[|](https://farm9.static.flickr.com/8751/17140910740_dc6fcd4ca2_z.jpg)|

[Hybrid Pedagogy](http://www.hybridpedagogy.com) is a publication you should be reading. It’s completely open access, written, edited, and published by educators. The article authors and editors are laser focused on the deeper questions within technology use in education like innate power structures, programmed bias, and the fact that technology is _not_ agnostic by nature.

This week I read [Beyond Surface-Level Digital Pedagogy](http://www.digitalpedagogylab.com/hybridped/beyond-surface-level/) and was introduced to HybridPod, a companion podcast to Hybrid Pedagogy. The article linked and [Martha Burtis’ keynote at the 2016 Digital Pedagogy Institute](http://www.digitalpedagogylab.com/hybridped/making-breaking-rethinking-web-higher-ed/) really push hard on the idea that all instructors and all students should really be doing stuff on the web. Learning stuff. Breaking stuff. Just stuff.

Tying the two together is this idea (posited in the first article):

“…if our institutions of higher learning ignore the calls for critical digital pedagogy a vast number of K-12 educators will continue to look for shiny tools to cover up education’s most difficult problems.”

Granted, higher education has been involved in the making (and breaking) of the web since the beginning while K-12 has really started using it in earnest with students in the last ten years. There’s history there, in higher ed, that isn’t present in K-12. But, are we learning lessons from that history?

In particular, have K-12 teachers really recognized the enormous value in making and sharing things online? I’m not convinced that lesson is one that’s been learned, nor is it one people want to learn. [Martha’s discussion of the LMS is describing the current state of K-12 education](https://hyp.is/IcOormpnEeaYFytVzSeXnA/www.digitalpedagogylab.com/hybridped/making-breaking-rethinking-web-higher-ed/):

I think the Web hit us at a critical moment in higher education where we were already struggling with doing our work less like schools and more like businesses, and the tech industry and its vendors had already begun to infiltrate us with promises of how technology could help us achieve this goal. We had already bought into student information systems (which eventually became everything information systems), and with the promise of those systems came the promise of lots of data which would allow us to become more efficient and streamlined.

As the web becomes more sterilized for our students, we have important pedagogical decisions to make.

Flipped Learning, given its popularity, is often the first place teachers are confronted with working heavily in the online space. Many are already constrained to the LMS and find the shortcomings frustrating to work within. So, they work around.

That process of working around limitations exposes teachers (and by extension, students) to the potential of working in an _open_ web space rather than a _closed_ web space. Flexibility and customizability become the expectation rather than the “nice-to-have.” And it’s not just about the look of the space: flexibility in functionality – the experience students have – can strongly influence their experience in learning (it’s a _hybrid_ experience, remember?)

I agree that Flipped Learning, at first does not necessarily push a shift in instructional methods. But, when you’re used to teaching in a very straightforward manner, whether in person or online (in an LMS, perhaps) making an instructional shift is very difficult because of the mindset change involved. I’d like to propose that the first shift be to look outside the provided methods of organization and begin to explore the messiness of digital learning through open spaces.

Martha’s suggestion is simple: set up, and run, a domain. The easiest thing to do is purchase a domain name and start a blog. Start sharing. Start reading. Reflecting on practice in an open environment invites comment and outside input to your pedagogy. Being transparent and vulnerable in what we do with instruction will begin to inform those instructional decisions and help bring about a shift.

As you get more comfortable with your space, you’ll feel more comfortable pushing your students to do the same. Our students are creating digital footprints in spaces where there is no control. In schools, it’s in the LMS. Outside of school, it’s through social media (no, they do not own their tweets, snaps, or likes).

Improving in the use of technology is more than just being able to whip out the right app at the right time. It’s being able to critically pick apart the explicit and implicit nuance in function while at the same time enhancing the learning experience. Use the challenge of flipping to really push your thinking about how technology can truly change the teaching and learning experience in schools.

• • *[flickr photo](https://flickr.com/photos/astrid/17140910740 “Harbour”) shared by [AstridWestvang](https://flickr.com/people/astrid) under a [Creative Commons ( BY-NC-ND ) license](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/)

Patrick Donovan put out a tweet the other day with a screenshot to a Chrome extension he had just put together. It caught my attention and led to this post because it’s a really, really good idea.

