Low Tech Memorization Technique

A lot of times we are looking for the newest electronic trick to help us learn new things.  Sometimes we forget that our old low-tech tools offer some good methods as well.

We are memorizing the muscles of the thigh this week, and I made a practice sheet with the pictures numbered so the students could write their answers on a separate page and check the answers written on the back, so it's all self directed.

Some students let me know that they need to write ON the pictures to help them memorize, and since our number of copies is watched over, I didn't want to make 5 copies for each student.  Instead, I gave the student an overhead transparency sheet, and an overhead marker. 

By simply laying the  plastic over the diagrams, she could write on the picture again and again to practice her muscle names for tomorrow's test.

Low tech solution - good learning tool!

Video Substitute Teacher

I'm going to be out for a curriculum meeting one day next week, and there's so little time between now and Winter Break, I don't want to miss a day of instruction with my students.

I've been interested in flipping the classroom for a while, and so for this day, I am using the same idea of videotaping my explanation, only I'm the one that won't be in class, the students will still be working.

To set up my video, I first looked at my standards....

 An atom’s electron configuration, particularly the valence elections, determines how an atom interacts with other atoms. 

The polarity of a bond depends on the electronegativity difference and the distance between the atoms (bond length). 

Given the formula, a compound can be named using conventional systems that include Greek prefixes and  Roman numerals where appropriate.

Given the name of an ionic or covalent substance, formulas can be written.

Then I made a basic scripted list of ideas to talk about
* covalent bonds are between two non-metals
* how valence electrons and Lewis dot structures can help us determine bonding patterns
* electronegativity and polarity of covalent compounds
* covalent naming prefixes

I chose a few animations (and made one on XtraNormal as an attention getter)


I wrote practice problems to sprinkle throughout (while the sub pauses the video)

I made a student guide to go with it, with spaces for note taking and the practice problems printed on it.

Finally I recorded my video.  I used the program that comes with our SMART board, it just records your voice and the movement on your computer screen.  So, the students don't see my face, they just hear my voice and see me working the practice problems and explaining on the screen.

I ended my video with a preview of the next day's online lab.  We'll be using Molecular Workbench, and the last few minutes of the video gave me a chance to show them how to get to the website and launch the program, including what would be expected of them on each day (it's a two day lab).

One troubleshooting piece:  It did take a few tries to get the volume right when transitioning from my voice in the mic to the sound from the animation, but I think it was overall quite a success.

We'll see what my students have to say when I get back from my meeting!

Review Sheet Stations

Yesterday in Chemistry we reviewed for today's quiz.  The topic was ionic naming and formula writing, and I found that my students needed many different types of practice.

I planned two simple parts, two medium difficulty parts, and two more challenging parts.  Rather than just put all the practice problems into a worksheet, I separated the activities into six stations.  Each table had a different task, which isn't that different than other class activities I've done before.

The tasks yesterday were:  (in order of difficulty)

Simple Binary Compounds - naming and writing formulas from names (no transition metals or polyatomics)

Binary Puzzles - with the idea inspired by this activity I found online

Naming and Formula Writing with Polyatomic Ions

Naming and Formula Writing with Transition Elements

Mixed Naming Practice - this had "answers" for the problems and students had to evaluate if the answer provided was correct or incorrect, and then they correct as needed.

Real Life Nomenclature - has three product labels with ingredient lists, students must locate and write formulas for as many ionic compounds as possible from the lists. (about 17 that they can identify.)  I had to provide a more detailed polyatomic ion chart for this activity because some of them listed were obscure.

The change this time is, the stations took at least 15 minutes each, and the students only had to choose 3 of the six.  This allowed the students who were struggling to spend their time focusing on the basics, and the students who needed enrichment weren't forced to answer yet another simple binary formula worksheet.

I circulated through the six tables, and made sure they were staying on task.  I was particularly impressed with the idea that several students needed more practice, so they went out of their way to choose extra handouts from the tables they didn't get to and they'd work on them at home.  (self chosen homework?!?!)  Sometimes students will really surprise you when you make the activity about the learning, not about the points for completion.  The answer keys were available and the students were directed to check their work and ask questions about any they got wrong.

I guess I should add, I rarely give points for classwork and homework.  Most of the grade in my class is based on their performance on labs and quizzes.  It has been a shift for them to understand that they're doing the work to LEARN, not to get ten points.

Of course, you could easily make this task worth points by checking off their completed worksheets at the end of class, although I think it would encourage them to copy others work rather than do their own assignments.