Because with the common core standards I have to introduce my students to higher level texts, is there a list of resources/books/college-level materials/manuals, etc. that I can have to help support me with my forensics class planning?
I also found acomprehensive syllabusfrom a Staples High School in Westport, CT that uses the text Forensic Science:The Basics, by Jay Siegel. The hs teacher has created his course around this text, with lots of supplemental resources organized by chapter. Might be a great assist in planning your course.
As for "real world," "primary source," informational texts...I think these are winners:
Found some cool "Evidence Field Manuals" from NJ State Police
The San Diego Police Department's Forensic Science Section has a great website describing the various units and their work, and is written at a lower reading level than most of the above.
Is there a reliable list of online short-stories and short works of literature? One that can be counted on to still be there, and to still be good and usable, several years down the road? It's kind of catch as catch can, as far as I can tell.
Throughout the last year, I feel as if I've learned a lot about teaching with the blended model, but something that I still struggle with is how to encourage students to use one another as resources when they are learning using online curriculum and, more importantly, when they are learning asynchronously. Does anyone have any resources or ideas that have helped with this obstacle? Thanks!
Some ideas: peer tutoring. Have students who understand a topic record a video explaining how to solve the problem in a different way, post this to your website. Group students based on focus areas and give them problems within that area. Have the students discuss how to proceed as a group. Have students who "get" a topic come up with a list of questions to guide someome who doesn't understand the topic to an answer. Post stduent masteries of specific topics in public so that students know who they can ask for help on a topic.
I also think that Kahn's badge system does a really good job of creating dialogues by using the badge system: "What badges do you have?", "Oh, that badge was tricky, here's how I earned it.", etc.
Your question about increasing students interaction inspired the following thoughts for me. They are really outside of the model of Kahn's flipped class so I apologize for that, but I think this may present an alternative way of using blended instruction?
To me, student interaction stems directly from two things (1) What narrative can the teacher create to introduce and explain ideas? and (2) Who owns the questions in the class, the teacher or the students? (These are to me really, one in the same thing, as I will try to show below.) To clarify what I mean by the first of these, one of most effective tools I think we can use as a teacher is to use mystery and suspense to engage students in solving a problem. (I will try to outline what I mean by this below.)
The second of these points is almost an "Inception" (the movie) like topic. As teachers, we have the challenge of teaching students a set curriculum which tackles certain questions. However, if the teacher is always the one asking the questions this can disavow students of their educational experience. So, instead, one of my major goals this year as a teacher is to find a way for me to create situations (videos, experiments, etc.) which naturally lead students to asks the specific questions that I must teach them how to solve. For me, one of the greatest advantages of blended learning, is the ability to create these situations as out of class teasers for students. My hope is after watching a video which poses a problem online at home, they will begin to think about the problem at home, later discuss the problem with each other before class, and come to class with a specific set of questions.
One example of this might be (physics example off the top of my head): Embed show someone on a high diving board (slowly pan up the ladder to the top). Then show them starting to jump off the edge of the diving board and have a timer appear and start at the bottom of the video. Then cut the video. Immediately, the question that comes to mind is: How long does it take to reach the water? The student starts to think about the problem. The next day, post a video of the person beginning to dive which pauses after .1 seconds, then again after .2 seconds, then again after .3 seconds (as many as it takes to correctly illustrate the relationship between time and distance from the board or water). The person will get closer and closer to the water, but how long will it take!?!? I think at this point most of the students will have an idea of how to try to figure it out (some wrong, some correct). I think that they will begin to talk to eachother, "What is you guess?" "How long do you think?" "How'd you get that number?"
Then, the best part, as a class, come together to talk about these expectations, look at what different people did. Guide students to asking the right questions or doing the right things (teacher prompts: How you can you show what you know in an organized way? Is there a pattern in the information that you just organized?). After they arrive at the answer as a class, the best part about the video is that you can then show the video and the timer will actually count down how long it took, so they can check their predictions! After class, students might talk about how well there guesses faired and compare with eachother. Clearly this is easier for a variety of topics. I am not sure what this looks like in English or History, but perhaps it is a short story's beginning: "How does it end?" or a historical debate, "Who wins?" "What happens next?"