Got my Chrome Extension created, now to refine and then publish to our organization. Thank you @curt_truc #COL16 pic.twitter.com/HosZU52r2t

—Patrick Donovan (@donovanscience) July 22, 2016

I tracked down Curt Schleibaum whose website included a demo to his Chrome extension idea. In short, he provided a template which included all of the necessary files to have a simple popup Chrome browser extension. It was quite clever – instead of having the user change code for the extension to push information, it had an embedded Google Doc that you use updated with new information. It also included links back to the district website, tech support, etc.

It got me thinking about how the extension could be improved, so that’s what I put together last night. The source is on GitHub so you can see the nitty gritty. My extension builds on Curt’s original idea – allowing a teacher or admin to use a Google service to push announcements out to extension users. Instead of a document, mine uses a spreadsheet and watches for an update to publish and then badges the extension when new information is available.

If you want to play with this yourself, follow the steps below (mostly proof-of-concept at this point, lots of refining to do).

I’m on a new team with the school district (I don’t think I’ve written about that change yet…). I’m teaching one section of AP Biology and working the rest of the day with an Instructional Technology Specialist team for the whole district. The goal is to build out a program to support anything to do with…well…instructional technology.

Part of our big “here we are” message is a Google Form available to anyone in the district. We’re in week 1 of school and we’re already getting requests for classroom visits, app support, and staff PD across the district. These spreadsheets, if you’re using something similar, can get really big, really fast. Puzzle piece number one.

To help organize our projects and day to day tasks, we’re using [Trello](https://www.trello.com) as a team. We can create lists to categorize cards with specific tasks. As they change status, drag a card from one list to another. We can also comment, assign team members, and attach files to the tasks to keep our email from exploding all over the room. There’s a web app and a mobile app so we’re all in touch. Puzzle piece number two.

Now, I don’t want to check a spreadsheet to go and manually put a PD request into Trello. Luckily, Google Sheets allow you to `POST` data to other apps through APIs on the web. Doubly luckily, Trello has an API.

Long story short, I had an _awful_ time getting this started because Trello required a particular form of authorization that Google no long supports in Apps Script (go figure). So, I Googled and Googled until I came across an [old post by Riley Pannkuk](http://www.rileypannkuk.com/js-google-form-trello-integration.html) who was doing something similar for bug tracking for his app. So, I sent him an email. He wrote back with a solution; I’m not sure how he found it because it isn’t in the Trello docs (shame shame), but it works.

The problem was that no matter how I authenticated, Trello didn’t recognize my permissions in the app. Riley pointed out that there was a missing parameter on my authorization request: the `response_type` field needed to be set to `token`. Again: not in the docs.

So, step one was to set up a Trello board and then grab my API key from (the developer options page)[http://trello.com/app-key]. Then, I sent an authentication request via URL with the following information:

– key = My app key

– name = arbitrary name to identify the app by in my settings

– scope = level of access needed by the app (in this case, read & write)

– expiration = how long should the app have access?

– response_type = token

The authorization request looks like this when you’re ready to send it:

`https://trello.com/1/authorize?key=YOUR_APP_KEY&name=APP_NAME&scope=read,write&expiration=never&response_type=token`

This returns a webpage with a long string of letters and numbers that need to be included in the script (see below) to post when the sheet is updated.

Here’s the script with comments so you can see what’s going on:

Rather than sharing a pretty team-specific Trello board, the last step in the function is to change the Google sheet status to “In Progress” so others can check up on what needs to be done.

The next step is to add something called a **webhook** to watch the cards as they move through the Trello board and update things like the team member assigned, completed, etc. I’ll add another post when that’s done, complete with code.

In 2011, I wrote a post in which I strongly declared that Flipped Learning [is not about the videos](http://blog.ohheybrian.com/2011/10/video-is-not-the-answer/).

But what if it is?

flickr photo shared by cogdog Creative Commons Attribution BY license.

The whole idea of Flipped Learning is moving from directing instruction in front of the community to allow active learning practices to prompt learning experiences in students. In order to do that, time has to be reclaimed somewhere…something during the class has to be sacrificed.

For many, the way to do that is through video.

So, it _is_ about the video, but only in the sense that it allows the teacher to explore other methods of interacting with students within the context of the class. The transition from instruction in the room to instruction as a recording is a small leap; accessible to most teachers where they are _now_ and one that can lead to deeper learning opportunities.

