Updating my Blog

In order to update my blog, I added a slide show of pictures from GHS's spring musical, Les Miserables.  I also added a welcome message and a list of recent and upcoming musicals that I am working on.  I also changed the "about me" section.  I really don't like to write about myself - it all seems so lame.  It is much easier to talk about physics or astronomy or musicals!  By the way, Donna Lounsberry took these beautiful photos for us.

Flickr

I am excited about using Flickr.  I have wanted a way to share pictures from the musicals and in class pictures .  I could also use pictures for labs in physics and astronomy.  I could take a time lapse photo of a trajectory and have students analyze horizontal and vertical motion or I could use a set of photos of the position of the Sun at different times during the year.  If anyone would like to see photos of last year's show ( Les Mis ), check out my flickr account.  My flickr user name is LOB1122.  Click here to go there.

Google Reader

I like Google Reader - it makes it easier to follow the blogs I have subscribed to.  I won't have to navigate around to check up on new science news.  I found a blog on what's happening on Broadway so I can keep up with theater news also. Anything I can connect directly to my home page is more likely to be read.  I do want to check out how to put my delicious sites on the homepage so I won't lose all of them. There are sites about activities and labs I could use as well as teacher blogs I can follow.

Twittering

I did not like the premise of twittering b/c I don't want to know what someone is doing all the time.  I also don't think that anyone wants to follow what I am doing.  However, I did find some good science twitter sites and Stephen Colbert has a very funny site.  I even found out that my son Conor has a site.  I'll follow some of these sites and see which ones will be relevant to my classes and/or interests. In general, I like websites with more complete coverage of science topics like some of the ones I have already found in previous lessons.

Google Docs

I found Google Doc to be easy to use and very helpful to me personally already.  My biggest problem with this class has been trying to remember my usernames and passwords for the various sites.  My daughter Betsy suggested that I make a spreadsheet with all the websites and usermames and passwords on it.  I did this on Google Doc and shared it with my husband so when I forget my passwords I have someplace to check.  In the past I have tried writing them down, but I always lose the paper.  I also think that this will be useful when we are writing a test or worksheet for a class like conceptual physics,  The teachers can work on it it together without all the emailing back and forth.  Students could use it for writing joint lab reports and for joint projects.  I could make a spreadsheet like the one Bob made for my students about their interests (family members, sports they play, musical instruments they play, jobs, etc) so I could get to know them at the beginning of the year. I am sure I will use this a lot next year.  Thanks, Bob!

My Delicious

I had never heard of this before but I liked it a lot.   I found several lab sites for physics and astronomy.  (One of the sites  has video labs that I hope Grant can help me figure out.).  I am excited to have new labs to try in class. I also found some sites to keep me updated on what is new in science.  I like to be able to talk to the kids about new discoveries and they are happening all the time, especially in astronomy and astrophysics.  My Delicious username is lob11.

Stars

I used this video in astronomy last year ( I think Bob sent it to me).  The students liked it because they did not realize that our Sun is a relatively small star. At the end, the video shows a Type Ia supernova where a white dwarf is pulling mass off of a larger binary companion.  When the mass of the white dwarf increases to a mass greater than the Chandrasekhar limit (1.4 solar masses) the star goes supernova because its gravitational pressure overcomes the outward electron degeneracy pressure.

I am following the blogs of Liz Barnes, Chris Luzio, and Grant Godar because we are all science teachers and their subjects overlap mine.  I am also following Steve Jones' blog because I like music and he finds some interesting things on the internet.