Why use Google Classroom?

Update:  I use Classroom to plan.  Here is an example.

 Rob and I teach several classes.  We keep records in Google Classroom.  (Rob keeps a separate spreadsheet for grades, too.  Several families use one email; the children are discouraged from using electronics.  Yes, it’s a pain.  However, the parents are serious about monitoring computer use.  Good job!). Why bother?  I like to post assignments to Classroom.  If a kid is out sick, the material is there.  I use Classroom as an organizational tool.  I can prep lessons in advance and save interesting ideas in Classroom.  

However, when I was home-schooling individual kids,  Classroom was even more useful.  I created a class for each subject and keep track of completed assignments.  You can take a photo and upload it to Classroom.  For example, snap a completed and graded quiz, open Classroom, select the class, and upload the photo under the graded assignment.  Better still, have your child upload the photo.  Everything is saved and organized.  It is so much easier to prepare digital portfolios for submission to online schools.  Google Classroom keeps a record of grades.  I take screenshots of these averages, too, for the portfolio or quarterly reports.  

Long term, Google Classroom is useful for transcripts, too.  I just received a request for a transcript from a Chemistry class held two years ago.  I archive each year’s classes.  It’s easy to reopen archived classes and retrieve the records.  Keeping records is more work up front and less aggravation in the long term.

Google Classroom: Grade Weighting

 The free version of Google Classroom jus added an upgrade.  Teachers can select to use total points or create weighted categories for grades.  Most commercial, grading programs or Learning Management Systems, of this option.  I have used points in the past because it’s easy.  However, I want to put more emphasis on tests and lab analysis.  So this year I’m using grade weights.  Additionally, you can set missing work as a zero.  This helps motivate students, who quickly learn that zeros average poorly.  

1. Open Google Classroom and go to Settings.

2. Scroll down the page to Grades.  Note that the default grade is zero.  Look at the choice for Weighted Grades and categories.

3. You can chose total points instead.

4. Different classes can have different grade weights.

Magic Sand

 Magic Sand is also sold as hydrophobic sand or Mystic Sand.  It doesn’t get wet.  Here are lesson ideas from Educational Innovations.  Here are suggested ideas from Steve Spangler.  I use Magic Sand with the Mixture Challenge, here.  I mix Magic Sand with iron filings and salt.  The kids have to spoon out the Magic Sand.  Sometimes, they wand the sand with the magnet to remove any iron filings, too.  This lab is versatile.  The mixture experiment is in Apologia’s  General Science and Chemistry textbooks.  Teens can do the lab while their younger siblings play with the sand.  Yes, once teens finish the lab, they may play with the Magic Sand for a bit, too. 

Apologia Facebook Group

 Do you use Apologia materials?  Consider joining the Facebook group.  While many people sell textbooks and study guides, you can look at discussions, too.  Today there was a question about a teacher’s guide for Biology.  The mom wanted to know how to determine if the teen was using the student notebook well.  What a great question.  The student notebook helps kids parse the textbook.  There is room to write definitions, answer questions, and reflect.  My suggestion is to have teens work in the student notebook ‘closed book’ and then open the textbook to make corrections and additions.  The discussions and questions are usually thoughtful.  People in the group make an effort to answer!  I think this type of group is a good use for social media.

Things you never knew you needed!

 Good Will online has interesting items.  I want the IV kit.  Once in awhile, Good Will has suture practice sets, too.  I’m always tempted to bid.

Visit a Garden!

 Rob and I just visited the Royal Botanical Garden (RBG) in Ontario.  Gardens provide many sources of inspiration.  Look at their Children’s programs.  During our visit, a docent was explaining how to repot plants.  RGB has a large natural playground.  Plan ahead to see what amenities and activities are available.  Plan a picnic or look for a nearby playground to visit after the garden tour.  Look for free tours.  When we lived in Winchester, the Glen Bernie Gardens were open for free tours at least once a year.  Blandy Experimental Farm, an Arboretum, nearby,  has free tours.  Colleges, such as Clemson’s SC Botanical Garden  often have free garden tours.  Try a few, small garden tours to see if your family likes these visits before you tackle a big garden, such as Longwood Gardens or The Washington State Arboretum.  