Obviously, the video is only an enabler of change, not the cause. There is still an active decision made by the teacher to change their classroom practice for students. It is not the only way to effect change in practice, but it is (or seems to be) quite popular.

Beyond offloading instruction, the video doesn’t do much. Without taking steps to improve the learning experiences students have in the classroom, then no, nothing has changed. Use that time to push yourself and students into new experiences and allow those videos to help support the change.

A week or two back, Lisa Dabbs, known for starting and moderating #ntchat wrote a post (a second post, actually) on why new teachers should use Periscope with their students.

There are some concerns with the Periscope terms of service and privacy policy that come up when the teacher is broadcasting students across the app. I posted a comment on Lisa’s blog, but after some tweets and awaiting moderation, it isn’t live, so I’m posting it here because the discussion is valuable. I hope Lisa and others are willing to comment on some of the points below.

Hi Lisa,

I want to push back on the idea that new teachers should jump into using Periscope. Yes, it’s important to share and get feedback and it can be a great way to do that. But jumping right in and sharing student images and student information without at least mentioning the Terms of Use and Privacy Statements is, in my opinion, dangerous.

From the Periscope Privacy Statement (my emphasis added):

We use and store information about your location to provide features of our Services, such as broadcasting with your location, and to improve and customize the Services. We may infer your location based on information from your device. If you have turned on location services for Periscope, we may share your precise location.

There is no limitation on how long they store that information. If a new teacher is broadcasting and a student with limitations from their parents is included in that broadcast, that can lead to serious issues. Broadcasting specific location data is never a wise idea, especially when minors are involved.

From the TOS:

You agree that this license includes the right for Twitter, Inc. to provide, promote, and improve Periscope and to make Content submitted to or through Periscope available to other companies, organizations or individuals who partner with Twitter, Inc. for the syndication, broadcast, distribution or publication of such Content on other media and services, subject to our terms and conditions for such Content use.

Often, this licensing is so Periscope can rebroadcast your content, much like other services ask for the same permission to share materials you create on a wide basis and not case by case. But, this can also include use in advertisements, promotional materials, etc. Again, broadcasting the images of students and having a company with their own profit in mind with no control over how or why those images are stored perpetually can lead to liability problems at some point.

You are responsible for your use of Periscope, for any Content you provide, and for any consequences thereof, including the use of your Content by other users and our third party partners.

In other words, “If someone misuses your content, it’s your fault for posting it.”

The teacher is responsible in loco parentis. We are representatives of the school district. Any liability the teacher takes on using any application can come back to the district. This is an express agreement that is glossed over in most cases. Periscope, because of its public nature, brings a unique challenge.

All I’m saying is that twice now you have implored new teachers to jump into a service with no mention of repercussions that could come from tacit use. You have a great amount of influence and a lot of people look to you for guidance. Please consider taking explicit steps with these recommendations to outline Privacy and Terms of Use considerations for apps and programs. Especially for new teachers. They have enough to worry about already.

As always, comments are open.

[|](https://farm6.static.flickr.com/5533/10176913895_fb59a06963_z.jpg)|

[flickr photo](https://flickr.com/photos/bennettscience/10176913895 “DSC_0149”) shared by [bennettscience](https://flickr.com/people/bennettscience) under a [Creative Commons ( BY-NC-SA ) license](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/)

I heard the first periodical cicada of the summer yesterday. Before I could find him, he stopped buzzing. I’ll have to pay more attention this afternoon and see if I can track him down.

17 years ago, I was in my first biology class. I still remember my teacher: Mr. Brown. He was a certified master diver and knew (it seemed) just about everything. He was the one who really made science alive for me. He was just one of the teachers who made me want to eventually get my degree in biology and teach.

Science is _real_. Our students need to experience the world around them and have opportunities to really see that we can learn through observation and inference. Hearing a cicada that has been underground for 17 years, only to emerge for four weeks to make more cicadas is one of those experiences.

I’m teaching AP Bio next year for the first time since the redesign in 2013. I’m excited to get back to the realm of the living (chemistry is great…but…it can’t really compete) and giving students a chance to be a part of the cycles happening all around us every day.

Learning is more than the cycles, charts, and facts. It’s living and breathing with the rest of the world.

News came down this week that [Zaption](http://www.zaption.com), a popular web app that layers quiz question and other interactive features on top of videos, is closing it’s doors on September 30th.

