Wait for it...wait for it...

It was, all in all, a pretty good week! I've been able to stay up to date on all of my grading, there haven't been any big behavior issues, and the students just came off of an activity that they really seemed to like!
So, in science, we have been all about gravity, and the standard the students had to meet was to support an argument that the gravitational force exerted by Earth is directed down. To show that they understood and could carry out the expectations of the standard, I had the students give demonstrations of gravity in action. However, along with the demonstration (not too hard to do; you just have to drop something :-), the students needed to give an explanation about what force is and why gravity is a force, as well as explaining why dropped objects go towards Earth and not towards any other objects. What the students liked about the demonstrations is that they got to make videos (screencasts) using their Chromebooks. Seeing the excitement and engagement that they had with this task really tells me that I am going to make this a regular option for the students for future projects (when applicable). It's funny how people just get so excited when they see themselves on camera!
Next up on the docket, the students are going to be collecting data related to shadows and the amount of daylight in search of patterns. The process for collecting data is going to be a little tricky because I want this to be a good active process for the students by getting outside to collect the data. However, being that this is Wisconsin (and winter to boot), this activity is dictated by the weather. Seeing as tomorrow is supposed to be rather chilly, I'm thinking it would be frowned upon to take the students outside even if it is sunny... Nevertheless, I can always incorporate the other unit activities when the weather isn't cooperating.
Funny moment: Today during class, while I was explaining the data we would be collecting for the amount of daylight (sunrise, sunset, daylight duration), one student became suddenly worried that I was going to need them to come to school at sunrise and sunset so that we could record the times. She was very relieved when I explained that we have a website that will provide us with that data :-)

Mindfulness thought for the week: You're free to make your own choices, but you will never be free of the consequences of your choices.  --Srishti

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