Digital Portfolios - a game changer

Digital Portfolios

Bryan's Video on quinta-feira, 21 de maio de 2015

Texthelp

These guys are incredible. I first learned of texthelp when it was in its infancy, in Ontario. This is an application that helps students to read, write, spell, listen, speak... it's a literacy tutor sitting right next to you. Unbelievable. Here's a demo:

It has come so far since then. There's

• the read&write extension (comes free for anyone on a Chrome browser), 
• Snapverter - an add-on that creates pdfs for sharing through Drive
• fluency tutor - a teacher's dream - it's a reading assessment tool. Students can practice and record their reading and it automatically saves it and sends it to you. There is so much more to this - but I'm not the expert (yet) AND - it costs.
• teach for Google - short, how to videos for best practice strategies. This has grown out of a genius hour at the EdTech Team - and is growing with more lessons and strategies as we speak!

The texthelp guys are just amazing!

Martin (on the left) is wearing his Google Glasses! Tres cool...

And, speaking of cool, welcome to my new friends, Uncle Fester

and

EMPEROR Darren! (Tech Lord!)

Matific: self exploration in math

COOL! Math website to enhance creativity and problem solving For grades 1 - 6.

Matific

What's even cooler, is the rationale behind it. Watch:

iPad meets Google apps

Holly Clark helps us connect the iPad with Google apps for education (gafe).

I love it. Powerful messages:

• making learning visible
• give students a voice
• share learning

Using Socrative, iMovie, Book Creator, Easy Blogger jnr... AMAZING!!!

At the EdTech Team Global Summit!

Hi from Sao Paulo! I'm at the EdTech Team Global Summit - featuring Google for Education. I have to say, this is my 3 Google Summit, and 5th tech conference and it seems... small.  That doesn't mean it won't be good, it just much more intimate than I'm used to. There is a certain enjoyment to a large, anonymous crowd. I see about thirty of us so far. We will see if all the sessions still run. You never know, it might be the best one yet!

Meanwhile, back home, I hear that some members of the family are missing me!

I'M BACK!!!

I haven't blogged in almost a year! Instead of blogging, I've been INGESTING all the cool
sights/sites and sounds around me! Also, my new school uses Edmodo for Homework and Assignments - very easy and useful I must say!

If you are an alum from JD - hello and how are you? If you are from my new school: the International School of Curitiba - Hello and Welcome!

I decided to start to blog again because I'm off to a

Google Summit again and love sending info back to colleagues, friends, students... anyone who might be interested.

So, if you want to continue to hear from me- stay tuned! If you have moved on to bigger and brighter things (like high school!) and don't want to have your old science teacher bothering you - feel free to 'unsubscribe'. Cheers and best of luck to everyone!

I'm reading the most interesting book!

I do have a fascination for chemistry and came across this as an eBook (trying to travel light to Brazil!)

It is completely accessible for my grade 8 students who have a fondness for chemistry. There are TONS of experiments and theories to do and explore. The library does NOT have it, but as you can see, it's on sale at Chapters/Indigo and the eBook version is only 9.99!

Keep learning!
Mrs. B

Highlights from the science expo

Science Expo Highlights

Happy Canada Day!

In Canada: Happy Canada Day from the Hadfields! (and from Mrs. Bibby Smith!)

Women in science

Watch this

The Teapot Effect - By Mr. Y - The True Scientist in the School

The Teapot Effect

Our pavement is eroding away. This is due to an interesting phenomena called the teapot effect. Teapot technology is largely ignored by mainstream media (some say unfairly). The problem with teapots is their annoying habit of dribbling, particularly at low rates of flow. The phenomenon has achieved such notoriety that it has been imaginatively dubbed the “teapot effect”. This I am sure we have all seen with say pouring milk from one glass into another. It will run down the side of the glass on us.

Many people, including scientists, have thought that the water spillage is caused by water tension, however, this is not the case.

In 1956, Markus Reiner performed an experiment which seemed to show this wasn't true. He placed a conical flask upside down in water and poured salty water, which sinks in normal water because it’s denser, over the top of it. Since surface tension has no effect underwater the salty water stream should have fallen straight down from the edge of the flask’s bottom, but Reiner found that the water followed the incline of the flask for a short while. He also established that flow rate was important. The slower the pour, the more likely the teapot was to drip. With a fast pour the tea has less of a chance to slow down, change direction and drip down the spout.

Like many of us, Dr. Keller had long observed the pesky problem of that little bit of tea that always seems to run down the outside of the spout and drip into our laps. Then, in 1956, he heard a lecture that inspired him. An Israeli scientist reported he asked 100 physicists why teapots drip and they all said it was due to surface tension. This scientist did some experiments that proved it couldn’t be caused by surface tension, so what is the explanation? Dr. Keller wrote a paper, ‘The Teapot Effect,’ Dr. Keller showed that it was air pressure, not surface tension, that causes drips. “It is simply that at the pouring lip the pressure in the liquid is lower than the pressure in the surrounding air,” he said, “so air pressure pushes the tea against the lip and against the outside of the spout.”

So you are probably wondering what this has to do with the pavement eroding away on our hardtop? Well, very simply, when it rains, water is forced down to this area due to gravity, and the topography of the pavement. As it hits the lip of the pavement it drips or flows along the edge and due to differential air pressure it is forced up under the asphalt lip, and it eats away at the underlying gravel and digs it out.

The teapot effect.

So as these two pictures show, the water runs over the edge where the air pressure forces it to ride along the bottom of the asphalt thus digging out the gravel underneath.

Grumpy cat

Don't listen to him. He is just grumpy.

Ninth Grade Girls Show Plants Won’t Grow Near Wi-Fi Routers

Ninth Grade Girls Show Plants Won’t Grow Near Wi-Fi Routers



Anyone ready to confirm their data?

Expanding and contracting gases

Still looking for a science expo experiment? Here's one:
Expanding gases

World Cup Host City: Curitiba (my new home town!)

True or not true?

Tell me your thoughts.

Mindset: What is mindset?

Every so often a truly groundbreaking idea comes along. This is one. Mindset explains:

• Why brains and talent don’t bring success
• How they can stand in the way of it
• Why praising brains and talent doesn’t foster self-esteem and accomplishment, but jeopardizes them
• How teaching a simple idea about the brain raises grades and productivity
• What all great CEOs, parents, teachers, athletes know

Mindset is a simple idea discovered by world-renowned Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck in decades of research on achievement and success—a simple idea that makes all the difference.

In a fixed mindset, people believe their basic qualities, like their intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits. They spend their time documenting their intelligence or talent instead of developing them. They also believe that talent alone creates success—without effort. They’re wrong.

In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment. Virtually all great people have had these qualities.

Teaching a growth mindset creates motivation and productivity in the worlds of business, education, and sports. It enhances relationships. When you read Mindset, you’ll see how.

This quote is from the Website: Mindset: What is Mindset

We did a small quiz in class, to ascertain what our mindset was. Ask your child (in 7/8A) how they scored!

The Goblin Shark! Thanks Maxwell!

8C: Fluids Lab DUE!

Hello 8C! Your fluid lab was due today. I think I got 2...
With track and field being a little mixed up with the rain I completely understand. Please feel free to hand it in to me on FRIDAY. I have a supply teacher in tomorrow. PLEASE DO NOT GIVE IT TO THE SUPPLY TEACHER!!!!! WHEN IN DOUBT, SEND IT ON THE CLOUD!