Unlike some of the [other](http://blog.ohheybrian.com/2016/06/the-education-freeconomy-gobbles-up-another/) [recent](http://blog.ohheybrian.com/2015/03/another-casualty-of-the-free-only-economy/) closures, [Zaption is being purchased by a finance firm](https://www.edsurge.com/news/2016-06-30-zap-zaption-sold-to-workday) (Workday) located in San Francisco. The terms of the sale aren’t public, but my guess is that Workday wants to expand it’s learning service to include interactive features for their client base. It adds value to something they’ve already built out and saves the hassle of licensing fees.

Here’s the kicker: Zaption, as far as I can tell, has no information in their [Terms of Service](https://www.zaption.com/terms) or [Privacy Policy](https://www.zaption.com/privacy) about what happens to user data. Nothing came up when I searched the page for **sale, sold, acquire, acquired, bankrupt, bankruptcy purchase, purchased, asset, assets, or close.**

User data is valuable in most cases. The immediate concern is that user data will be transferred in this sale with no prior disclosure. I’ve reached out to Zaption via Twitter asking for clarification on the plan for that data. Given the buyer and Zaptions offering, I’m hoping data transfer isn’t in the deal and that the purchase is for the codebase.

There are two important things to remember:

1. “Free” always has a cost associated with it.
2. Read the Privacy Policy and Terms for the apps you use.

What happens to data in these situations is important. If you’re looking for a good place to start, [Bill Fitzgerald](http://www.twitter.com/funnymonkey) worked on a project with Common Sense Media to create a [Privacy Policy Browser](http://privacy.graphite.org/) covering the conditions for some popular educational websites and apps. Check it out and see what you’ve agreed to. Being informed is important.

ISTE 2016 is in full swing and right on cue, my hype-o-meter tolerance has dropped significantly. A huge concentration of edtech vendors and Twitterati all in one place can lead to a lot of mumbo jumbo. But, we’ll power through the next four days and try to pull the wheat from the chaff.

Two big things that come up in waves each year: A) If you’re looking for tech, free is what you deserve as a teacher, and B) If you’re creating things, it should be given freely to the rest of the teaching world.

Free is king in edtech and it’s killing good tech.

Exhibit A:

Teachers shouldn’t pay teachers. Teachers would be sharing willingly for the benefit of all kids. #ISTE2016

—?????? ?. ???????? (@web20classroom) June 26, 2016

He later goes on to say:

No one. If a teacher creates something truly amazing, they have a moral obligation to give it away.

—?????? ?. ???????? (@web20classroom) June 26, 2016

The idea that resources for teachers should all be free because of a moral imperative is dangerous and devalues the hard work that goes into creating content.

If you go through the tweets, the main argument is that a lot of the materials on Teachers Pay Teachers (or similar) are really crappy. There are a lot of crappy products available that I choose not to buy. The guy selling it is perfectly within his rights to sell a product to compensate for the time put into creating it. There has to be some kind of recognition that all work is not equal and that being paid for significant time and effort to create a product is completely appropriate, even for teachers.

Second, my moral obligation is to my students first and foremost. I don’t charge them for resources I create, much of it on my own time. I also choose, freely, to give a lot away to the teaching community because I don’t feel the time I’ve put into those resources was significant enough to ask for compensation.

Expecting teachers to work for free devalues those hours and allows edtech companies to fill the gap and make good money while they’re doing it.

There’s another parallel to explore: expecting free software for the sake of teaching devalues the hard work of development, QA testing, troubleshooting, and maintenance of code. The time is valuable and it is completely appropriate to be compensated for that time.

The free-as-best mindset is a dangerous delimiter being placed on what is valuable or invaluable in education based on price alone.

Unfortunately, in order to appeal to the education community at-large, the free-as-best standard is being encouraged by edtech companies. The following was shared by PhET Sims:

The image is well-intended. But, the message is the same one that’s plaguing edtech: all software should be free. (If you’re not familiar with PhET, it runs from grants and individual donations. I’m a big user of their sims in my own classroom and I’ve taken the step to donate some money to the continuation of the project.) I’d be willing to bet that the developers working for PhET to create and maintain the simulations like to be paid for their work. The sims aren't free and the cost is not exposed clearly enough to the user.

ISTE concentrates these ideas and feeds the perception that price point is the main factor in the usefulness or value in a product. There are costs everywhere and to keep doors open as a company, you have to meet those costs. If you’re not paying cash for a service, that cost is most likely data you’re contributing, and that’s for another post.

