Elevator Pitch for Inquiry Topic:

What are some of the interactive digital tools useful for Physics and math classrooms?
 Role and impact of technology in learning process.

Inquiring about Inquiry Project:

Though I initially thought about working on the concept of Flipclassrooms or Incorporating Indigenous education in Physics and Math, I have decided now to pair up with Jashan Bajwa on the topic of the role of technology in Physics and math classrooms. I believe it would be a better topic right now to learn about different technologies that could motivate students to actively participate in Physics and math classrooms. While talking to Jashan about this topic, I realised that working on this project will help me develop theses skills and also better prepare me for the practicum. following is a rough draft of our thoughts about this topic which I think we will revise as we start working on the project.

Exit Slip: October 17, 2019

Today's class started with an amazing presentation by Christa about Solar system and orbits of planets. I personally enjoyed being the planet Neptune orbiting along with  Pluto around Sun.

     We also talked about our entrance slip about Marks and Grades for assessment. One thing that ponders everyone is, Are Marks accurate? I feel to answer this question, we need to know how marks are arrived at and how often students are marked or graded in classrooms for assessments. Although marks cannot be the only tool to assess students, it is a way of evaluation of students' performance in the current education system. I don't think Marks are always an accurate judgement of one's level of progression but can be indicative of one's achievement when calculated number of times through different models of assessment.
     It is hard to take one fixed stand over this question because it depends upon the type of assessment used for grading. For example, in a test/ quiz with objective questions, marks may indicate one's level of understanding for some cases, whereas it can also be a matter of luck or cheating or some kind of help for others. Likewise, in a group project, marks may not indicate efforts and understanding of all group members to the same level. So marks don't accurately measure students' understanding of concepts.
   On the contrary, some students may be consistent in getting the kind of same grades in all sorts of assessment, may because of their actual understanding and efforts involved. In such cases, one can say that marks are measuring their achievement. So it really depends upon the criteria of assessment and assigning grades.

Entrance Slip: October17, 2019
 The Effects of Marks and Grades

 The Grades and marks may serve as a motivation/reward for some students, but surely is distress to many. As a student, I feel Grades and marks are not real indicators of one's learning, alternatively, grades maybe just an indicator of one's ability of memorization. In fact, it interferes with the process and quality of learning. Studying or learning something just to perform better in the test or to achieve higher grades to meet the expectations of the parents causes too much pressure on young minds which may also result in mental health issues. The constant stress of being graded detaches a student's interest from actual learning. I believe the grades simply serve the purpose of the schools and institutions to publish their standards of achievement. Also, in some cases, the grades are just arrived at by evaluating students' performance in random quizzes and tests. Sometimes students do well otherwise in class but fail to perform in exams due to pressure of being judged. I agree with John Sarte and Sherri Hughes statements in the article that the students can learn better if the focus is not on marks and grades but on personal satisfaction, reaching career goals and basically having a good life later. On the other hand, as a teacher sometimes, I feel that grading and marks do play an important role in the process of learning at school. They serve as criteria not just for the assessment of one's learning but to reward a student's hard work and efforts. I recognize that exams/tests may cause stress in students that may hinder their learning, but they also help in the evaluation of students' learning. Additionally, they also prepare students to be confident and ready to face the challenges in life. Some form of formative assessment before summative testing can be helpful in relieving stress in students.
       One of the unintended side- effects of grading may be a feeling of powerlessness in students as they may consider a teacher's authority to control students with threats of grades. This may decrease their motivation to learn and build up an atmosphere of tension in classrooms. Assigning grades and marks to signify one's learning unintentionally classify and label students by categorizing their abilities according to the marks/grade scored. The focus on grades and marks may deviate the students' interest from enjoyable learning towards adopting unfair means to achieve higher grades. The system of grading not only pressurise students but is also a burden for the teacher to spare time for preparing competent tests and rubrics to mark them and still most teachers are aware that the test does not gauges the real intelligence. In the absence of this focus on grades, teachers can devote more time to introducing activities to make learning fun in classrooms.
       I acknowledge the importance of deemphasizing the grades and marks in classrooms to alleviate stress in students and encourage active learning. Still, there has to be a systematic way of assessing the students' learning to fill out the report cards which is a part of the school system and also a part of the admission process in universities for higher education which offers limited seats only to high achievers. As a Science and Math teacher, I personally want to encourage my students to learn for better understanding by developing logical reasoning for the world around us. The grades and marks will follow if one is ready to put their best efforts and hard work. The students can be offered choice and participation in planning and designing assessments that can help a teacher determine the students' understanding of concepts. Different forms of testing pathways can be useful such as formative assessments like reflection through entry/exit slip, digital resources like Kahoot to promote fun learning, sample worksheets for practice. Providing students with real-life problems to work on such as asking them the no. of tiles required to fill the entire classroom or some science problems like the importance of the study of density to identify floating/sinking objects and to identify real/fake gold will encourage students to relate the use of their learning to everyday life. A teacher may then observe students' performance in the formative test and modify and reevaluate a few times before summative testing. This will give students several opportunities to show their level of understanding.
A teacher may then also adopt different ways of summative testing like quizzes, projects, open-book test so that everyone gets a fair chance to perform without stress.

Exit Slip: October 10, 2019

Education in Nature

Today was a perfect sunny day for our class in Orchard Garden. Starting the day with some lone/me time to observe nature to draw was quite relaxing for me personally as I got some time away from my busy going life(with assignments, commuting, family life). I liked this idea because it can be a good reflection activity for students too, as once you start drawing, it is not just you draw what you see, but what you feel about what you see in that particular moment. It was interesting to see and discuss different people's perceptions about the drawings, nature and man-made things. We actually applied our heads, hands and heart to learn how to use your body for certain measurements. Predicting the direction of the rising and the setting sun was a good exercise/stretch for body and mind Snack time is always good delight for both the eyes and the stomach, especially in the Orchard garden when you get to pick up yummy fruit(Asian Pears) and veggies yourself. Sundial activity was amazing too. I remember my grandmother telling me stories of their time when people will tell time without clocks. The time as we measured with Sundial was very accurate. This makes me feel like studying more about Sundials and different numbers on it. I am feeling really inspired to learn more about natural and bodily ways of learning and teaching so that I can successfully incorporate them into my teaching.

