Grouping Students Using the Periodic Table

At the beginning of the last school year, I was looking for a different way to quickly put students into groups.  I didn't want students to always have the same partners and I didn't want to always have to pick them for them.  After thinking about it for awhile, I realized the answer was staring me right in the face...the periodic table (I have giant one on the wall across from my desk).  The elements are grouped together, so if I could find a way to use the periodic table to group my students I could also reinforce that the periodic table has a pattern.  After much thought I came up with the following method for randomly grouping students during labs or group activities.  Keep in mind that there are times you might want to group students by their abilities.

So here is how I group my students using the elements on the periodic table.  I have 26 poker chips, each with a symbol of an element from the periodic table.  On lab days or whenever I want to randomly put students into groups, I have each student blindly grab one of the poker chips from a container.

I have chosen elements in groups of four from the periodic table because I have four students per lab station.  Since I have 26 students, I needed two extra elements, H & He.  Each lab station is labeled Alkali Metals, Alkaline-Earth Metals, Nitrogen Family, Oxygen Family, Halogens, Noble Gases & Hydrogen/Helium.  Students move to a lab station based on the element poker chip they chose.  At this point, the students have some choice.  They may choose with whom they work with based on the students at the station.  The two students with hydrogen and helium do not go to a lab station based on the group/family.  Instead, because H and He are unique they have a lab station to themselves. 

I like this method because it reinforces the idea that elements are in groups/families on the periodic table and it refreshes students' memories of the names of the groups/families on the periodic table.  It saves time in class because students are not milling around looking for a partner.  They grab a poker chip and find a partner. 

Sometimes, I have those stray students because some kids are absent or one of my classes has less than 26 students.  After all of the students are in groups, I just go around and quickly condense them into one or two groups or if there is time I have one or two kids pick again.

Thanks

Dan

Great Chemistry Apps for the iPad

I was going through the app store the other day looking for new chemistry apps for class and I figured "Hey, why not share the list of apps that I thought were interesting."

Here is my list of cool iPad apps:

ChemDoodle

ChemDoodle allows you to draw chemical structures and view them in 3D.  You can also connect it to your desktop version.  It generates IUPAC nomenclature and simulates NMR data.

Elements: A Visual Exploration

First of all this is a great Periodic Table Reference.  Second, it is a stunning living Periodic Table complete with sharp pictures of the elements.  You can even use cheap 3D glasses to enhance the experience.  Loaded with information and beautiful pictures this is a must for all chemists, teachers and enthusiasts. 

The Elements in Action

This is the companion app for Elements: A Visual Exploration.  This app comes with 79 videos of the elements.  You and your students can see reactions that are hard if not impossible to perform in the classroom.  If you have the Elements: A Visual Exploration app it will link with this app and enhance your experience.  

NOVA Elements

This is NOVA…need I say more?  This is the app that accompanies the NOVA program Hunting the Elements hosted by David Pogue.  I highly recommend the show and this app.

Chemist

With this fun little app you can actually play with beakers, flasks, burners, chemicals and much more.  It is fun to pick up the beakers and pour in the various chemicals.  It is fun way to have your students perform those dangerous experiments in a completely safe environment.  It is so much fun to place cesium into a beaker of water and watch it explode.  You can also select from many different chemical compounds.  This app makes you feel like you are working in the lab!

Quiz Re-Takes Really Work!

I never thought I would ever give a student a quiz re-take.  I was vehemently opposed to the idea.  I mean come on how many chances should we give students?  I thought that if I let them re-take a quiz it would set a precedent and I would have students re-taking every quiz.

Then I started to think about it and I started to do some research.  I was very skeptical, but as I read I started to change my mind.  Here's why.

Why not give students a second or third or forth chance?  Isn't our goal as a teacher to help students learn.  Why do we only reward them if they get it right the first time?  This is what I figured, if a student bombs a quiz or makes a mistake they should learn from those mistakes and find a way to improve.  Isn't that what life is about?  Where else in your life do you not get a second chance?  Yes, I know...when flying a plane...when performing surgery...when driving a car, etc.  Yes, there are certain events that you can't live and learn but I believe that in the classroom students should be able to live and learn as often as they need.

My goal, by the end of the year, is to teach my students as much chemistry as I can.  My students' job is to learn as much chemistry by the end of the year.  

Anyway, this year I figured I would try it out.  I am a scientist at heart and I wanted to collect my own data to see if quiz re-takes would have an effect.