If you’re at ISTE right now (or if you know someone who is) please keep this in mind as you research and share about new tools. Don’t perpetuate the free-as-best narrative because in the long run, it’s going to cost us all.

I’ve started using the [Hypothes.is](http://hypothes.is) annotation tool more lately, mostly at the behest of [Kris Shaffer](http://www.twitter.com/krisshaffer). He started writing about it’s potential for [public discourse on research](http://kris.shaffermusic.com/2016/04/hypothesis-public-research-notebook/) back in April and has since created [Pypothesis](http://kris.shaffermusic.com/2016/06/introducing-pypothesis-1/) to turn his annotations into a blog post using Python and the [Hypothes.is API](http://h.readthedocs.io/en/latest/api/).

The API is pretty simple – it can take a call for various requests (username, annotation, etc) and return information to use within your app. Kris used Python to create a Markdown page to post on a GitHub-based blog. Coming from K12 land, I see Google Docs serving as the larger research-curation hub and I figured, why not turn this into a simple Google Apps Script?

So I did.

It’s nothing fancy, but it works. It’s nice that the API is so straightforward…Kris mentions how easy it is to jump into if you’ve got even a little experience with scripting. The hardest part, in the Google Script world, was interacting with the JSON. But, I managed to get that worked out.

As you can see, this will search for annotations under my username. There are other parameters you can use in a search, including multiple at a time. [Read more about those in the docs](http://h.readthedocs.io/en/latest/api/). Also, [John Stewart](http://www.twitter.com/jstew511) has a [much more thoroughly developed Google Spreadsheet](https://t.co/ntZ5M0BcI3) which takes multiple search terms and returns results from an API call. Very cool application to play with.

Free in education is a big deal. Don’t bother mentioning paid apps in front of teachers because you’ll lose the group. Last year, we saw [Geddit](http://blog.ohheybrian.com/2015/03/another-casualty-of-the-free-only-economy/) close it’s doors. This year, there are two notables closing shop before the fall: [Curriculet](https://www.edsurge.com/news/2016-05-25-curriculet-closes-shop) and [Snagit for Chrome](https://feedback.techsmith.com/techsmith/topics/snagit-for-google-chrome-end-of-product-support-announcement). The two are in slightly different boats but they’re closing for similar reasons.

Curriculet was a text annotation tool built for schools. You could rent (much like a library) an ebook and then add annotations on top in a user community. The idea was that teachers would be able to assign a novel and have students socially annotate their learning. It was a really great idea and implemented rather well. They were never free, which is unique for an edtech startup. They recognized the cost up front and tried to cover their bases with subscriptions.

Unfortunately, they were up against the publishing world. Plus, if a school already has hard copy books, why invest in a digital copy? I think social annotation is on the cusp of becoming something larger (see the work being done by [Hypothes.is](http://hypothes.is)) and that Curriculet may have been in front of the curve too much. I think this idea will have more legs, either from a standalone company like Curriculet or through traditional publishers (maybe), in the future.

Snagit for Chrome was another beast. TechSmith, already popular with flipping, was trying to jump into the Google Apps for Education space. There are a *ton* of independent developers doing cool things and sharing their work through the Chrome browser. It’s nice because Chrome levels the device playing field – teachers can use apps and extensions on traditional desktop or laptops through the browser and students can rely on a stripped-down Chromebook to access the same material.

Google Apps may be “the great leveller” (more on that in another post) but it’s also siphoning the ability for software developers to run sustainable businesses. Everything in the Chrome store is *free.* There are some paid apps, but most have a free user version. The lowest common denominator soon dominates the system. When a company, like TechSmith, comes along and tries to run a traditional business model within a free-only economy, they need to evolve (which is unlikely given that it’s a single product in a larger portfolio) or they have to jump ship.

In the meantime, teachers are caught in the middle. There is a large amount of trust for name-brands getting into the Chrome space. Many relied on Snagit because they trust TechSmith. Now, they’re left to change their entire system. Again.

Welcome to the land of the Free.

—

I’ve written other posts on the idea of free software. [Check them out](http://blog.ohheybrian.com/tag/free/) if you want more stories of great companies being run out of business.

A while back, I had looked at automating tweets from a Google spreadsheet to reduce the insane number of clicks it takes to do in TweetDeck and HootSuite (5 clicks? Really?) I hit some roadblocks and let it slide because in the long run, it wasn’t really important to me. More of a fun experiment.

