Saving time and sharing

Morning! This is going to be a quick post just to share something new I recently learned. I've been using OneNote for more than a year now in lieu of Smart Notebook. OneNote has some quirks, but it does a much better job of keeping me organized. And the newest reason I love it is because I realized I can give my students viewing privileges for the class notes/discussion. No more exporting pdf's and emailing them to absentees or posting them to the website- it's all there in a single link. So excited, especially because so many students have been traveling lately to do awesome things.

Also, check out Genius Scan. It can insert images directly into OneNote (with a purchase). I really like it for getting student work up in front of the class in an anonymous way, especially when we run out of time and have to pick up the following day (darn those short periods!).

Secondly (and finally), I gave a presentation at the Fall Institute for the Global Teacher Fellowship about my journey to Australia. If you're interested, you can find it here.

Cheers!

Day 9: Melbourne High School and Albert Park College

Yesterday I visited Steve Draper at Melbourne High School and Jane Coyle at Albert Park College.

The daily schedule at Melbourne High School is more similar to what my own school runs: seven 43 minute periods every day. The school is an all-boys school and is selective entry, so students take an exam to get in. Most enter in year 9, but the occasional student enters in the latter years. There seems to be a strong emphasis on marks and scores from the get-go, and Steve told me that sometimes it can be frustrating when the students are more focused on the grade they get than learning the material. I actually think that the Victorian scheme of assessing students puts a stronger emphasis on underdstanding that the NYS Regents- the year 11 course is basically a dry run for year 12 and it's relatively low stress. 

I observed a physics 12 class on electric power and transformers. Steve did some awesome demos including melting nails and solder. The students were really engaged by this. Then I observed a year 11 prac (lab), during which the students were looking at the I vs. V curve for a globe (light bulb). They were using a different experimental setup than I employ for this sort of activity: breadboards, variable resistors, and a single 9V battery. I usually do it via the Modeling-esque version of batteries and bulbs, which has the students build a simple circuit and then add additional batteries. I can't get the same fine scale for really small voltages, but in terms of setup and data collection it goes faster. It was really interesting to see the same activity I do executed a different way. Finally, I observed a year 12 maths methods course (by the way, NEVER call it math here). It was about binomial distributions, and their teacher was pushing them well past the content that they're likely to see on the state test and into confidence intervals. Neat stuff.

After my visit Steve and I went for coffee with Dan O'Keefe. We had an interesting discussion about the nature of education and how schools can best prepare students. Steve made an interesting point about how the current educational system is basically a remnant of a different time and we're headed for a vastly different future. He recently attended an edutech conference (http://www.edutech.net.au/) and mentioned that the skills employers most want out of graduates are adaptability and creative problem solving abilities. I agree wholeheartedly and think that it's high time that traditional education be re-imagined.

Speaking of which, this leads me to my visit with Jane Coyle at Albert Park College. Albert Park is a state-run school and is not selective entry. It is a very new school- the current year 11 class is the first cohort to go through. The school has such a strong reputastion that people have begun moving to the area just so that their children can attend it. This is actually a bit of a problem, as the space is not quite big enough for the extra classes that have been added. It puts a strain on the staff and the building.

The facilities are really nice: large open spaces and small tables for group work. All the students bring their own device to class every day, so there is no need to have permanent desktops around the room. The school has an excellent set of Vernier equipment which it puts to good use with lots of student-centered activities. Jane also uses a flipped style, but it's not just straight videos. Her students are also expected to do reading assignments outside of class, but Jane stressed that the reading quizzes she administerers via Google Forms are just for comprehension/completion, not to check to see if they fully understand everything. That role is saved for clas time. Periods are 60 minutes and students generally meet 4 periods a week: two singles and a double.

The Year 11 double period I observed on a Friday afternoon was remarkably focused and the students had a lot of energy. They worked Newton's second law problems in small groups and then worked on an Atwood prac. It was nice that they all had electronic access to the writeup sheet and instructions so they could start their reports right then and there (Google Sites).

