Transcript Slide 1

Engaging Your
Students Outside
the Classroom
Presented By
Zak Knott
Riverside – Brookfield H.S.
ILTCE
March 2, 2005
My Background
– Brookfield H.S.
 3rd Year of Teaching
 Currently Teach
 Riverside


4 Honors Physics
1 Physics
 Other


areas of interest
Student Designed Labs
Physics Through Projects
Rationale
 A traditional
school day limits contact time
with students to only 45-55 minutes per
day. That time can be expanded by
embracing technology that keeps students
connected after the school bell rings.
Overview
 My
experience with physicsmonkey.com
 How to start your own message board (in
5 minutes or less!)
 How to start your own class web page.
 Student feedback and plan for the future
History

As a new teacher I found catching up students
who had missed class one of the most tedious
parts of my job.
 Originally wanted to create a place for students
to download missing or lost worksheets from.
 As the site went “live” the interactivity of the
bulletin boards increased and the site evolved
into its current role
 www.physicsmonkey.com was born!
Physicsmonkey.com

Established an online
presence for the class
 Divided into two main
sections.


Class Homepages
Bulletin Boards
A Message Board Sample

Well, I've opened the door. I guess we may as well run through it. . .
In class last week I mentioned that there are a group of people known as
the "Flat Earth Society" who truly believe that we live on a flat earth. Now,
before you immediatly laugh it off lets look at their arguments. Visit their
webpage at:
http://www.alaska.net/~clund/e_djublonskopf/Flatearthsociety.htm and read
about the evidence they offer for a flat earth. Also, I wanted to point out that
the site http://www.flat-earth.org/ is a joke intended to mock the flat earthers
(for example, it claims that Australia does not exist, but the author is from
Australia). So please do not comment here on that site. You will find other
information by performing a Google search, just be careful that you've
chosen a reputable source.
What I'd like to see in your post this week is an argument for or against a
round earth. The flat earthers provide some pretty convincing arguments so
please use what you know about physics to support one side or the other.
Sample Responses


Honestly, I went to the website with as clear a mind as
possible, but I found the arguments less than convincing.
First of all, even before I looked at the arguments I
noticed that the use of language was far from
sophisticated . . .
That was very, um, creative I guess. I don't completely
buy it, however. I think the whole water argument was
pretty well thought out, and that if the earth was round,
we'd be falling off of it from the north pole. I don't know.
I'm sure I would believe it if I didn't really know any
better, but the whole geocentric thing really doesn't make
sence, and we really shouldn't think the universe
revolves around us. . .
Another Question
 For
the question of the week this week you
have two options:
1) Compose a poem that could be used to
explain energy to a third grader.
2) Create an experiment about energy that
could be completed by a third grade class.
Student Responses

It can do work,
and it can play.
It lights your room,
as bright as day.
It cooks your food,
and heats your tea,
It comes from the sun,
and beneath the sea,
and all it could be,
is energy.
Other Topics
 Create
a mnemonic device to help
remember the resistor color code
 Write an email to the president explaining
your position on a mission to refurbish the
Hubble Telescope
 Use an interactive web site to predict the
likelihood of life existing on other planets
 Discuss the U.S. energy policy after
conduction some independent research
Free Group Discussions
 www.network54.com
 groups.yahoo.com
 Search
for “free
bulletin boards”
Your Own Site – Free!
 There
are many sites who will host your
web page for you at no charge.



www.geocities.com
Your School or District
Try a google search for “free web hosting”
Advantages of a Free Server

Provides a chance to
learn how to create a
web page
 Fast & automated
setup
 Little management
needed
 Provides an
opportunity to “try
before you buy”
Limitations
 Free
servers often place advertising on
your pages.
 Do not include advanced options such as
bulletin boards or chat rooms.
 Limits on both site size and usage.
 URL’s are often long
(www.geocities.com/[email protected]
rather than physicsmonkey.com
Pay Server Advantages

The cost is not high!





$8.00 or less per month
No ads
High Storage and Usage
Limits
Maximum Flexibility
Price includes extras




E-mail addresses
Management tools
Bulletin boards
Chat rooms
My Server – Lunarpages.com
 There
are hundreds of web servers
available, please do your own research!
 That being said my experience with
lunarpages.com has been only positive.
Pitfalls
 Takes
dedication (though not a lot of time)
to update the site daily.
 Message boards require frequent
monitoring
 Time commitment is need to educate
oneself about technical details
Future Changes
 Addition
of a chat room (provided to me by
lunarpages)
 Email groups by class
 Fun Physics fact of the week
 Include class notes on the web page