tool 7

7. Design a collaborative project with another classroom.

Content objective: 
Students will be able to analyze the relationship between pressure, density, and atmospheric pressure.

What tool(s) you plan to use: 
google docs, today's meet, skype
It would be exciting for students to meet face to face on skype. They could discuss what it is like to live where they live and begin brainstorming on experiment ideas. Today's meet would be a good forum to connect classes during a lesson involving the above concepts. Google docs is the perfect tool for two classes to combine data and collaborate in small groups on a paper.
 
A brief description of the project:
Living in Houston my students and I are at sea level. I think it would be beneficial for students at sea level and student at a higher altitude to work together in designing their own experiments that analyze the relationship between pressure, density, and atmospheric pressure. My students could work with a class in Denver Colorado where the elevation is approximately 5,000 ft above see level.

tool 6

Share your thoughts on how you see the tools being integrated into your classroom. How do you see them encouraging participation?
Below is a link to an account I created on todaysmeet. I would use this tool in oder to pose a question for discussion. In my examples below I asked for examples of a physics concept observed in daily life. I see this encouraging participation by giving the students more wait time to formulate an answer, there is less pressure on students who do not like to speak in front of large groups. Participation could also be made anonymous by numbering the students.
http://todaysmeet.com/physicsFun

Below is a wall I created on Wall wisher. I love this site! It is very accessible. I make use of a word wall in my classroom. This site is a place where I can expand on the concept of a word wall where the students can actively participate in creating at any time.

Created with Wallwisher

tool 5

I used Stupeflix to create the video below. This is a great app for students to edit photos together for presentations. There are countless physics concepts that can be pointed out in the students day to day lives. Having student document events out side of class, edit them together, and discuss them in class would show relevance to day to day life.




I used wordle to create the image below. I have to say I an rather disappointed with the outcome. I copied and pasted the HTML code from the site to ebbed the image here. As you can see the file is rather small and pretty much unreadable.

tool 4

Briefly discuss how you can use the tools in Google Apps with your team or department. How can you incorporate Google Apps as a tool in your classroom? Which tools are you excited about using with students?

I used google docs on projects in my education classes several times. This is an amazing app to use when working on group projects. For one of my projects the four of us had to complete one paper. We sat at a table together writing on one document simultaneously through google docs. When we chose to work from home we could comment on each others' additions to the paper. I have also used google form to create a survey. As a geology student I became familiar with google earth. I am especially excited about this application. I would use all three of these applications in my classroom. I really like the app Sketch up. I have not had the opportunity to use it. When I first saw it I thought that it would be great for my students to build 3-D models of classic physics problems, but the app is designed more for constructing architecture.

tool 3

1. Visit several of the video hosting/streaming sites mentioned above. Share with your readers which sites you found most useful for your content and why:
I found youtube to be the most useful site for finding videos on physics. Teacher tube was slow and some of the videos I was interested in wouldn't load.

2. Using any of the video resources mentioned above, find and select twovideos that may be useful resources in your classroom:
In the video below Dr. Neal deGrasse Tyson talks about what asking the question "Does the Universe have a Purpose?" infers, and what empirical date suggests.



The video below belongs to a series called minute physics. I would use videos from this series to introduce a topic as a quick way to engage the students.


3. Articulate what you learned about copyright and fair use. What was new to you?
It is illegal to use copyright material with out permission or paying for a licence. There are fair use laws that do allow you to use copyright material in certain contexts. I already new the information that was provided on the use of copyright material. It was pertinent for me to know when working on projects at the university. I do think that this is a good lesson to teach to students.

4. How could you use Drop Box in your classroom?
Drop Box is a fast and easy way to share files in my class room. Once I took the time to have students set up their own drop box accounts I could post flipcharts for students access at any time, students could turn in online homework assignments, and I could share videos for students to view on their own time. 

tool 2

Share you thoughts about building and participating in an online community and participating in a PLN:
For tool 2 I chose to sign up with google reader and bookmark blogs that interest me. I personally don't enjoy sitting behind a computer unless it is work related. I found several blogs related to physics, and teaching. My searches pertained to resources that can help me as a physics teacher. I know this will be a useful tool for me when it comes to saving time looking up resource. I have a feeling I will bookmark websites frequently and start sharing them with friends and colleagues.

Two sites I plan to visit often are: Physics and Physical Science Demos, Labs, and Projects for High School Teachers; and Science Daily: Physics News.
Physics and Physical Science Demos... has some great ideas. Many of the posts I read are twists on boring out dated labs that include more technology, and student centered involvement.
In order for me to be the "expert" in my classroom I think that it is important for me to stay up to date on the current research in physics. I will certainly be able to do that by following the Science Daily: Physics News.