Blog Guidelines

·         Our class blog is a way for us to share our ideas, assignments and resources with each other. You are expected to comment on each others posts and my posts in a respectful manner. Any comment that is deemed disrespectful will be removed from the blog - you will not receive credit for these posts. 

·        Do NOT use your last names when posting. Personal information should not be posted on this blog either. Never give out your phone number, home addresses, or anything of the like. If any of this is posted, it will be removed immediately. 

·       Pejorative language is not permitted on this blog. Comments with this type of language will be taken down with out notice. 

·      If you are using information from another source or quoting an article PLEASE always cite your source. Credit should be given where credit is due even if you paraphrase. Please use MLA format for this. 

·      Proofread before you post on this blog. Please do not use texting lingo (your post will be removed and you will not receive credit for that post). 

·      Parents, this blog is for student use, if you have any questions, comments or concerns, please see the contact section and email me. I am more than happy to answer any question or concern.

Lab Safety

Watch this video about lab safety, then complete the assessment.

Beginning of the Year Survey

This is a survey that will be taken on the first day of class. It will help me tailor assignments and adjust my teaching to each of my classes. In the text responses, please be honest!

Period 1 Survey

Period 3 Survey

Period 5 Survey

Period 7 Survey

Ionic Bonds

Look at this cartoon. What is it showing? What compounds will form? What compounds formed will be soluble? Which will be insoluble? 

Link to Online Interactive Periodic Table

Periodic Table of Elements

Stoichiometry Survey

Stoichiometry survey for use after Smart Notebook activity in Stoichiometry Unit. 

Screencasts

Here are my screencasts!

Powerpoint - Animations

Basic Excel Functions

Microsoft Word - APA Style

Mad Technology

This idea of a flipped classroom is something that I find to be crazy. Students go to school to learn at school. I think it would be wrong to expect students to have computers and Internet access at home in order to do their homework/watch lectures. The kids who would have Internet access would be the rich kids; the poor kids would be left behind yet again. Khan mentioned that by watching the lectures at home, the teacher could plan more meaningful lessons that way with project and game based learning. I know that their type of learning is great for students, but teachers can still do this in a normal classroom. A good teacher will find the time to do all sots of differentiated instruction. Plus, the Common Core State Standards are going to require teachers to be more creative that they will probably be adding new types of instruction into their repertoire. The one good thing I see from the Khan lectures is that they could be a resource and only a resource. Teachers could recommend students to watch them as review or to help them understand something better. I do not think that they should be used as instruction though. I agree with all the concerns that Miller had in his article. They are all legitimate.

Finally, Grantham's article was interesting, but I did not like it. Some of the aspects of the technology like the biometrics was interesting, but do we really want to have students electrodes on them every day? It seems unethical to me. Students are people not lab rats. I find that some of these technologies are going to make teaching robotic. I have always wanted to be a teacher because I like helping others, am passionate about my subject area and am a people person. The key words there are people person, not robot person. I just think that heading down this road that is full of "mad technology" is the wrong one. I see something like a scene from The Terminator. Are robot overloads going to take us over someday? It sounds ridiculous, trust me, I know, but I do think that too much technology, and technology that is too advanced is a bad thing. We are already a lazy country, if we add more and more technology to our world and implement it every which way, we are soon going to turn into the fat people in hovercraft chairs that can be seen in Wall-E.

Review of Copyright Trackstar

I found that the first website listed on this Trackstar was broken. 

For the second site, the answers to the four questions were found pretty quickly by clicking on Copyright Basics. From there, I scrolled down to visibly find the answers. The questions are basic, but they do help you to understand copyrights, what is protected and how to get a copyright.

1. A copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States to the authors of "original works of authorship."
2. Works that are not protected include works that have not been fixed in tangible form of expression like choreographic works that were not recorded, titles, names, short phrases and slogans, ideas, procedures, methods, systems, processes, concepts, principles, discoveries or devices, and works consisting entirely of info that is common property with no original authorship, like a tape measures. 
3. A copyright is secured automatically when the work is created and fixed in a copy or phono record for the first time.
4. Registration is not required, but highly recommended. It is considered to be a legal formality, but it has advantages. 

For the third site that was listed, the link was not found.

For the fourth site, it did in fact show up. Off to a good start there. All of the answers could easily be found on the page. 

1. After April 1, 1989.
2. Some older works have lost their copyright protection without warning, but nowadays copyright is never lost. 
3. The symbol is a circle with a c in it. Other forms are (C), Copyright, or All Rights Reserved. 
4. PD means non-commercial use.

For the fifth site, it is built for children which would be helpful for elementary school teachers. The questions that were asked are redundant. The author should have tried to ask different questions, or have used this website as the first website. 

1. Copyright is the law of the United States that protects the works of authors, artists, composers, and others from being used without permission.
2. Fair use allows you to use a limited amount of copyrighted material for educational purposes.
3. I did not find a definite answer to this question on the website. They did mention that you could email the owner of a copyright to request permission to use it. One could also look to government sites for copyright laws.
4. For music and lyrics, you can use up to 10% but no more than 30 seconds of copyrighted song.

Overall, this Trackstar was just okay. The questions were very repetitive even on the sites that did not work. If the author wanted people to learn more about copyrights, they should have looked at other issues associated with them. That would have made it a stronger WebQuest.

Chemistry Trackstar

Here is my Trackstar!

Periodic Table of Elements Trackstar