August, 2011
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The Old Man and the Sea
I was meeting one of my favorite people, Shannon from Norwalk, and we were having a discussion about why students can’t recognize the parabolas in physics that they had purportedly learned all about in Algebra II. The following analogy sprung from a particularly hops-fueled exchange: It’s like having fourth graders read The Old Man and [...]
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Fall 2011 Just Got Zany
I’m about to find out if it’s possible to work four jobs while still being an effective father and husband. I will be: teaching full time at my high school (Only Physics and Calculus this semester!), teaching a night course for our local community college (“Exploring Teaching”), teaching a course on the societal implications of [...]
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Old School Planets Lesson
Did you know that the infamous pirate Blackbeard’s real name was Edward Teach? That is all I have to say about that. On to a lesson. So I’m going with a hybrid physics style this fall. Half astronomy, half modeling. I’m going to open with a proportional reasoning exercise. This was a mathematical skill/reasoning ability [...]
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Release the Kraken: My Summer at ThThTh Industries LLC
I just like the word “Kraken”; my summer really has had nothing to do with squid, giant or otherwise. Well, I suppose I read this book, but, well, Mieville is just so… Mieville. As far as productivity goes, I did set this to be my ring tone… Here’s the rundown of Summer 2011: (June) Modeling [...]
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Folks, We’re Not Rearranging Deck Chairs Anymore: BlueHarvest Kisses Babies
Welp, that was quick. BlueHarvest has tasted blood, and it’s going into a frenzy. We made our first dollar, and this is what we bought. Our goal, as stated in this fancy-shmancy article, is to change the way we assess forever: Binary: No numbers! Individualized: Johnny needs to learn to read while Janey needs to [...]
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Putting My Coding Where My Mouth Is: BlueHarvest
Here’s the hunch: students don’t need numbers to improve; they just need feedback. They need good feedback. Feedback that’s documented, directed, and rich. Here’s the issue: all those pretty little notes you write just end up stained with orange juice at the bottom of your students’ backpacks. No more! Enter BlueHarvest: I will be using [...]