I jumped back into it a week or so back to try and solve the last little problems. [I was able to create a script](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kbFIfYGm2sGQJ5TistkaxMzqUqQ8HbgUvJUM8MohOb4/edit?usp=sharing) which loops through a spreadsheet checks the current date and whether or not the tweet has been sent. If those conditions are met (TODAY` and `NOT SENT), it will automatically post the tweet.

The sheet, like all the other Twitter sheets I’ve used, is run with [Martin Hawksey’s](http://twitter.com/mhawksey) fantastic TwtrService library. It allows you to authenticate and tweet right from Google Apps Script and saves a _ton_ of time.

I ran into a problem that is [as-yet unsolved](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/37308911/pause-a-loop-to-wait-for-rest-api-response): I can’t get the sheet to stop after posting one tweet. So, if you have multiple tweets on a given day, it will send _all_ of them at once. That’s not good, especially if you’re promoting an event over a period of time. I’ve tried a number of solutions, but I can’t seem to find one that works. I’d love to hear if you’re able to take the source and tweak it to work.

In the meantime, Martin also took a (much more elegant) pass at the task. [His sheet is also available](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/10U7Rrr7lfbRS2A8QYRUWL8enlJfat75-QuGm7slKXRE/edit#gid=0) and works really well. The goal is the same, but his mechanics and implementation are much more refined and effective.

It’s a good example of multiple ways to skin a cat. I’m a novice coder (I tell people I know enough to break something) and he’s an expert doing all kinds of things. The great thing is, all of this code is open and available. I can make a copy of Martin’s page and dig into his solution. I learned a few tricks about checking for multiple conditions, which is what I was struggling with. I became better at scripting through my failure and his success.

I absolutely hate teaching bonding. The abstract nature of atoms, the minutiae of nomenclature, and the details of writing formulas bog students down and I struggle to meet their needs. So, we do POGILs, simulations, speed dating, labs, and drills. Lots of time is spent trying to correct patterns of work to meet the learning objectives.

This year, I just can’t seem to meet those goals. I feel like I’m at my wits end and I’m just ready to move into something else for the plain sake of mixing it up a little bit.

I know it’s not my fault entirely. I know I can rely on the multiple short assessments – formative and summative – that I’ve given over the last three weeks (almost) checking on progress. I know I’ve recovered and retaught major points of confusion.

I also know I can’t force students to do something they’re patently disinterested in doing.

Standards based grading is a double-edged sword in that regard. They’ve done plenty of work, but there is still a major lack of understanding of the main ideas, so I cannot report, through the grading system, that they’ve learned the objective. Ethically, I’m not willing to cross that line. At the same time, I question the level of expectation I’ve set up as students work to demonstrate what understanding they have. Am I expecting too much?

The line between high expectations and impossible expectations is thin. Trying to walk it is an exercise in rationalization and stubbornness.

• • *_The photo in this post is a [Public Domain](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penrose_triangle#/media/File:LargeTribarGotschuchenAustria.JPG) photo of a [Penrose Triangle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penrose_triangle). It looks like it should exist, but in reality, is an impossible shape._

[In 2012](http://blog.ohheybrian.com/2012/06/venus-flyby/), [we saw Venus transit the sun](http://blog.ohheybrian.com/2012/06/venus-the-aftermath/). It won’t happen again until 2117, so if you missed it, you’re our of luck when it comes to seeing that again. Today, you have a chance to see Mercury slide across the surface of our star.

It’s cloudy here, so I’ll be using NASA’s special [Mercury Transit website](http://mercurytransit.gsfc.nasa.gov/) to show images of the planet as it crosses the sun during the day. If you want to learn more about the transit or what information will be displayed on the website, NASA has a [good blog post](http://sdoisgo.blogspot.com/2016/05/the-mercury-transit-is-tomorrow.html) explaining which regions they’re focusing on and why we should care about observing transits like this. Also, be sure to check out the [Solar Dynamics Observatory website](http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/) from time to time for great images of the sun at various websites. They highlight solar phenomena (magnetic regions, sunspots, coronal mass ejections, etc) and really give our students a new view of our energy source. It’s a powerful thing to show how complex our universe is.

[Mercury repeats this trip thirteen times](http://eclipsewise.com/oh/tm2016.html) every hundred years (ish), so you’ll have a chance to watch again in 2019 if you have to miss today.