Entrance Slip: October 10,2019

David W. Henderson and Daina Taimina's story from Art to Mathematics and from Mathematics to Art is totally inspiring for me in particular, as I did not develop any serious interest in both Maths and Physics till I myself began teaching. I liked Math and Physics subjects in School because both offered some logical explanations for the natural world around us. I was happy with mathematical diagrams and proofs but failed to understand the real beauty behind it. Now, when I think about teaching these concepts to my students, I am not satisfied with just proofs and logical arguments and reasoning as my students don't precieve them as sufficient as I did, for clear understanding. In this dynamic world, children also want some dynamics in learning. Formal teaching, with memorization techniques to compute things, may work for kids to score grades, but won't encourage them to inquire as long as they cannot feel the aesthetics of the concept/idea. That is why, I feel bodily experiences might be helpful in learning not just mathematics and physics, but any subject. This not only gives students a chance for better understanding but discovering something new out of it.
    The idea of proofs without words- visual explanation for proofs is new to me which sounded really interesting. The visualization for the general equation mentioned in the text is impressive. A crocheted hyperbolic plane by Daina Taimina is striking. It clearly shows how these two writers have developed cross-curricular interests (Art and Math). The design process in any field requires integrated knowledge from different fields (arts, geometry, computer-tech, physics, etc.) Therefore, I believe that bodily experience may help students not just understand the content, but may also encourage them to thrive for the cross-curricular connections. This might also be useful in case of promoting, creative, critical and inquiry skills, where we can provide children with an opportunity to get sensory experiences by playing around with materials.
        As far as my school experiences, our mathematical and science teachers had a good grasp over the content and context but they lacked resources, support and ideas to incorporate embodied ways of learning. I think thats where and why I had and have gaps in my learning and understanding of things. But after reading such articles(as above) and participating together in class for such ideas, I am getting more aware of this need and about ways to do so. I now realise that it is not that hard to accommodate movement, gestures, sensory experiences as ways of learning in our classrooms. I can relate it to Physics right now, as we study about speed, velocity, gravity, forces, motion dynamics, mechanics, all involve movement and can be studied by visualizing. We are studying in one of the physics classes to capture motions like jumping, running, tossing a ball and then visualizing velocity and acceleration graphs by using technology. School gardens or grounds can be used for doing such activities which exercises head, hands and heart together.
    I am looking forward to the next class in Orchard Gardens to learn more about embodied ways of learning.   
               

Exit Slip: October3,2019

Today's class was about making, patience and learning. I had a lot of fun doing these making activities with the support of my friends. Thinking about integrating head, hearts and hands with school learning in math and science, rope making can play an important role. There can be a number of activities that can be done. One of them could be done outside in the school garden/playground that is making ropes for playing Tug of War. Students can be asked to make ropes, then test the strength, study tension in the ropes and activity can be carry forward to play Tug of War. I think this activity will incorporate learning, Collaboration promoting physical, mental and socio-emotional skills.
The picture below is a fun memory and a skill learnt will all my head, heart and hands involved, that I am going to try with my students in future.

Entrance Slip - Oct 3, 2019

In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous. -Aristotle


     I found the above quote significant to our visits to the garden and to Sharon Kallis's article" Building of change from the Ground Up". We sometimes but children(broader inquiry lens than us) often wonder about things that we use for day to day life. For instance, soap used at home, they know where do you get it from, but they inquire how do they make it? What it is made up of? Is it good for the skin? Which one is better(from 100s of soap brands)? This may make us think for a while if we want to provide our children with the right information and nurture their overall development or we may ignore their inquiries(for our comfort of time) putting a stop to their natural curiosities.

         It is interesting to find in Kallis's article that this shift in thinking is happening and we are again taking initiatives to consider the bigger picture of inquiry; What to make, How to make, Where to get materials from(19). Also, I would like to add the aspect of Why to make, to this picture. I liked Kallis idea of going backwards in order to get forward(19) that is reflecting on the past to work better for our future. Her thoughts on getting society and community involved in making things rather than manufacturing are really mindful. Think for a moment, factories/industries favouring machine power over manpower, causing unemployment, pollution, unnecessary production, which is, all in all, disturbing the balance in nature. Making things on our own will encourage the science of relearning lost skills, acknowledge nature, support not just production and consumption, but physical and mental health. Additionally, this could be our first step towards restoring life on Planet Earth, which is the need of the hour.

            We are close to the edge of humanity as we are approaching the robotic world we aimed for. Kallis's notion of backsourcing is very appropriate to the present-day situation, at least for some of us who have anticipated the adverse effects of massive destruction/damage that we have already done.

             The pictures in Kallis's article serves as a source of enrichment to the idea of 'make your own'. I found the three different videos on three different activities on art and geometry(rope making, lace/ net/ multistrand braid) quite engaging. I didn't get a chance to try them but looking forward to doing them with the class on Thursday.

        Although all the listed activities sounded interesting to me, for Oct 3, I would list the following:

A1. Learning about the history of measuring with hands, thumbs, paces etc....caliberating distances and angles, measuring the garden.
A3. Trying the portable sundial and see how it works.
B1. Making rope and twine for day lily leaves.
B3. Making the handles of the net bags through multistrand braiding.