content.  Unfortunately, many crops will not grow well in such an iron-rich soil.  This is why there is the devastation of slash-and-burn methods of enriching the soil (by burning down all of the trees) in tropical rainforest regions of the world.

For inspiration, I went to “1001 Flat World Tales” at

http://burell9english.wikispaces.com/

If you go there, click “1001 Flat World Tales website” and click on the menu, “The Tales.”  Scroll around and you will see excerpts from student stories from across Hawaii, South Korea, and Missouri.  The excerpt gives you a quick idea of the story-type and let’s you select just the one that you want.  For example, I was intrigued that the Irish tradition of the Fairy Tales (with literally fairies in the stories) no only is popular in America, but is embraced in South Korea too.

I also visited the award-winning “Flat Classroom Project,” inspired by Thomas Friedman’s book, The World is Flat.  Well, I am a big Thomas Friedman fan, so I just had to visit this site, and I am glad his writings are being honored in such a way that he is molding a worldwide classroom experience.  The harmonious aspect that I noticed is that the site encourages classrooms around the world to study Friedman’s lessons, and by sharing information over the web, they are using the lessons and making them true.

Finally, I visited Dr. Riech’s Chemistry wiki.  Not only did I want to see how another science teacher presents science lessons, but I am always interested in seeing how scientists present the (controversial and perhaps very dangerous) methods for building an atomic bomb.  Please don’t tell the world too much!

As a former web site designer, I can tell you that the best methods for designing a wiki or a web site is to use the time-tested methods of newspapers and mail-order catalogs:  Engaging headlines that attract certain readers to certain areas of interest, black type with a white background in a standard font, attractive photos that make eye-contact with the reader, put the best stuff in the front, lead the reader like a set of good directions lead a driver, use simple and straight-forward language, and watch people use your site to learn how people process and use your information.  Then use that information to make modifications.

- David

I like that there is a web site that provides videos that are student-appropriate and educational too.  I am referring to TeacherTube.com, and I have just subscribed to their feed.  I am looking forward to the updates.

The great thing about TeacherTube is that, unlike YouTube, TeacherTube is not blocked by the school’s security system for possible inappropriate content.  Whatever I discover on TeacherTube, I can show with confidence.

I also subscribed to two of my coworkers’ blogs.  I know I will read from them soon.

Using my reader, I discovered this useful site for science teachers:

http://www.fossweb.com/modules3-6/PhysicsofSound/index.html

I think my students would especially like the “Activities” part.  In it, you can move a metal rod at different distances on a landscape and make lightning strike it.  The farther away it is, the longer the amount of time it takes the crash of thunder to reach you.  Also included is a game under water.  Move a submarine to different distances and then see how long it takes to hear a sonar’s ping.

This may be a way to make the difference between the speed of sound and the speed of light meaningful to middle school students.

The only drawback of the site is that it is noisy.  I can imagine some of my students complaining about the thunder noises.

I can relate to what Dan Meyer is saying in his blog artilcle, “Why I Don’t Assign Homework,” but feel compelled to disagree with one point:  Meyer explains that a homework assignment is typically completed by the students that need it the least, but not attempted by the students that need it the most.

Well, maybe so, but just because the best students don’t need the homework the most, they may still need it to an important degree.  It is the best students that are on the path to a college education and these students need to have good study habits — they need to be prepared for much homework.

Whether you live in a wealthy neighborhood or an inner city environment, all of the students deserve a “Beverly Hills” education.  If homework is given at the best schools, then the only way a school in a poor neighborhood can hope to compete is by offering the same level of instruction, including the same level of homework.  We have to give the best education to the best students, while also working to motivate and inspire the struggling students to go and do their homework too.