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I’m doing my favorite unit, electricity, right now.  My only problem is the lack of working batteries.  I finally offered students extra credit for bringing in gently used batteries tomorrow.

Now, if I can just manage to get more tape for the electrostatics experiments.

Normally, I don’t get all that excited about Fridays, but, after this week, I’m ready to go.

By Monday, I’ll probably be back to normal.  As normal as I ever get.

I’m usually fairly good with equipment, but I’m having trouble getting my MacBook to recognize my microphone.  I want to teleconference (using either Zoho or Skype), but can’t figure out what’s wrong.

Any suggestions?  I’m new to the Mac, and can’t see anything I’m doing wrong.

dy/dan offers a different perspective on teaching – he says that the most effective teaching, like the most effective presentations, tell a story.

 In Science, we start with the “hook” – the problem.  Today’s was:

How does heat move in a gas?

I’ll try to get some pictures of the set-up I used today from the afternoon block, and edit this post.  It worked like a charm.  All students could complete, all were engaged.

I found this on dy/dan, an Algebra teacher who has discovered the power of technology to make students understand graphing.  Most students struggle to make the connection between the data and the graph that results.

dy/dan uses movies to bring in motion from real life (hopefully, not The Real Life), and use it to teach graphing skills.

Another way to help students make the link is to use lab technology:

• Vernier Motion Ranger - can work either connected to a graphing calculator, or as a stand-alone device.
• Vernier LabQuest - it’s the new combination data collector/graphing device from Vernier.  Eliminates the need to buy separate graphing calculators.  Middle schools may be the ones to utilize this the most.
• PASCO Motion detector - one of the easiest motion detectors to set up and run.  With a single computer and a projector, it  can be used within minutes, even by a total novice.
• Vernier’s Logger Pro – it has sample movies on the installation disk, which are linked with the data from various probes.  When the movie is played, the students see the graph generated at the same time.

This is one of those situations when spending a little money up-front pays off BIG in the end.

To check out what Zoho Books look like, go to here

Forgive me for being so over-the-top, but I was just playing around with Zoho Notebook.  It’s a group app, collaborative-type.

It works!  It’s incredibly easy to use, and allows quick-and-dirty mixing of text, graphics, audio, etc.

 Go to Zoho Notebook.  You have to sign up, but that only takes a minute, and then, Wham!  You are using all the apps Zoho has to offer, including an online database.   I’m setting up that one for managing all my husband’s and my lab equipment.

Check out the Edublogs Magazine.  It has links to many other tech resources.