I think the key is to structure the narrative in a way that makes students want to "read on". Leave mysteries, be as mysterious as possible while giving just enough information so that the right specific questions are asked. I would liken this to watching "Lost" or a variety of shows which generate thought and conversation. The best thing possible would be to me have students saying to each other "Did you see that? I couldn't believe that! What happens next? How does that end?" I think that blended learning outside of the Kahn model can be an incredible asset for doing this. Specifically, because the website targets time outside of class and because of the visual nature of the technology.
1. I would like to create a simple assignment tracker for use by both myself and my students.
2. I would like to be able to use a twitter feed for class discussion and comments. Something not blocked by the DOE and something more spontaneous than a google groups post.
Has anyone used the Recent Posts gadget on the Unit Page yet? If so, what did you do and how did you set it up. I am a little stuck on how to utilize this option. Thanks.
I had the same question as Emily. I am not sure how best to utilize this gadget. I originally thought that this would be kind of like and "announcements" place but then I thought that would be redundant since we have the calendar on the homepage.
Maybe this could be the place where you post the high scores on exams and quizzes? Or maybe like a student of the week?
I also want to know more about the "Recent Posts" page. I also had a question about the "discussions" page. We haven't set up our google class groups yet, so maybe it will become more clear, but I really would like a page in which students can click on various discussions about the book we are reading and give their thoughts and opinions or ask questions; almost like having a virtual class discussion outside of school.
I'd love to see what people are doing with this. So far all I've managed to do is crash my computer, but I've seen Cary Riina doing great stuff with it.
I'd love to see what people are doing with this. So far all I've managed to do is crash my computer, but I've seen Cary Riina doing great stuff with it.
Can someone please help me? I am trying to upload my screencast from Camtasia but I am having difficulty changing the file extension to a "mov" or a "mp3" file-format. Exporting the content does not work. However, the youpd.org site keeps rejecting the extension. Any ideas? Please help. I'm extremely frustrated. I have been trying to solve this problem for weeks.
I know this is EXTREMELY LATE of a reply, but if you are on a mac, many of the DOE macs have Realplayer Converter which works really with with many of the most common file extensions. If you're on a PC, I purchased Xilisoft's Ultimate Video Converter Ultimate. I have not come across a format I couldn't convert and upload with these programs.
I am attempting to use google forms in a weekly mock SAT test to help prepare seniors taking their last SATs. It's easy to upload the questions to the form, but I'm now looking for a way to not only grade them quickly (which I know I can use flubaroo for), but also send the grades back to the students, so they can see exactly what types of questions they are missing.
Along the same lines, is there a technology out there that can read and identify mistakes in writing? For example, I'm working with students right now on subject/verb agreement. Is there something I can use which could identify when students, writing in a google form and submitting it, do not use subject/verb agreement?
Comments
Forensics higher-level resources
Because with the common core standards I have to introduce my students to higher level texts, is there a list of resources/books/college-level materials/manuals, etc. that I can have to help support me with my forensics class planning?
Forensics informational reading resources
The most common text I found in college level intro Forensic Science courses was Criminalistics: An Introduction to Forensic Science, by Richard Saferstein. It has a lab manual and an online supplement.
I also found a comprehensive syllabus from a Staples High School in Westport, CT that uses the text Forensic Science:The Basics, by Jay Siegel. The hs teacher has created his course around this text, with lots of supplemental resources organized by chapter. Might be a great assist in planning your course.
As for "real world," "primary source," informational texts...I think these are winners:
Found some cool "Evidence Field Manuals" from NJ State Police
The US Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice, also has:
The San Diego Police Department's Forensic Science Section has a great website describing the various units and their work, and is written at a lower reading level than most of the above.
The Journal of Forensic Sciences has a free issue available at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jfo.2010.56.issue-s1/issuetoc with true scientific journal articles on a range of topics in the field.