There are 7 girls taking year 11 physics out of a total of 31. There were 4 in the class I observed, and I asked them if they were going to continue on next year. Two of them said they will definitely take year 12 physics. The third said maybe- she seems to struggle a bit with the content. The fourth is trying to decide between physics or a pre-university course that she can earn university credit for taking.

Jane and I had a great discussion about why so few females take physics in Australia. This was actually the focus of her Masters work, so she was very well informed! Her research, which involved surveying female students in maths methods courses, found that:

• The female students analyze prerequisites for university and know what they need to take. Then they focus on those courses. Since physics isn't a prerequisite for any university courses of stud, they generally dont take it [though this limits their options if they don't end up pursuing medicine]
• A strong indicator of whether or not female students will study physics is a connection with someone who knows science- usually a family member
• Seeing another female who has studied science or teaches science also increases the liklihood that they will study physics
• Finally, exposure to a career that employs physics- especially an altruistic career or one that involves helping people or society such as Engineers Without Borders- increases the liklihood that girls will study physics

Jane works very hard to be visible and get to know the younger students in an effort to grow the school's physics enrollment. It is already the highest of the co-educational schools I visited, but she sees a lot of room for improvement. Our research interests are very similar and we had a terrific discussion.

The day ended with an interesting lecture at Melbourne University and then a farewell dinner with Dan, Colin, Jane, Barbara, Neil, and Paul Cuthbert. It has been a fantastic trip and my mind is reeling from everything I've seen- can't wait to implement some of these great ideas next fall! I'd like to formally thank all of the teachers who invited me into their schools, answered my endless questions, and made me feel right at home. I'd also like to recognize that none of this would have been possible without the support of the Rural School and Community Trust- thank you for making this journey happen! 

Day 8: Ivanhoe Girls' Grammar School and Billanook College

Today I visited two Pauls: Paul Fitz-Gerald at Ivanhoe Girls' Grammar School (IGSS) and Paul Fielding at Billanook College. A common thread between the two, aside from a mild geographical proximity, was the Space Camp they run in the summer. Students from both schools spend an entire week during their holiday break learning about aerodynamics and flight first hand. They go for a flight in a glider and also in a plane, launch model rockets, and design their own gliders. The camp looks fascinating- wish I could get all of my students together for a week in the summer to do something like this!

Before I forget, Paul Fielding showed me a really neat camera called a Key Cam that uses a micro SD card and is affordable enough to be attached to a rocket. The footage is remarkably good and the unit is affordable enough that it's not the end of the world if it doesn't survive the landing.

I observed a year 10 class at IGSS that was studying inertia. Well, actually a pair of them running simultaneously with different stations, and the students moved back and forth between the rooms depending on which experiment they were working on. The teachers (Paul and Dina) had planned this out ahead of time and it seemed to go really smoothly. The activities were engaging and were presented in the form of real-world scenarios- pushing a heavy shopping cart, collisions between cars, etc. 

Many teachers here, like as Dina, Giselle, and Paul Fielding, were actually engineers first before becoming teachers. The undergraduate degree doesn't matter too much- the teachers either got a one-year postgraduate diploma in teaching or a masters afterward. The diploma is being phased out and the only option for new teachers will be the masters route.

Billanook College feels like it's far removed from the city, but it just happens to have a large campus (with its own stream) and be situated next to a vineyard. It's an independent school, but it doesn't have an entrance exam, so it gets a wide economic cross-section of students. It has strong support services for students with learning disabilities and also for international students. One faculty member told me that while the campus is nice, their strength is in the programs they offer. The school has a day with five 65-minute periods on a 2 week rotation.

I observed a year 11 class that ran like a well-oiled machine. The students were running motion labs using inclined planes and trolleys (carts). They collected data via the Pasco Spark Systems. The only hiccup, which was really minor, was the transfer of the graphs to the students' Google Docs writeups. They have to take a picture with their device (iPads for years 7-9, BYOD after that (laptop and phone/tablet) and then insert it into google docs via drive. It worked fine and the students had an excellent handle on using the devices after having them for so long. Side note: Paul Fitz-Gerald's school had an interesting way to let the students know the expectations for how iPads were to be used during the lesson:

Too few students at my school use devices in this manner, so it's not really applicable, but I liked the idea.

