AP Physics: Plickers

After a quiz, I introduced students to Plickers. One piece of feedback I got from students last year was that they would have liked to practice multiple choice earlier in the year so, this year, I’m planning to spend part of each Friday on that. I have students read the question silently and vote on an answer, then vote again after talking to their peers. My 4th hour had some great, spirited discussion and was actually disappointed when I told them it was time to put the cards away and head to lunch.

Physics: Dueling Buggies

We wrapped up the dueling buggies lab practical. For the rear end collision, most of my groups got a crash position behind where both of the buggies started, so I paused the class to look at what results would make sense. I’m debating whether its worth having that conversation sooner next year, or if it is better to wait until there is a need. This fits with a pattern I’ve noticed this year where more students than usual are struggling to connect their graphs and math to what is physically happening.

I couldn’t get a volunteer to release the second buggy or to film the collisions for me, so here’s a video from a couple years ago.

Chemistry Essentials: Quiz

Students spent most of the hour on their density quiz. While I haven’t graded them yet, there were some stark differences in how students did on the quiz. Several students immediately made a connection to some of the worksheets and labs we’d done and found the quiz extremely easy. Others thought the quiz was completely unfamiliar and really struggled. I need to keep working on helping students to make connections across different days, as well as supporting my students in developing as independent thinkers.