Here's How I did it.

First, I established some guidelines.

1.  Students may re-take a quiz as many times as they like as long as it is re-taken before a unit test.  My test, for now, are final.  There are no test re-takes.  So a student can re-take a quiz on nomenclature 20 times until the day of the nomenclature test.

2.  Students must complete a quiz re-take form.  This form is on my Moodle page and it is designed to help the student reflect on the quiz.  In the past, students would throw away bad quizzes without giving them a second thought.  Now, they have to think about what they did poorly and then tell me what they plan to do to improve.  I really like this part!  I believe it is the most important part.  Here are some images of my quiz re-take form:

3.  Students must complete a remediation assignment based on the topics that gave them trouble.  I do not create these assignments.  Students can use the textbook or internet to create their own problem sets.  I want the students to create this.  I told them it doesn't have to be from the book and if they had another idea that I would be willing to listen.  Most students use the book or pull worksheets from the internet.  The only catch is they cannot use problems that I have already assigned.  It has to be something new!  I think this is great because students learn that when they don't understand something they can find information and resources to help them get better.  I have students going to the internet and working out problems on their own!

4.  The last grade stands.  I don't give them the higher of the two grades or the average.  I give them the last grade.  I love this for a number of reasons.  First, it deters some students from trying to go from 98% to 100%.  Second, it reflects what they currently know and that is what I am testing.  So what if last week you got an 80%.  Today you only know 73%.

Final Thoughts

In the beginning, I was nervous because I thought I would need to write 5-10 versions of each quiz.  Since the beginning of the year, I have only had two students re-take a quiz more than one time.  I write three versions of the quiz.  The questions are roughly the same.  I change some of the numbers and sometimes I change the question as long as it covers the same objective/target.

I was afraid that quiz re-takes would dominant my life this year.  I have been fairly organized.  I have a quiz folder for honors and AP chemistry and quiz answer key folder.  For each unit, I place the quizzes and keys in the folder and I am ready to go.  Note, I give students at minimum one quiz a week.

Grading has not been a nightmare.  My quizzes are short...around 10-15 points each.  They are very quick to grade.  What I have been doing this year is I place answers keys around the room during the quiz along with a colored pencil.  I let the students check their own quizzes before turning them in.  I encourage them to write notes to themselves and to make corrections as long as they use my colored pencil.  They know the consequences if I find them with their own pencil or pen at the quiz station.  My students love the instant feedback.  I still grade each quiz but their corrections make easier to grade.

Overall, I love this new system.  I know my students love it as well.  I have had numerous students come up to me and tell how much they like being able to re-take the quizzes.  Of course there are a few students who take advantage of the system.  They fill out the re-take form without much thought or effort and the remediation assignment is thrown together at the last minute.  But, so many of my other students are doing it the right way and benefiting I have to continue.  My students are more confident and are not as afraid to make mistakes as they used to be.  They know that they can learn from their mistakes and not be penalized.

Thanks
Dan

Halloween Fun with Chemistry

Every year, I do my traditional pumpkin explosion and it is a huge hit every year.  Since I started blogging this year, I thought I would share some links to great Halloween demonstrations.  Here are three great resources for creating your own Halloween show.  Be careful and have fun!

The American Chemical Society has a bunch of fun resources to use.  Click here.

About.com has been a great resource.  I actually subscribe and get weekly demonstrations.  Click here.

Of course I have to mention Steve Spangler.  In this video he does the pumpkin explosion I mentioned earlier.  Click here.

NHS Inductee Speech 2013

Last night, I was honored to give the key note address during the 2013 National Honors Society Inductees ceremony at Amos Alonzo Stagg High School in Palos Hills, Illinois.  I am not much of a public speaker but I did my best.  I was really nervous but I am really happy that I did it.  I was honored to have been selected by the students.  Anyway, I figured I would share my speech.  Thanks.

My Advice to NHS Students: Question Everything, Fail, 

Don’t Get a Job and Have Fun!

NHS Induction Speech October 16, 2013

Good evening.

I could not be more honored to be speaking here tonight.  When I was asked to give the speech tonight I was very flattered, but then I panicked because I realized that I would have to give a speech.  Then it dawned on me that the students select the speaker every year and then I was flattered again.  You see, it is a teacher’s dream to have his students want to listen to him even when they are not required.  

Now as some of you know, I am the honors and AP chemistry teacher here at Stagg high school and please rest at ease...I have no plans on Breaking Bad any time soon.  