Everything I do in class is geared toward building understanding. I want students to be able to both complete the task and understand _why_ they’re completing it. Learning is more than a collection of disconnected skills. Especially in chemistry, the more you see the interconnectedness, the easier it is to learn.

Today, I gave a quiz that went less then spectacularly. We’ve finished a chapter on periodic table organization and have moved into ionization and simple bonding. We’ve talked about valence electrons, how to find them, whether or not an atom is gaining or losing those electrons, and finally, how to find the ion charge. We also practiced it in a lab yesterday.

Today, we fell flat pretty quickly.

As we looked back over the last few days of work, I told them that before every quiz, I can usually accurately pick out who will do well and who won’t based on work leading up. It seemed to surprise them that yes, I do know when work is simply copied and handed in. To illustrate that it isn’t uncommon, I closed my eyes and asked everyone to silently raise their hand if they’d ever done that. (Of course, most hands were slapped back down on tables or knees…not so silently…)

I gave my students the GIGO example – if I don’t have accurate information, I cannot teach effectively. When I walk by and offer help, it isn’t random. But they have to choose to accept the offer.

I found, years ago, that posting answer keys around the room while they’re working significantly reduces the desire to just copy it down and turn it in. First off, because I usually won’t take the work up. Secondly, they know there’s no pressure on being perfect. I can still assess their learning (and they can easily self assess, which is more important anyways) and adjust as we go.

Lately, I haven’t posted keys. It could be laziness, forgetfulness, or a combination of any number of things.

The fact of the matter is I’m still fighting a resistant culture. We’re nearly there in some classes – a culture of learning as process, not as destination – but in others, we probably won’t make it this year.

I still have 17 school days until summer break, so we’ll keep the gas pedal down and see what happens.

In software, there’s a lot of discussion about the “minimum viable product” when you’re designing something: what is the bare basic you can deliver to customers that will solve a problem? It helps define the focus and set development priorities for the first weeks.

I think there’s a similar process in learning. I have to have a minimum viable input from students in order to teach effectively. I try to design lessons that are low barrier for entry, ones that allow students to engage with an idea without being bogged down in the details. It takes some amount of effort and the bar is _just_ above what’s comfortable.

I haven’t been receiving that minimum input from students lately. And as a result, we’re struggling. Hard.

There seems to be the expectation that if learning doesn’t happen in class, I’ll drop everything and teach it later. Some are learning the hard way that it doesn’t work that way. When we’re together, I want to engage _together_. I can be flexible, but it’s a two way street.

I’ve had some discussions with students. The nice thing about standards based grading is that it’s less of a numbers game (mathematically impossible to pass, etc.) It’s harder – it’s a learning game.

_Learning must happen._

Learning an entire semester’s worth of material in four weeks is hardly realistic, but I’ll support the ones who give it a try.

I hope there’s a larger takeaway, whatever the outcome.

State testing. There are no words.

Week two of six is halfway done. Meanwhile, I keep teaching and I keep assessing. Most of it is formative, informing the learning process and my instructional cycle. Looping back to rehash ideas that are still elusive; being transparent about why we’re doing what.

Yes, there is still a need for demonstration of learning.

_Yes, you have to take this test today. Show me what you know._

There comes a point where I feel like I’m just chasing shadows to justify my own work.

I know that’s not true, but it sure feels like it some days.

We played Jeopardy today in class (with some major upsets coming during final Jeopardy…quite exciting) to review atoms and the periodic table organization. It’s a super-short chapter that sets up a foundation for bonding, naming, and chemical reactions. It’s also nice because it’s mostly review (or should be) of 8th grade physical science.

There’s still new stuff I throw at them, like valence electron location and Bohr model electron shells.

During Jeopardy, I try to give thought-provoking questions to get students to see patterns and interconnections between ideas. A favorite line of mine is, “There are only so many ways I can ask these questions.” This is painfully obvious as we go through more games and skill building activities.

I started to see a lot of:

neutrons?

valence?

2 shells and 3 valence?

on the whiteboards.

I love the question mark. Sure, I’d love it if they were confident and could just spout some of this stuff (because it makes the rest of the year much, much easier to digest). But, I’m more happy that we’re finally approaching a point of being willing to venture logical responses rather than, “I don’t know.”

It was also super fun to see the excitement when a ventured answer was, believe it or not, correct.