There was 1 female student out of two classes that total roughly 22 students. Paul Fielding told me that the state average is 20% female for year 11's, and 10% for year 12 courses.

After school Paul took me to the top of Mount Dandenong, which was spectacular. We then had dinner with his wife, a linguist, and the school's career counselor. It was fascinating to hear their perspectives. 

Day 7: John Monash Science School and NVSES at Monash University

Today I visited Barbara McKinnon at the John Monash School for the Sciences (JMSS). It was unlike any other school I've visited- anywhere. It's a select entry school focused on the sciences. Students come from the area around the school, but they also have a program where students from rural schools attend remotely for most of the year and then come in person to spend a 3-week stint at the school. 

Stock photo from: http://www.patrickredmond.com.au/data/photos/93_1untitled_w.jpg

The layout of the school was groundbreaking when it first opened, and it's still fairly unique (more on that in a moment). The layout is very open, to the point where there are classes going on simultaneously on either side of a “bridge” without any dividers. This means that there is always some background noise from other classes, even in the enclosed classrooms and labs. Part of this is due to the glassed-in separators between the rooms, but the other reason for it is due to the class sizes. Every period is essentially a double period and is either 70 or 75 minutes in length. There are 4 periods in a typical day, unless it's Wednesday, when there are only 3. The students spend Wednesday afternoons doing extracurricular activities and the staff have professional development.  A normal class is 50 students and is team taught by two teachers. One usually takes the lead while the other circulates and answers questions that crop up without interrupting the flow of the rest of the class. This seemed to work remarkably well, but there was a lot of background noise. The pros of this model are numerous and have been documented by Greg Lancaster of Monash University. One of the biggest positives that Greg noted during our discussion was the continuity if a teacher happens to be absent: their partner can simply step in and teach the lesson with the support of someone else filling in. This also means that the pair can divide the lessons so that each teaches the material they feel most comfortable with. 

The students at JMSS are very focused, and that's what makes this model works. One student told me that the noise can be distracting at times, but that she really likes the model with two teachers and the open classrooms. This was echoed by many students, who also enjoy taking classes with other dedicated students with s genuine interest in science. The open model has been tried at other schools, with what I understand to be limited success. Students who are apathetic toward their studies or tend to have behavior issues can take advantage of the freedom the model offers to goof off or misbehave. The biggest issue JMSS appears to face in terms of discipline seems to be attendance issues with students who aren't as dedicated as they ought to be, and subsequently getting these students caught up. Missing a 70 minute lesson is challenging to make up, especially when the students have very full schedules. Speaking of which, they take approximately 7 different courses: math, a core science, an elective science, English, humanities, language, and gym. Languages are either French or Japanese (nearly positive that this is the case, but to be honest the schools visits are blending together a bit at this stage, so take that with a grain of salt).. The range of courses that are under the umbrella of humanities is somewhat surprising: they include environmental science and IT courses. 

A standard teaching load is 4 courses plus extra duties. Since the courses are team-taught, this prep load is slightly better than it appears at first blush. Also, it is mandated that all of the sections of a particular course stay in sync and use a similar approach. This keeps the students on the same page, but decreases the flexibility allowed to individual teachers. As one student noted, it gives extra prep time for tests because the test cannot be administered until all of the sections have completed the material, but it also means that feedback is delayed because the test is not returned until all of the students enrolled in the course have taken the assessment. It can be 2+ weeks before students find out their scores on a test. 

On a side note, you being such intrepid readers have probably noticed a distinct dearth of students in my photos. This is not accidental, but rather because there are strict rules here about getting permission before publishing photographs of students. Given the extraordinarily short nature of this trip, it wasn't feasible to get the suitable permission so I am only able to share images of teachers and their classrooms. Barbara told me that the students and teachers would be very comfortable with my coming and going, and this was certainly the case. They were also very comfortable answering questions, both about the content they were learning, the process of learning, and how their experience at JMSS compares to their previous schools. 