First, I would like to congratulate the Inductees on their special night.  I know that this night belongs to you but to reach this point, you owe much to your family, friends and teachers.  It is true you have sacrificed your time, studied and passed test after test, wrestled with textbooks, stayed up late to finish that homework assignment, wrote the long term papers, sacrificed weekends to complete that project, spent hours on the bus on the way to a game, band contest, or academic competition, completed your service hours just to name a few.  Above all, you lived your life according a standard that reminds us that honor is not an idea that is trotted out at special award ceremonies, but something that has a significance in your everyday life.

Inductees and current National Honors Society members, while I know you have sacrificed much to be here tonight,  many of the people in the audience have helped you in one way or another to get here.  They helped to instill in you a belief that education has a value beyond what is done in a classroom.  

I know this not an easy accomplishment.  In most households, both parents have to work full-time and are often home late in the evening.  They come home from work tired...too tired to ask “how was school?”.  Too exhausted to look over homework.  Too busy to have dinner as a family, let alone work on that project together.  It is unfortunate that most families are too busy to be a family.  

Through the struggles of everyday life, the people in your life have made it a priority to be there for you.  Despite these obstacles, they have taken the time to sit down and make connections with you.  I know that when they ask you about your homework or how your day was, it is not because they are trying to be nosy and invade your privacy, but it is because they care about you and want the best for you.  They have taught you that education and honor mean something and have value.  It is the foundation they have poured for you that has helped you to get here tonight.  

We all have those people in our lives and one day, you will be an inspirational force in the life of someone else.  I hope that every student here tonight goes home and thanks the people who have helped him or her get to this point in his or her life.

The function of the National Honors Society is to encourage in students an enthusiasm for scholarship, to galvanize a spirit for serving, to foster the development of character and to transform students into future leaders.  

Tonight, however, instead of speaking about the tenets of the National Honors Society, please indulge me as I pass on some advice.  

First, question everything!  I do not mean that you should ask questions for the sake of defiance, but as a way of learning.  Many students believe that asking questions indicates ignorance or weakness.  I am a scientist at heart and I know that questions lead to knowledge.  In fact, the right questions can change the world.  

When he was 16, Albert Einstein asked himself, “What would it be like to ride on a beam of light?”.  He never forgot this question and as adult this question lead him to the development of the Theory of Relativity, which revolutionized the way we look at the universe.  I am not saying that all of your questions will be this monumental, but never underestimate the power of asking questions.  If you have me in class, you know I truly believe this.

The second thing I would like to talk about is failing.  I know most people think of failure as a bad thing and no one enjoys failing.  What most people don’t realize is that it is okay to fail if you are challenging yourself.  It is not the act of failing that defines us, but how we respond to failure that develops our character.  

When we fail, and we all do at some point in our lives, some people let it hold them back and they use it as an excuse.  Successful people use failure as a learning experience.  If you have not failed at something, then I believe you have not truly challenged yourself.  A part of challenging yourself and achieving is to take risks and stand up in the face of failure.  Find your limits and then blast through them.  John F. Kennedy said, “Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.”

 

My next piece of wisdom is: after college, don’t find a job.  I know how this sounds but let me explain.  I don’t have a job.  A lot of my friends have jobs and they don’t like them.  Think about it.  On average, you will spend 8-9 hours a day at work.  

That is 40-45 hours a week, not counting extra work you might have to do at home or on the weekends.  That is about 2,000 hours a year at work.  In the end, you will spend about 30% of your life working.  (Sorry, I teach chemistry so I had to work numbers into my speech.)

What I am trying to say is that you will spend much of your adult life working.  I encourage you find a career that you love and it will not feel like a job.  In the end, don’t let fate or money decide your career; follow your passion.  I love teaching.  I feel that I have the greatest career in the world.  All day long, I get to talk about one of my favorite subjects: chemistry, and I have the opportunity to work with a group of young people who I find enlightening, challenging, entertaining and energizing.  I truly don’t mind getting up in the morning and coming here.  

One of the best decisions I have ever made in my life was to quit my JOB and get a degree in education.  I define success not by the amount of money in your bank account or how famous you are.  I define success in the words of Will Rogers: “If you want to be successful, it’s just this simple.  Know what you are doing. Love what you are doing.  And believe in what you are doing.”