Online Texts
Is there a reliable list of online short-stories and short works of literature? One that can be counted on to still be there, and to still be good and usable, several years down the road? It's kind of catch as catch can, as far as I can tell.
Encouraging Student to Student Interaction
Throughout the last year, I feel as if I've learned a lot about teaching with the blended model, but something that I still struggle with is how to encourage students to use one another as resources when they are learning using online curriculum and, more importantly, when they are learning asynchronously. Does anyone have any resources or ideas that have helped with this obstacle? Thanks!
Some potential answers to incorporating student interaction?
Some ideas: peer tutoring. Have students who understand a topic record a video explaining how to solve the problem in a different way, post this to your website. Group students based on focus areas and give them problems within that area. Have the students discuss how to proceed as a group. Have students who "get" a topic come up with a list of questions to guide someome who doesn't understand the topic to an answer. Post stduent masteries of specific topics in public so that students know who they can ask for help on a topic.
I also think that Kahn's badge system does a really good job of creating dialogues by using the badge system: "What badges do you have?", "Oh, that badge was tricky, here's how I earned it.", etc.
A tangentially related idea to increasing student interaction.
To clarify what I mean by the first of these, one of most effective tools I think we can use as a teacher is to use mystery and suspense to engage students in solving a problem. (I will try to outline what I mean by this below.)
Clearly this is easier for a variety of topics. I am not sure what this looks like in English or History, but perhaps it is a short story's beginning: "How does it end?" or a historical debate, "Who wins?" "What happens next?"
Assignment tracker and twitter feed.
1. I would like to create a simple assignment tracker for use by both myself and my students.
2. I would like to be able to use a twitter feed for class discussion and comments. Something not blocked by the DOE and something more spontaneous than a google groups post.
Recent Posts
Has anyone used the Recent Posts gadget on the Unit Page yet? If so, what did you do and how did you set it up. I am a little stuck on how to utilize this option. Thanks.
RE: Recent Posts
I had the same question as Emily. I am not sure how best to utilize this gadget. I originally thought that this would be kind of like and "announcements" place but then I thought that would be redundant since we have the calendar on the homepage.
Maybe this could be the place where you post the high scores on exams and quizzes? Or maybe like a student of the week?
Discussion page
I also want to know more about the "Recent Posts" page. I also had a question about the "discussions" page. We haven't set up our google class groups yet, so maybe it will become more clear, but I really would like a page in which students can click on various discussions about the book we are reading and give their thoughts and opinions or ask questions; almost like having a virtual class discussion outside of school.
Prezi!
I'd love to see what people are doing with this. So far all I've managed to do is crash my computer, but I've seen Cary Riina doing great stuff with it.
Prezi!
I'd love to see what people are doing with this. So far all I've managed to do is crash my computer, but I've seen Cary Riina doing great stuff with it.
I need your help
Can someone please help me? I am trying to upload my screencast from Camtasia but I am having difficulty changing the file extension to a "mov" or a "mp3" file-format. Exporting the content does not work. However, the youpd.org site keeps rejecting the extension. Any ideas? Please help. I'm extremely frustrated. I have been trying to solve this problem for weeks.
File Conversion Software
I know this is EXTREMELY LATE of a reply, but if you are on a mac, many of the DOE macs have Realplayer Converter which works really with with many of the most common file extensions. If you're on a PC, I purchased Xilisoft's Ultimate Video Converter Ultimate. I have not come across a format I couldn't convert and upload with these programs.
Help with google form
I am attempting to use google forms in a weekly mock SAT test to help prepare seniors taking their last SATs. It's easy to upload the questions to the form, but I'm now looking for a way to not only grade them quickly (which I know I can use flubaroo for), but also send the grades back to the students, so they can see exactly what types of questions they are missing.
Along the same lines, is there a technology out there that can read and identify mistakes in writing? For example, I'm working with students right now on subject/verb agreement. Is there something I can use which could identify when students, writing in a google form and submitting it, do not use subject/verb agreement?