Hi, Jeff (and company!),

I was at the National Conference in LA this summer and really enjoyed meeting you and the rest of the WBT team. I know we didn't focus much on PowerPix, but I like the idea of them, in principle (finding an icon/photo and then writing essentially a "mini lesson plan" on how to teach the concept underneath.) Still, so many seem geared to the younger grades...anyway, I just wondered if you use them at all in your middle school grades?

Oh, and also, you said you had made up a SuperSpeed Reading list of the key physical science vocabulary you use....any chanc you could post that here somewhere?

Thanks,
Jen

Jen,

It is great to hearto hear from you!I have not developed Powepix for my grade level yet, but that is definitely a project on the back burner. It definitely has possibilities and applications there as easily as in elementary grades.

I am working on a rerwite for my SuperSpeed Science to make it a little easier to use, but I can post it here when I am done.

Are you excited for the school year to begin yet?

Am I excited about the upcoming year? Yes! Am I excited about getting up at 5am on a regular basis? NO! (Amazing how easy it is to get used to rolling out of bed at, oh, 8:30 or 9!)

Seriously, a lot of what we did in LA has sort of been rattling around in my brain. I like to let things steep a bit before I jump into day-to-day planning. But I think I'm ready to take the plunge.

The main thing I want to focus on this year is minimizing the amount of time I am talking - really nail down the "micro-lecture" format, using the WBT Lesson Template you guys unveiled this year. To be honest, the single MOST helpful thing to me at the conference was when you broke down how you structure your 60 minute block classes. I figure I can do the same thing with my 85 minute block classes: use the WBT Lesson Planner to create several 10-20 minute "mini-blocks" (Other than lab days, that is).

(Now, if I could just figure out how to get out of "procrastination mode" and actually PLAN OUT my first unit BEFORE school begins...)

I've also been devouring Page Keeley's new book, "Uncovering Student Ideas in Physical Science" (NSTA Press, 2010) www.nsta.org/store/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9781935155188 which has TONS of great formative assessment "probes." I could see using these either pre- or post-instruction and then using WBT techniques (brain toys, teach-ok, QT, etc) to ensure correct understanding.

(This book has also got me thinking that I really need to emphasize concepts over math...something my department has been muddling over. My kids can crank through formulas but still not explain to me the RELATIONSHIP between force and mass). Keeley points out that "proportional reasoning" is a HUGE problem for most kids, and many adults even....how right she is.

Anyway, I've gone on long enough. When I get my first content unit planned out (other than the first day or two where I actually introduce WBT), I'll post it here. Or maybe attempt to set up a blog.

- Jen

There are two other books you may find helpful (I love the book you mentioned):

"Ready, Set, Science! Putting research to work in K-8 Science Classrooms" By Sara Michaels, Andrew W. Shouse, and Heidi A. Schweingruber (published by the National Research Counsel of the National Academies Press)


"making sense of secondary science research into children's ideas" by Rosalind Driver, Ann Squires, Peter Rushworth, and Valerie Wood-Robinson (published by RoutledgeFalmer)

First, I do plan to use whatever Power Pix that have been developed that fit my content (middle school ESOL Reading and Language Arts), but I have also been thinking about the concepts that come up that aren't already covered, or ones that are specific to my state (PA). I was wondering how to create this document. I understand that the concept word/phrase goes into the middle. How do I create the text that wraps around the edges of the paper so I can type the question, answer, and reference the standard? Thanks!

If you have Microsoft Word, it's pretty easy to set this up. These directions are for Word 2003, so I don't know if the menus are the same for later versions

1) Open a blank document
2) SET TO LANDSCAPE MODE: Go to File/Page Setup and click on the Landscape Orientation
3)CHOOSE YOUR BORDER COLOR: Go to the FORMAT menu, select BACKGROUND, and choose your color. This WILL make the WHOLE document one solid color, but do not worry about that right now.
4) CREATE THE BODY AREA: Go to the INSERT menu, and select TEXTBOX. You'll get a drawing box popup that says "Create your drawing here." Just click on it to bring up a blank. Click and drag the corners until it nearly fills the page. This will leave your background showing only as a border.

At this point, you can type any text and insert whatever images you want into the textbox area.

5) ADD TEXT TO HEADER/FOOTER: Go to the VIEW menu, and select Header and Footer. This will put your cursor in the HEADER area. Type your Prompt Question, Answer, and Grade Level here. Then use the popup toolbox to select the footer and type your GESTURE description in the Footer. If you like, set the FONT COLOR to WHITE and make it BOLD to stand out from the border color.

5) ADD THE GOLD SEALS: You can add the "gold seal" shapes by using the "DRAW" toolbox and selecting the shape under "stars and banners). (Then format the fill color and add textbox on top with the text you want). Set the ORDER to "BRING TO FRONT" and it will overlap the top of your BODY AREA TEXT BOX. Add ANOTHER TEXTBOX and position on top of the gold seal to type your standard and grade level.

6) ADJUST PRINT SETTINGS: If you want the background color to print, you need to do this last step, or else your document will print out with a white background. Go to your TOOLS menu, select OPTIONS and then the PRINT Tab. Under the "Include with Document" section, click the box that says "Background Colors and Images"

7) SAVE AND PRINT!

8) OR....here's a sample WORD document (so you can edit it)
I just made up - feel free to copy it as a template for your own use..

- Jen

OK, so my file was too big to be attached here. AND Verizon has recently cancelled my FTP ability (what use my personal web space is now, I have no idea). And Google Docs removes most of the formatting if I try to upload it there...SOOOOO....if anyone wants this file, just email me and I'll send it to you. My email is in my Profile.

- Jen

Ooopss...forget email is not visible. Click on my Profile, then the Messages tab, then type your request, and I WILL get your email forwarded to me.

Enjoy

OK, I cross-posted this under the "General Education" forum as well....


OK, everyone - I am REALLY excited about this. I FINALLY found a way to share this publicly with you, since the file is too big to attach here. Since I teach 9th grade Physics, I am going to have to develop my own content-specific PowerPix.

It's easier to make them in PowerPoint. So I made an sample slide and have uploaded it to a FREE HOSTING SITE. Please check out the link, download it, and let me know at least if it worked for you:

www.slideshare.net/flyingms2/power-pix

(You'll want to change my "PA standard" to whatever state standard you are using).

This is a FREE site, and I think it might be a great place for our WBT community to share teacher-developed resources. Let me know what you think.

- Jen

PS You have to login to www.slideshare.com to download files, but you can use your facebook login, or you can create a free account at slideshare to do so.

I just posted my PowerPix (in PowerPoint form) for my first two weeks of class - covering chapters 1 and 2 of Paul Hewitt's Conceptual Physics (high school edition). I don't follow the book closely, but the key concepts are there, with more to come. Here's the link in case any other middle/high school science teachers can use them:

www.slideshare.net/flyingms2/power-pix-ch12-9301677

I'll keep uploading once a week or so....

- Jen