The last piece of advice I will leave you with tonight is to find time to have fun.  Life can be very challenging and we can get caught up in the seriousness of life.  But please never forget to find time to enjoy your life.  Find time to do the things you enjoy most.  As Ferris Bueller said, “Life moves pretty fast.  If you don’t stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it.”  

Thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak to you tonight.  As an honors and AP teacher, I have the opportunity to work with many of you on a daily basis.  I am in awe of the hard work and determination you put into your classes.  On a daily basis, I see your commitment to your studies and the sacrifices you make to achieve your potential.  Now is not the time to rest on your laurels.  This is only the beginning of a long and exciting journey.  I truly enjoy working with you and thank you for making this the greatest career on earth.  

Congratulations to the inductees and their families.  Enjoy your evening.  You have many reasons to be proud.

Thank you.

Why Gold Beat Out Lithium, Osmium and Einsteinium as our Money

Ever wonder why gold has been used as currency for millennia?  Why is gold better than sodium or platinum?  Out of the 118 elements on the periodic table, why is gold the chosen by multiple societies all over the world?  Is it random chance or can chemistry answer the question?

Listen to this story on NPR to find out the answer: http://n.pr/GWuu08

I Hate Lecturing!

This is my first year flipping my class and I had vowed to not lecture this year.   I have done small five minute lectures, but I was not willing to do a period long lecture. Well, recently I caved in. It is really not my fault.  I have been sick with pneumonia and I have not been able to make any new videos. The nice thing about the videos was that while I was sick the videos I had previously made kept my students from falling behind.  

Anyway, while I was sick I couldn't make any new videos.  I really had no other option so I figured I would fall back on my old friend PowerPoint.  Oh my gosh...what a nightmare!  I hated every second of it.  I know I am not a bad lecturer. In fact, I have had many former students tell me that they enjoy my lectures.  Regardless, I had so many heads on the desk and so many students day dreaming within the first ten minutes and I was counting the minutes when I would shut up.  

This was the first time I had a student put his head down on his desk all year.  No matter how interesting you can be most students are going to start losing interest at some point. Heck, I remember falling a sleep in my college lectures.  I love chemistry but I was so over exhausted there was no way I was going to stay awake.  

I enjoy the challenge of creating the videos. I try to keep them between 10-15 minutes in length.  This really helps me to stay focused and to the point.  Often, in class I would get sidetracked or a student's question would lead me down a totally new path.  

After my lecture, I couldn't believe that I use to teach this way everyday.  It was exhausting in a totally unproductive way to teach.  The flipped class is also very exhausting but at the end of the day you feel more accomplished.  After lecturing the entire period, I have no idea who knows what.  At the end of the day, in a flipped class, I have a great idea of who knows what because I had the time to talk to my students and answer their questions. I feel like I have a better understanding of how well students are doing.

I hope I never have to lecture again!

Thanks,
Dan

One of the Many Benefits of a Flipped Class

This is my first year flipping my class and it has been quite the experience.  On Wednesday, I had a student return to school from a five day absence.  I happened to be giving a quiz on that day.  I gave the student the quiz without really thinking about the fact that he had missed five days of school.  After the quiz, he came up to me and I was expecting him to say that he had no idea that we had a quiz and that he didn't know the material.  I was waiting for him to say "Can I retake the quiz?"  To my surprise he said "Was that all I missed?  Did you guys cover anything else while I was gone?"  I told him no, that as long as he had watched the videos he was caught up.  

This student was absent for five days and was able to keep up with the work by watching the videos and doing the homework on his own. Now, this student is a very good, high functioning student and the material was not that difficult.  The point is that it is easier to make up material in a flipped class then in the traditional classroom.  In a traditional class, if you miss the lecture that is pretty much it.  It is not like a teacher is going to perform the lecture in its entirety for every student who is sick or on a field trip.  In a flipped class, that is completely possible.  

Creating a flipped class is very challenging and labor intensive in the beginning but it is worth it.  I am so happy that I decided to move to this model.

Thanks,
Dan

Lessons From a First Time Flipped Class

This year I decided to flip both my Honors and AP Chemistry classes.  While I love the idea and it has revitalized me as a teacher, it has also brought much more work to the table.  I have also learned a lot in the last month and a half.  In this post I will share with you some of the things I have learned.  The biggest thing I learned is to stick with it!

Students need time to adjust

Give your students time to adjust to the new system.  I will admit it.  I was (am) naive.  I thought the students would jump at the idea of watching videos instead of doing homework assignments.  I was very disheartened when I looked at the number of students who were watching my videos.  I have 74 honors chemistry students and on average 25 students were watching my videos.  I couldn't understand it.  Were my videos that bad?  