Go to the Zoo!

 Rob and I went to the zoo in Toronto, Ontario.  It’s massive.  Have you considered a zoo project? Create your own! Use A Home for Everyone as inspiration.   The Toronto Zoo has free resources.   What about designing a scavenger hunt?  The Smithsonian Zoo has a list of Webinars, with activities.  Have you ever wanted to sketch at the zoo? Practice at home with these tutorials.   Add some math with Design Your Own Zoo.  Write a Zoo Animal Report. This version of a report is more challenging.  Here is a packet, African Animals, with a map to identify habitats in Africa.  Here is Where Animals Live, with more map activities.  Borrow an armload of Zoo books from the library.  A trip to the zoo is an expensive treat.  Make your visit the culmination of your project.  Don’t forget to document all your work in your school portfolio!

Tie-dye!

 It’s summer!  Of course your kids want to tie-dye.  Yes, there is science in tie-dying!  The key to successful tie-dye t-shirts is to use procion dyes, as opposed to Tulip or Ritz dyes.  I buy jars of four colors: yellow, red, blue, and green.  (If Dharma has a deal, I’ll buy a few more colors.) Here are tie-dye pattern instructions.  Buy the bottles and rubber bands separately.  Try a tie-dye kit from Temu and save the bottles.  I use washing soda as a mordant.  Here are step by step instructions from Dharma.  Use 100% cotton shirts, soak in the washing soda (soda ash or sodium carbonate), and use procion dyes.  Hey!  Do your own experiment with Tulip, Ritz, and procion dyes.  I buy cotton t-shirts at Walmart.  Tie-dye outside!

Boiling

 Recently, a chemistry teacher posted about her Pyrex coffee percolator, which she uses to let kids watch water boil. There was a Pyrex coffee percolator at the Corning Museum of glass.  (I told Rob about watching water boil, followed by watching paint dry.)  Boiling is a good topic to discuss.  Good Will has three Pyrex percolators available.  Yes, I bid on one!  I’m totally inspired from my trip to the Corning Glass Mueum.

Family Science: Corning Museum of Glass

 Here is the good news about the Corning Museum of Glass; kids 17 and under are free. (Adults are free on MLK Day.) The museum has  a Galactic Gallery Hunt, and other scavenger hunts, which can make things more fun.  I the best part for science are the Innovation Galleries.  Take a look at this online gallery, A New Glass for a New Era: Borosilicate Glass or Pyrex.  We sat in on a demo, Glass Breaking.  The displays describe a bit of the science involved, such as the use of Tin IV oxide in Faience.  There’s as small display about the collaboration between Corning and Blown Away, Netflix reality show. (Here is a review of Blown Away from Common Sense Media.  You have to be careful with anything on Netflix.) Here are Corning’s teacher resources.  Watch Corning Museum of Glass Let’s Go!, a video field trip.  Click on the support materials and look at Sweet Science to make stained glass cookies with hard candy.  Below are a few pix.  Take a look!

  

Science Fair: Younger Students

 I have many biases when it comes to Science Fair projects.  I don’t like models at all—not even a maglev train model.  Yes, I mean solar system models and volcanoes, too!  I discourage testing the strength between paper towel brands or music and plant growth.  Instead I like projects with more depth.  One young student wanted to test Fizz Keepers.  Do they work?  I helped her set up controls and lent her the CO2 sensor, after showing her how it operates.  Why is this a good experiment?  The student had the original question.

Instead look for Testable Questions. Are birds attracted to different types of bird feeders?  Measure the strength of your password. A group of girls asked 30 or more adults to enter their most used passwords for this project.  None were saved or recorded.   Water quality comparison are always good.  What do the results mean?  Aquarium strips are fairly inexpensive and include several types of tests. Here are some basic tests.   One of the hardest aspects of Science Fair is coming up with a testable idea that a child can complete in a reasonable amount of time.  If you are doing a science fair project, spend time developing a good testable question, such as, ‘Which local fishing pond has the best water quality?’