One goal this summer was to spend about an hour each day planning and preparing for next school year. I haven't been 100% but I've done it more days per week than not so that 's something. In part it has just been a way to help shrink down the per school year jitters and nightmares that have just begun. But also, it has been a chance for me to reflect back on my teaching tolls over the past two years and look at what went well over the past years that is worth keeping, and what needs to be thrown out NOW before I go into autopilot and just use the same material from last year as filler that doesn't push my student's understanding forward.

Last year I was generally very pleased with how student's did on their AP tests. While the overall pass rate was 5% lower than my personal goal they still did very well and I'm glad that I was part of the experience that got so many to that point. 

That said, I don't feel a huge need to make any sweeping changes to how the course is run. I have a lot of little changes that need to be done, sorting out the wheat and chaff, and I need to find a way to be much more proactive about identifying and supporting my struggling students.

One of the two largest changes that I am making to AP Physics 1 is to integrate AP FRQ Quizzes more often and earlier in the school year. Most of our FRQ prep was right at the very end last year and I think that put too much stress on the students. I 'll have to get creative on how to keep questions cut down to only the knowledge students have near the beginning of the school year but I hope it will create overall better balanced and prepared students.

The other significant change is creating a more rigorous method for measuring students classroom involvement. As I mentioned I feel that I need to find a way to identify and support students faster this year. Most of the course is built to give students who are just at the edge of graduation to learn to be more self-sufficient and self-motivated. Unfortunately, some students hadn't yet mastered those skills and I felt like I watched them fall farther and farther behind last year- the worst part was that I had no idea how to help them (at least in part because I didn't really appreciate the problem until near the end when the gap had widened significantly).

This year 10% of student's grades will be based on a three-part classwork grade. I've decided on three criteria after reading a few articles (How to Grade, Reaching the Quiet, Disinterested and Troublemaking Students, Rethinking How We Grade Participation) and the book Making Thinking Visible. The criteria I plan to use this year are collaboration, participation, and consideration.

Collaboration will most often be a grade that other students give over the course. I dealt with two huge complaints from students last year. The first complaint was students who were frustrated that they were doing all of the work and that other students were benefiting from their efforts. The other complaint was the opposite, students who were frustrated that they couldn't do anything because one or two students took over. Adding in the collaboration grade will give students the chance to receive feedback and grow.

Participation is the one I am most concerned about. Especially after some of the articles I read through. I've decided that for me participation must be a negative grade system rather than a positive one. What this means is that students will start with a participation grade and lose points from it. Being off task during an activity, improper phone use, frequent distractions in class, and so on. I imagine I will reset/restart the points at each grading period this year. Since students have access to the online grading system I hope it will be easy for them to see if they are losing points and curb the behaviors early on.

The final category will be consideration. As participation is entirely a "losing" scenario, consideration is wholly positive. Some days are crazy and the one or two students who stop to help straighten up lab supplies, throw away other student's trash, etc- deserve credit. I plan to play the consideration points a little more quietly than the other two categories so I don't have to struggle with students trying to game the system and I am concerned that it has the potential to be the most biased of an already somewhat biased grading category.

I imagine I will return to this subject in my blog again as I try it out and fine tune it. If anyone actually reads this and has a comment or feedback I'd love to hear what you have to share.

It's one of those "oh hey- I have a blog. Haven't done anything with this for a while. Hm. Should I leave it up? Take it down in shame since it's been almost 2 years since my last posting? Nah, why not try some necromancy? Let's see if I can bring this sucker back to life"-posts.

There's what really matters though. My sons Shelton (7 yrs) and Ethan (1 mo). Ethan is a healthy and happy little boy. The family hasn't gotten out to do too much lately since he spends most of his time eating and sleeping. Still, it's been a great summer and I'm so grateful I have a profession that has allowed me to spend so much time with those I care about. Katie (my wonderful wife) has been an all-star after a grueling pregnancy and a tough postpartum post-surgery recovery. Looking forward to more sleepless nights, poop-y diapers, and lots and lots of baby puke.

Last thing. I got really pumped up about SMART goals last school year and I'm trying to integrate them both into my personal life and profession. Last week my son (the one with language skills) and I came up with a couple SMART goals together. He's going to try to do 1 hour of exercise each day (mostly swimming, bonus I get 1 hour of exercise too!) and to do 10 minutes of math. I'll be trying to do 100 push-ups every day and do 1 hour of "teacher" stuff. So far I have about 2 days of successful push-ups and 4 of work. Shelton is rocking a nearly perfect record. No more. It's on child.

I mean- I'm going to catch up. Not that I'm going to ruin his perfect record. Because that would be wrong.

See you next time.

Here I am. Over four years ago I committed to becoming a teacher and now I'm sitting at my teacher desk on my teacher computer preparing for my first teaching day. My wife and I spent hours last week preparing for this day, we have a Welcome sign up, some affirmations, I have the Cross-cutting symbols posted all around the classroom, the desks are set up, each table has its own little bin with the school supplies. I have a lesson plan, a fun and engaging activity, a syllabus for each student. I have a pacing guide for the semester and detailed unit plans for the next month.

And I'm still freaking out.

This is the moment where things get real. In about 25 minutes, less by the time I finish this post, I will have students coming into my class for the first time. Will I make a good impression? Will the students understand what I am trying to convey with the activity? Will I be able to manage forty students for an hour? Do I have enough material? Will they like me? Will I like them?

I'm freaking out.