Remember that kids are kids!  Most students are familiar with doing homework and the idea of watching a video is very foreign to them.  I think my students figured if they don't have homework then they don't have to do anything at home.  

Over the last couple of weeks the number of students tuning into my videos has slowly increased.  I think it is because I am not lecturing any more and students are learning that they have to watch the videos to gain the information.  Now more than half the students are watching my videos.  I keep telling them that if they don't watch the videos it is like putting their heads down during the lecture.  I remind them that by not watching the videos they are missing a huge part of the class.  

Recently, I have had students tell that they really love the videos.  One of my students said, "When you first told us about the videos I thought this is going to lame, but now I see what you are doing.  The videos are really helpful.  I like that I get to watch them over and over again and it helps to do the homework in class."  I told her to spread the word! 

The videos take time to make

Don't underestimate the time it takes to make the videos.  I knew the videos would take time to make but I didn't expect them to take as long as they were.  

The reason they were taking a long time was I just didn't plan them out as well as I should have.  My advice: plan your videos in advance.  At the beginning of each unit I sit down and figure out how many videos I am going to need.  Then I make a list of the videos that I want to make.  Next, I write a list of objectives that I want to make sure that each video covers.  Essentially, I write an outline for each video.  From there I start recording.  

Your videos do not have been flawless.  I don't edit them or add any special effects.  I use Camtasia 2 and the only extras I add are a cursor effect, audio enhancement (to make me sound louder) and a fade-in and fade-out.  If I have time I try to imbed pictures.  I try to keep the videos to about ten minutes.  

By remaining focused and limiting the amount of effects I put in the videos I have gotten considerably faster at making the videos.  

You need time to adjust

I have to admit it is very weird to not lecture, but I really like it!  I find myself in class wanting to lecture.  In the beginning because more students were not watching the videos. I felt like I should lecture.  Whatever you do...don't!  If you lecture for the students who don't watch the videos then students will stop watching the videos because they will not have a reason to keep watching.  

As I would go around the room, students would ask me questions that I answered in the video.  Every time I say "You would know this if you had watched the video last night."  I could sense that more than half the class didn't know how to do the in-class problems because they hadn't watched the videos.  Don't lecture!  Give them a chance to realize that they need to watch the videos.  Stop spoon feeding them.

The tide has turned in the last week or so.  It is very weird to see notes in a student's notebook that I didn't give in class.  I can only explain it as a weird-good.

Stick With It!  It is Worth It!

While flipping my class has been challenging and time consuming at times it has been the best thing I have done in long time.  I really love making the videos and I don't miss the lectures.  In the beginning the students didn't quite get it but they are seeing the light.  

If you are planning on flipping keep it simple and stick with it!

Thanks
Dan

Social Bookmarking

I just finished reading this article, Social Bookmarking for Teachers on Educational Technology and Mobile Learning.  So I thought I would share how I use Diigo.

What is Diigo?

At the surface, Diigo is simply an online, or cloud-based, bookmark service.  This in and of itself is very handy.  How many times have you bookmarked something on your home computer and needed that bookmark on your school computer, iPad or second computer.  With Diigo, all of your bookmarks are accessible 24/7 on any computer that is linked to the internet.

Diigo is so much more than just a bookmarking service

1. Tags.

I love tagging!  Tagging has made it so much easier for me to find those web articles I saved or notes I have saved in Evernote.  What is tagging you ask?  When I bookmark a website I always label it with a tag.  A tag is word or phrase the describes the website or article you are reading.  Why tag?  When you go to the Diigo website you can search all of your tags to find all the websites pertaining to the topic of your tag.

For example, this summer I ran a workshop on flipping your class for my fellow teachers.  Well, as I was researching or whenever I came across an interesting article or link I would bookmark it using Diigo and add the tag "flipping workshop".  When it came time to put together my workshop I simply typed "flipping workshop"in the tag search and Presto! there were all of my websites and articles.

I also use tagging with my Evernote account.  All of my notes in Evernote have tags and I use them the same way.  By the way, Evernote has a very handy web clipper that allows you to save websites.  I have not used that function much but I can see the benefits of using it.  If I have not put so much into Diigo and I didn't find it so easy, I might have learned more about the Evernote web clipper.

