It’s the end of the quarter, and I admittedly did not do a very good job of preparing myself mentally for what was to come today. I knew it was going to be a short period (65 minutes instead of our usual 75 minutes). It wasn’t until I was chatting with another teacher did IContinue reading “Physics Day 20: I survived another year of teaching position graphs”
Author Archives: Mariflor Medrano
Day 15: Chemistry and Algebra
Looks like this week’s theme is: ALGEBRA We were working on finding the average atomic mass of elements’ isotopes. This involved percentages, solving for one unknown…and solving for two unknowns. Most students were comfortable with percentages and solving for one unknown. Once we got to solving for two unknowns, we kind of gave up. ThereContinue reading “Day 15: Chemistry and Algebra”
Day 14: Physics and Algebra
Today was Day 1 of 4 of the Frosh Retreat. For Block 5, I had 6 students present for class, and everyone else was rostered to be at the retreat. I don’t actually know if anyone was absent, but I expected them to be at the retreat. Block 6 – everyone was present. This 4-dayContinue reading “Day 14: Physics and Algebra”
Chem Day 11: Periodic Table continued
I had big plans for Day 11. We spent most of the class completing the Periodic Table instead. We had to take some time to review the Lesson 8: What Comes Around, Goes Around that was assigned for homework. Student feedback was that it was repetitive. I said that it was supposed to be repetitive.Continue reading “Chem Day 11: Periodic Table continued”
Physics Day 10: Buggy Lab
The beginning of the velocity unit has always been a bit hairy. This is when the “true” modeling part of teaching comes out. I ask: “is the buggy moving?” In the past, it has become a controversial question and students leave the room wondering if it really is or isn’t. This year, the students wereContinue reading “Physics Day 10: Buggy Lab”
Chem Day 10: The Copper Cycle
Whew! Our first actual lab in Chemistry, and this one was a heavy lab! It was the first time Gen Chem was going a lab of this sort in a while. I’m glad that the students were able to experience a “real” chemistry lab with “real” chemicals. Real is in quotes because all labs inContinue reading “Chem Day 10: The Copper Cycle”
Day 7: 2-Argument Functions
It has finally dawned on me why teaching Pyret felt both foreign and familiar. We are teaching the same material, but in a different order. At this point, we would have drawn some pictures using Pyret already. I absolutely understand why we skipped the playing with Pyret portion of the introduction. We simply don’t haveContinue reading “Day 7: 2-Argument Functions”
Class 5: Density & Balloons on a Friday
To teach density in alignment with modeling instruction, I would have had students find a material’s density by measuring various mass and volumes. The density labs generally have students identify the unknown substances by comparing calculated density to known values. While what I envision would have taken longer, it would have allowed students to trulyContinue reading “Class 5: Density & Balloons on a Friday”
Chemistry Day 3: Safety & Equipment Quiz + Matter
We had the General Chemistry students take a Safety & Equipment Quiz. They must pass it in order to participate in the labs. Students generally thought this was a fair deal. The quiz had a portion where they identified some lab equipment. We all switched it up for each of the blocks so that noContinue reading “Chemistry Day 3: Safety & Equipment Quiz + Matter”
Physics Day 3: Variables
Day 2 schedule had me flustered. When speaking with others, they felt the same way. So I started Day 3 by apologizing the students for allowing my frustration with the time constraints to fly. We spent the first part of class reviewing all the things we should have covered the previous class. I’m not soContinue reading “Physics Day 3: Variables”
Learning with Ms. Medrano 