Silly Walks

Now that I've started teaching Physics, I can have students perform experiments that translate very literally to the content material.  I recently taught them how to calculate the velocity of an object.  There was a time when I didn't have a very good lesson for calculating speed because my classroom didn't have a lot of space for them to run around and I usually can't take them outside in the middle of winter.
So, I taped off parts of the room and had them walk between the tape lines.  They measure the distance and time; then calculate velocity.  Here's the catch...they must perform silly walks from the Monty Python sketch. 

Then I film it at 300 fps and put together a wonderful compilation.  They usually have an absolute blast doing this activity and they get a lot of good practice calculating velocity.

What does your desk look like?

Here's my desk at school on a normal day.  Allow me to take you on a tour.

This is my computer provided for me by the school district.  I also have my ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity kicking around. (It took this picture)

My PS3 is here to run Little Big Planet on my projector.  Sackboy is helping me teach Physics.

The mousepad is from the WoW: Cataclysm collector's edition.

The LEGO minifigs are mostly there from some trading I've done with one of my students.

R2-D2 and my personal assistant robot are around to perform robot tasks.

I use beakers as change/pencil holders.

I have a few collections of Mythbusters DVDs around for when Adam and Jamie help me teach.

I have A LOT of playing cards.  Not just the single deck you see here.  Mostly because I am a magician and collect cards like a crazy person.

In the back is a PVP print from my wife.  You can also see the bottom edge of a Penny Arcade poster.

Sackboy is Teaching my Physics Class

As an 8th grade Science teacher, my curriculum is split between Chemistry and Physics.  We just had our midterm exams and I've switched to teaching about Newtonian Physics.  Normally, I would trot out some old Road Runner vs. Wile E. Coytoe videos and have the class describe all of the laws that are blatantly violated.  However, I was recently inspired by a program called Steam for Schools:(http://www.teachwithportals.com/)

The basic idea of Steam for Schools was to have students play Portal and overcome specially designed challenges that would illustrate certain concepts in Physics.  (Gravity, conservation of momentum, friction, cake, etc.)  The program sounded great, but time did not allow for me to get it all installed in my computer lab and develop an entire unit out of it (read: too busy doing OTHER awesome things ;) )

So I brought the PS3 and Little Big Planet into my room and Sackboy gave an introductory lesson on how video games utilize (and sometimes break) the laws of Physics.  We talked about how programmers use MATH to translate real life rules into game mechanics.  We also rode a give skateboard and got scared by ghosts.

Little Big Planet is a great game to use to demonstrate Physics because the goals of the game are directly related to the Physics-driven game mechanics.  Also there is a distinct lack of high paced combat, arterial bleeding, cursing, and nudity.  We keep it clean in Mr. Doran's room.

My Students Helped Make a Video Game

A while back, I got a deal on some software called RPG Maker VX Ace.  It is a utility for creating old school looking RPGs.  I got the idea to make a game that my students could play that had elements of Science in it.  The basic premise was that the school got attacked by acids and bases and the students had to act as the hero to defeat them.  I created a mechanic for the students to use specialized "attacks" to neutralize the acids and bases.  An "acid" attack would do extra damage to the base monster and a "base" attack would do extra damage to an acid monster.

I also mapped out our school, put in the teachers and staff, an wrote the story to place the player as the hero of the day.

On top of creating the game, I had students in my Computers class record music for the game.  Finally, I had my Computers students play the game and write up bug reports for me.

Test Quest Continues!

Here's a detailed explanation of how a class operates:

When students come into class, they pick up their character sheet.  They also take out their review homework from the night before.  I stroll about the room with a stamp to mark the students' character sheets if they completed the assignment.  These stamps count towards achievments they can earn.

After a debreifing of the homework, I give the students a ten question, multiple choice, mini-quiz.  After they've completed this quiz, I have them raise up a lettered card to show which answers they got for which question.  This allows me to quickly count the total number of correct responses.

This is where it gets fun. Every day I draw a different type of monster on the whiteboard.  The monster starts with an amount of hit points that are related to its "challenge level" and how many students are in the room.  The students' hit points are related to their own average level, how many students there are, and the average number of correct responses on the mini-quiz.  I have spreadsheets set up with formulas to track all of this information.

Then we do battle!

My Science Class is a Role Playing Game

Last year I read an interesting article about one Ben Bertoli (http://classrealm.com/blog/), a 6th grade teacher.  He had an idea to run his classroom like an RPG.  His student could earn points and achievments in class that would "level them up."  I thought it was an astounding idea, and I immediately started to set my own in class RPG

Students In New York take a standardized Science test in eighth grade that covers four years of material.  I usually spend over a month of my school year covering a variety of Science topics.  I use old state tests and review texts to ensure that my students will get to see all of what could be on the test.  The process is typically arduous as my students can get overloaded with information and lose interest part of the way through it.  I decided that I should try my RPG during this review period.

It was a success on so many levels.  My students were excited to "play" every day and didn't even notice that we plowed through ten years of old state tests.  Homework assignments flowed in when they might normally trickle.  Even the "too cool for school" kids got into it.  The results of the state test even showed higher than normal progress.





This year, I've made many modifications to the game and am now running it through it's beta as we review for our midterm.  Here's what it looks like:

Students fill out a character sheet.  This includes experience points, their current level, a race, a class, and an ability based on their class.

On a day when we're playing, they'll be presented with some type of foe.  On day one, it was a training dummy.  The foe is given hit points based on its level, and how many students are in the class.

Next, the students take a short quiz.  Correct responses to the questions earn their starting hit points for the battle.

Next, they can attack the foe by using their abilities.  Each foe has its own abilities and the students trade blows in order to defeat the foe.

Students have to incorporate dice rolls, adding bonuses, and subtracting penalties to their abilities (MATH!)

Once an enemy is defeated, the students are awarded loot and experience points.  Students also have the opportunity to earn achievements.  For example, turning in their homework assignments could earn an acievement that gives them extra loot.