Coupla Things v14 (11/30/12)

Post date: Dec 01, 2012 4:59:4 AM

Hello on this wet and windy Friday night! The tree is still tied to the roof of the van, but the house is slowly making the seasonal transformation. Somehow, watching "Home Alone" for the upteenth time, as we are now, has risen to status of a pre-holiday tradition. Perfect time for me to multi-task a bit and write my recap of the week(s).

On the Monday before Thanksgiving our classes had another great session with Dr. Ismail and his box of levers, scales, and great knowledge. Then, on Tuesday morning my class and I did some preparation for the Age of Sail trip by learning to talk like a sailor (boat parts, directions, and dialog). After that, the whole 8th grade walked to AMC Saratoga to watch Spielberg's movie about Abraham Lincoln and the 13th Amendment.

After five days off, this week started a bit too abruptly with a chapter quiz -- an icky surprise for some kids (despite my reading/test calendar and email and text messages I sent). Scores show quite a bipolar distribution and yet it is very encouraging to hear some students tell me that they are getting better at reading the text, taking effective notes, asking questions about unclear topics, and connecting class activities with the textbook's explanations and diagrams. I've been keeping track of the data on a "unit grades" spreadsheet and it is not very encouraging. Then again, as I explain on my grades page, test scores aren't what we focus on at DCS.

As the week continued, so did construction of two projects: the science demonstration and the machine project. Take a look at this list to see what your student has chosen for their topic. The manifestation of students' efforts on both of those will emerge next week and I'll let you know how things go -- I have high hopes that these mid-eighth graders are able to (and do) put great effort into their work and yield products that clearly show personal challenge and evidence of learning.

Yesterday's class time was dominated by some great hands-on experiences with pulleys arranged into various "powers" of block and tackle systems. Thanks the efforts and abilities of Thomas Zscherpel, kids hoisted each other to the ceiling in order to experience the force-to-distance trade-off of mechanical advantage. Next week they will quantify those things with an apparatus made by Joe Rogers, some 1kg weights, and spring scales. Needless to say, I feel endless appreciation for the parents who help me to give the kids the practical experiences that bring the concepts of physics from the cerebral domain and into the full-body sense that creates true (and long term) understanding.

Have a great weekend, and to all a good night.

Chris