This is already a long entry, but there is more to come. This is possibly the most applicable bit too, because it involves rural students. The original goal of my fellowship was to visit schools in rural areas similar to the region I live in back in the United States. Dan O’Keeffe from Vicphysics was instrumental in setting up my itinerary, and he sent an invitation to their mailing list of teachers asking for volunteers to have me come visit their schools. Nobody from rural schools responded, and after arriving I learned that many rural schools simply do not teach physics because they do not have a teacher who knows the content. This explains why I haven't been able to visit rural schools!

The program at JMSS for rural students is pretty unique. Two teachers sit in a recording studio and have class with students who are connected remotely from all over the state. The ideal setup is for the students to attend in real-time, but the videos are published to an unlisted youtube channel for students to review if they happen to miss class. This is a good way for students in remote areas to get access to material that they would not otherwise be able to learn. 

Today while I was chatting with Simon Tyler, one of the teachers at JMSS, he said that my name sounded familiar. Turns out that he recognized it from the Global Physics Department! Small world...

I had lunch today with Greg and a visiting researcher. We had a great discussion about how to make good videos for education and what it takes to do that from a pedagogical perspective. Among other things, Greg works on a project called the National Virtual School of Emerging Sciences.  Fascinating stuff- perhaps the model of remote delivery could work for small rural schools in America? In NY we'd have to sort out how to handle the hands-on lab component, but it certainly has potential. It would take some work to do it right though.

I liked the look of this building on Monash's campus:

Day 6: Buckley Park College, VSSEC, and Vicphysics

Today I spent the morning with Neil Champion at Buckley Park College. Buckley Park is a state run school in a suburb north of Melbourne. It has an accelerated group of 25 students who compete to be admitted, but I didn't have the opportunity to observe these students. Instead, I observed several different classes: the tail-end of a year 10 class, a year 12 class, and a year 7 class.

The students were quite welcoming and Neil gave me ample opportunity to talk with them. Curiously, the thing they were most interested in discussing was accents, which I found quite interesting. Several students were astonished to learn that, to my ear, they have accents. When I spoke with the younger students I got the chance to ask them about their future plans in science. Several students I spoke with didn't plan to continue studying science after year 10 because they didn't think that their careers would need it. I asked for an example and it was business or law. Another student who wants to be a midwife was unsure if she would need science (I suggested biology would be a good starting point). Other students thought they'd take chemistry, but just because it was the next thing to do, not because it was of particular interest. 

The year 10 class was a mixture of boys and girls, the year 12 course has dwindled to 6 boys and 1 girl, and the year 7 was 14 boys and 10 girls. The seating in the year 7 class was curious- many of the boys chose to sit close to the back while the girls sat toward the front. One of the girls said that the exact opposite thing occurs in some of the other courses- the boys sit toward the front. She wasn't sure why this phenomena happens. 

Neil said that for the year 12 students the females seem to enroll in the course only if they're confident that they can handle the material, while more of the boys take it without really thinking it through and consequently end up dropping the course. 

Neil has had an extensive career in education in a variety of different roles. He has worked as a teacher, administration, textbook writer, and also in curriculum design. He was one of the authors of the textbooks his students use, which were really interesting in that they are hybrid. This means that the students have paper copies but also electronic access, not only to the textbook but also to the website with associated worksheets and simulations.

This afternoon I went to visit the Victorian Space Science Education Centre, which is typically abbreviated as VSSEC. This is a facility similar to GTAC, in that its mission is to use space as a vehicle to get kids interested in science. They have programs for students in years 3-12, and will soon add programs for the three younger years as well. They have programs for students to come to the center and experience working in mission control or as astronauts. They also have water rocket programs for younger students. Another notable thing is that the fees for the students depend on the type of school they're coming from: students from economically disadvantaged or rural schools come for free. There are also outreach programs where VSSEC staff take lessons to classes, frequently giving them equipment and lessons. VSSEC serves approximately 13,000 students each year.

To be honest, by this point in the day I was, to put it in the local vernacular, "knackered." I took a lot of pictures of the facility and was overwhelmed and impressed by everything they do. The Mars room was incredible and I wish I had a facility similar to this to take my students to experience. 

I'll leave you with the pictures and field any questions you have- leave them in the comments below and I ought to get a notification.