And it only took until April 25th. Maybe next year, we can hit this on April 24th. I’ll call that a win.

I remind my students constantly that I can’t help if they don’t do one of two things: 1) Ask me a question when they’re confused, or 2) get something wrong on an assignment. I need to see their thinking, and those two methods – along with my questioning – are the best indicators of strengths and weaknesses.

Lately, it’s spiraled into something much more confounding. Students are stuck, but they refuse to ask _any_thing. Even when I give a freebie, anything-goes offer. When I come by to prompt, they admit to being stuck, but then don’t do the small task to get _un_stuck. So there they remain. And nothing gets done.

And so we spiral.

It’s hyperbole, but I think they feel like kids in the car in Jurassic Park when I come by.

The fear of being wrong – searching for the right answer every time – is something I’ve tried to combat all year long, but it’s still got hold of most of my students. So many are afraid to be wrong, that they’re paralyzed and can’t take the help, even when offered outright. It’s a safety thing…I don’t know if they don’t feel safe because of my teaching style or because of peers…but it’s something that needs to be worked out somehow.

How do you help students get over the initial hump of just asking a question? Even if it’s something as simple as, “What’s the charge of a proton?” A small door like that would allow me to build their confidence and point to small, accomplishable tasks which will help them progress on their own.

Three years ago, my wife and I bought our first home. I can’t believe I haven’t written more on this before (which is partially true. I mention the remodel, along with some photos in an old post.) Time for a mega update – with pictures!

We rushed during the first summer to get the major work done before Meredith was born, which we were able to do.

We’d found carpenter ants and some serious water damage on the plate for the wall, so the whole thing had to come out and be rebuilt. That was day 1.

Part of the process involved removing a wall from the dining room, which meant a major ceiling repair as well as refinishing hardwood floors after patching in an old exterior door.

The floors were finished the week M was born.

The summer of 2014 was mostly hired out for siding work from tearing the kitchen wall out the previous year. There were some other structural repairs that needed to be done – new soffits, window moulding, a new window put into the living room…things I don’t have photos for. We finally settled on what the kitchen backsplash needed to look like in the spring, and I got those put in during spring break.

The best part about the backsplash is that the tile we chose was on clearance at Lowe’s, and according to their own policy, they’ll price match. So, a tile that was originally $0.90 each only cost us $0.20 at every store. I bought out northern Indiana and southern Michigan. It was awesome.

Now, a year later, we’re finally pushing hard to finish the rest of the kitchen. The fridge and some old floor cabinets we owned from our first place in the states are getting a facelift with custom shelves, a new butcher block countertop, and some floating oak wall shelves. We started the butcher block last week by milling down some oak we bought from a neighbor.

Today, I spent a snowy April morning building the new custom shelves.

This week is the week to get it all finished. In addition to the shelves, I’m going to be milling the face frames from some maple (from the neighbor again) and then putting a wall cabinet over the fridge. Everything will be topped with crown moulding along the ceiling when we’re done.

And who says home projects tend to linger…

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All photos in this post are mine shared via Flickr CC-BY-NC

My grading practices have improved this year. I’m keeping better track of information, I’m using it more often, and I’m showing students – constantly – their progress in their learning. The notion that grades only report ability is buried deep and digging it out has taken a lot – a lot – of work.

Case in point: I’ve already written about keeping better track of quizzes given on standards in class. That spreadsheet, at the end of the chapter, looks like this:

This shows some interesting things:

1. I can pinpoint sticking points on specific students much more accurately.
2. Blank spots – missing quizzes – really hurts my ability to help. Same idea as GIGO…if I don’t have consistent information from students, I can’t help them as effectively.
3. These quiz scores typically improve over time because older ideas set the foundation for new ideas. Yes, there is a dip in some cases, but I chalk that up to complexity rather than ability.

We just took the test and I found myself much less surprised than I used to be. (It pains me to even admit that I used to be surprised…growth…) I can also whip that tracking chart back out and pair it up with test scores.

Yellow is a set of questions related to a specific learning objective for the chapter. For the most part, the yellow boxes correlate with the tracking page. The conversation now centers on, “What mistakes am I still making?” rather than, “What do I have to do to get my grade up?”

It’s also great to ask a student if their test grade is a surprise and have them – even the most reluctant or disengaged – admit that no, it looks about right. Again, we can then focus on closing gaps in understanding and not point grubbing.