2. Diigolet.

Diigolet is a shortcut that you can add to your favorites bar in your web browser.  Once you click the Diiigolet button a handy little shortcut bar appears.  It has everything: a highlighter, bookmark, sticky notes, etc.  (Below is a screenshot.)

You can use the highlighter to remind yourself about the key elements of the site.  The sticky notes are great because you can write notes to yourself or others.  The Diigolet is installed on every computer I work on.  It also makes it easy to access your Diigo account.

3.  Sharing

The last thing I will mention is the sharing.  I honestly still have not fully utilized this function yet.  You can share with your colleagues or students a single website or a list of websites.  I have been building a list of flipping websites for my fellow teachers to help them get started with the process of flipping.  I can simply share the list with anyone who is interested.  I know there is more to sharing but I have not fully explored it yet.  

As I said, Diigo is very cool little tool that helps you to organize and manage all of the website and online articles.  It makes research easy to perform and easy to share.

Thanks

Evernote-My Favorite App!

Well, I have to say it has been hard to find the time to write on this blog.  I really want to post more but I have a lot of things going on this year.  I hope that as I get used to blogging I will learn to write more efficiently.

With all the new things I have going on, my life has been very chaotic.  I have taken on too many things this school year and I hope to talk about those in future posts.  Today, I figured I would start with something that has helped me to battle the chaos.  I present to you Evernote.

Evernote is a real game changer!

Evernote has really been a lifesaver for me.  I cannot believe how much I use it.  I constantly have it open on my home computer, my classroom computer, my cell phone and my iPad.  I use it for everything.  I really mean everything.  By the way, the Google Chrome app is great!  For example, I use to to keep track of the my son's football scores.  I want to make him a commemorative football with the dates and scores of each of his games.  I use as a to-do-list for home and work.  I use it for grocery store lists.  I take pictures of business cards.  I  basically use it anytime I go to write something down on a piece of scrap paper.

Everyday, I am finding new ways to use Evernote.  Like today, I was looking over old AP Chemistry tests to find some interesting questions to put on my upcoming test.  Back in the day, I would find a question and print it up.  I would end up with a bunch of papers that would get shuffled around and eventually misplaced.  This year, I started taking screenshots of the questions I like and I then post them into my school notebook.  Now, I can use Evernote's powerful search function to quickly find those questions.  I no longer have to carry around a file folder of questions.  I am so excited.

One thing my students do is they take pictures of the agenda on the whiteboard and upload them to their Evernote accounts.  I have had a few students take pictures of the problem sets in their books.  (I don't know how legal this is and I do not condone it whatsoever.)  They upload the pictures to Evernote and now they can leave the book at home.  The pictures are now searchable on Evernote.  My students love it!

There is so much I could share with you about Evernote.  I just want to leave you with one last thing regarding Evernote.  Give it a try!  At first, I had no idea how to use it.  I installed it on my iPad and I was like okay now what?  I actually didn't use it much in the beginning.  I have slowly started using it more and more.  Here is my advice.  Commit to using Evernote for 2-3 weeks.  Anytime you are going to write something down open Evernote and record it there.  I personally like the tags, but some people I talked to don't bother.  If after your trial period you are not hooked then oh well.  I really think you will be.

In future posts, I will tell you in more detail how I use Evernote.  I will show you how I organize my notebooks and much more.  I am going to stay away from tutorials on how to use the basic functions.  You can find a ton of those on YouTube and Evernote.  I want to stick explaining how I use it.  Below you will find some useful links to help you get started with Evernote.

Useful Links:
Giving Evernote a Try
Evernote 101
Get Stated with Evernote
Evernote for Teachers
Evernote for Students

Thanks,
Dan

So It Begins...

Well, here we go.  My first blog post. I have to admit I am a little nervous.  I am not much of a writer but I figured this would be a great way to get better.

So why am I starting a blog?  Hmm....great question. I started this blog for a number of reasons and here they are in no particular order:
1.  I have learned so much by reading other people's blog that I thought I might be able to share and maybe help others.
2.  I have started so many new things this school.  I thought that by sharing what I have been doing I could inspire others or get help from others.
3.  I thought that if I started a blog I might be able to help myself keep focused and committed.  If I think someone else is going to see this I tend to put more into it.
4.  The blog could act as a recorder of my thoughts and ideas.
5.  I hope I will become a stronger writer and teacher.

I guess that is it for my first post.  Hopefully, soon I will be able to update my profile and start sharing my thoughts with the world.