Finally, this evening I attended the monthly Vicphysics meeting. It was great to see a group of professional teachers working together to improve their craft and help other teachers. This reminds me of the Western New York Physics Teachers' Alliance, which I wish were closer to me!

Day 5: Camberwell Girls' Grammar School

Today I visited Giselle Lobo at Camberwell Girls' Grammar School. CGSS is located in Camberwell, which is an eastern suburb of Melbourne. It's an all-girls school, and remarkably this was the first time I have had the chance to observe female students since I arrived in Australia. In one school I visited previously the female students happened to be in a different period than the one I observed, but in the other schools the female students simply do not choose to study physics. I have been quite surprised by this, but CGGS certainly doesn't have a problem getting its students to study physics. There are two year 11 sections and two year 12 sections. Giselle has the dubious honor of teaching both year 12 maths (methods) and years 10-12 physics. Teaching a year 12 course here in Australia is both an honor an a large responsibility- they generally require a lot of work due to the VCE exams at the end of the year.

CGGS is in the midst of a large renovation. It appears that it will be a great addition to the school, but at the same time it was distracting to the students to have the construction noise right outside their classroom. So much so that Giselle moved her afternoon class to a different location. She didn't have access to all of her equipment in the new location, but the students didn't complain about the noise like they did in the earlier section. The first classrom was a large physics classroom with lab equipment and an lcd projector. The second classroom had a whiteboard and two large televisions that Giselle connected her iPad to using Airplay.

The first class I observed was year 12 students who were learning how to apply the right hand rule. They were thrown by some of the symbols the textbook used- labeling a dot as point "X" is confusing if you're trying to figure out whether the electric field is coming out of the page or going in! (For non-physicists: a vector coming out of the page is represented as a point (tip of the arrow) and going in is an x (end view of the arrow with fletchings, usually with a circle around it)). The students were engaged and remained remarkably focused given the din outside the door.

After lunch I observed one of Giselle's colleague's math 12 courses in methods. In general methods is sort of the middle route - specialist is more difficult calculus and there is a third option, but to be honest I can't remember what it even is. This class was reviewing the content of their recent SAC Exam (school assessed component). Each student's final grade in the course is a weighted average of their score on the state-authored VEC exam and a series of exams that are administered and scored by the school, which are affectionately called SAC's. The students didn't have their own exams in front of them because the exams haven't been completely scored yet, but they seemed to remember the majority of the material. It was calculus- anything from integration and sums to related rates. To be honest I was surprised by how deep this course went into the content- makes me think that the specialist course probably hits well above the AP bar I'm accustomed to.

The final class I observed was Giselle's year 11 students, who were working on motion problems. They learned this material last year during year 10, but they only have one quarter of physics (10 weeks), so they didn't get terribly far into it. Today's lesson was probing for what they remembered and required them to utilize multiple representations of motion- moving from a written description to graphs of position, velocity, and acceleration vs. time. They had the general gist of it but had some difficulty deciding whether line segments on velocity graphs should be straight or curved. This led to an interesting discussion of how realistic they needed to be when modeling motion. The class was using the Conceptual Understanding Procedures (CUPs) materials from Monash University. These seemed similar in intent to the Modeling Curriculum I use and I liked them a lot. 

The whiteboard at the end of class. There was another version of the top-left velocity graph with negative signs in place of the red positive marks representing increasing slope, but it got erased before I could snap a picture.

Weekend Expeditions

Amos invited me to spend with weekend with him and his family in Torquay, where they live outside of Geelong. It was great to revert back into a "normal" lifestyle instead of the wandering vagabond theme I've been enjoying lately. On Saturday we took his son on a walk/bike ride to the park and then spent the afternoon at a footy match (the Geelong cats even won!).

Yesterday we went surfing and I managed to catch a few waves. 

Then it was off on a drive down the Great Ocean Road to look for Koalas, which we eventually found.

Also saw kangaroos at dusk, but by then my phone battery had died so there isn't any photographic evidence. It was a busy weekend but also an excellent interlude before I dive into the coming week, which is jam-packed with school visits and events.