But I'm also excited. This could be my moment to shine. I might be able to infect them with the same hunger for knowledge that a select few of my teachers were able to give to me. I might be able to be that person in their life that makes a difference. I might realize, as I've been hoping, that I love every minute of this job.

Wish me luck.

In preparing my digital curriculum project I was fortunate because I had already used a lesson that was very similar to the expectations of this assignment. I've modified the lesson now based on the things that I learned when I taught this lesson and based on some of the lessons that I have learned through the course of the credential program. I am hoping to use this lesson next year with my student as part of a much larger digital portfolio that will encourage students to make use of Google Sheets to create an artifact of their learning that will remain as a resource that they can use throughout the semester. 

The main goal of this lesson was to help student understand the mathematical relationships between the variables of the ideal gas law and understand how those variables relate to the molecular behavior of the particles. I hope that the students will gain a greater appreciation for these things as they play with the models on the molecular workbench website and then are able to put these lessons into practice with the programming assessment they are asked to do.

This has been a really great assignment for me this semester. Throughout my experimentation in Google Sheets I have gained a much greater understanding of the different ways that formulas can be used to make Google Sheets into a very powerful program. To be honest, I feel that I only really scratched to surface of what is possible. It looks like there 300+ formulas possible through the basic functions of sheets (let's not even talk about what I've seen some people do using Google Scripts) and I think that I have figured out. Some of my favorites, though, have been:

• =randbetween - I've been using this formula in a lot of different places in order to create the randomness for this game so that it plays differently each time. In some cases I have combined this formula with some "=if" formulas in order to give the program a combination of programmed and random behaviors. When you play you should notice that the humans run away from the zombie using one example of this combination. I'm planning on using this formula next year when I teach to help model particle decay and other kinetics problems. What I like about using this formula in a school setting is that allows students to see a lot of random variation that will still show patterns if the sample size is sufficiently large.
• =importsheet - This formula lets me pull data from cells in another google sheet provided I have access to that sheet. What is nice about this command is that the "=randbetween" function above will reroll everytime something is added to the sheet. This means that if my random formulas are on the same document as the player input then everything will be constantly changing every turn. I created two documents for this game. One document creates the random seeds that populates the map, humans, and tells the humans where to go. The other document accepts all of the platter inputs for the game. One really cool application for this command that I have thought of for my classroom is that students can use it to link their documents to mine, and mine to theirs. This way I could give everyone a set of variables to work with at the same time and check to see if their programs are all functioning
• =filter - This formula lets me choose a single set of a data based on a filter I can create within the data sets. I was able to use this command in a lot of places in the background to help keep the game progressing in a linear fashion. Something Google Sheets doesn't do well at all is to continue using old data once new data is input. For example, each time the player moves I had it set up for the humans to move as well, and I wanted the humans to continue moving to new places based off of their previous positions. Using the filter command I was able to create a huge table of every position the humans would occupy and then have the humans advance down the table as the player moved around. It was a really cool way to see things come together. This has been a usful formula for me already when sorting through data that students submit through Google Forms. Once I have 60+ student responses it starts getting really hard to find things within the data. The filter command has let me create ways too look for students by name, period, similar responses to questions, etc.

Looking back at some of the questions that I hoped to answer I've been successful with some, and less so with others. I thnk that I have answered more than I've left unanswered and many of them I can answer now, even if I never implemented the answer to the question into the game (yet). Going through the questions in order from my declaration blog:

1. How can I make the game interactive given the limitations of the program? There are several ways that I;ve been able to do this. The player avatar moves as different movement commands are given which is totally interactive. As the zombie chases down humans you are able to infect them and they move around the map as other zombies. The game is not as robustly interactive as a modern game but there are still many interactive elements that I feel I've been able to integrate.
2. Can I integrate images into the game? I can integrate images and I have to a limited extent (really only 1 actually but adding more is pretty easy). The biggest issue is that Google Sheets isn't meant to handle many images on the screen and I didn't want to clutter things up unnecessarily. What I would really try to do if given the chance is to create my own simple graphics that would add some variety to the page.
3. If I integrate images into the game can I make them change? Yes, I can. I was able to make the zombie image "walk" but I decided that it was a little more work than necessary to get the game itself functioning. Again, what I would like to do someday is create a set of simple graphics with some overlays that I could use on the map and around the edges to create a more visually stunning set up.
4. Can I integrate sounds or music? Not that I've been able to find out. There are some ways to do it using Scripts but I was trying to work solely within Sheets for this project.
5. How user-proof can I make this program? Does google sheets care about case? The program is mostly user-proof. I've locked players out of a few of the areas that they don't need to change for the game and once I do the rest it should be even more robust. It doesn't seem like sheets cares about case except in a few very limited, er, cases.
6. Can I build a simple inventory or character building aspect to the game? I can and I did. I have some ideas for items and other interactive elements that can be acquired through exploration but I haven't yet implemented those.
7. Will it be possible to create some form of simple story? Probably but this got sidelined in the mechanics of the game. Of course, you play as a brain starved zombie so I'm not sure what more drama you need.
8. Can I create any kind of AI to have the system react to the player? I have some limited "AI"  in the game. It is really just a few if/then statements but I feel like I did enough of a good job to make it seem like the AI is responded intelligently to you moves. I have a personal goal not to inadvertently create Skynet so I wasn't working too hard on the AI.
9. How can I modify the difficulty level? There are a few ways that I could have built this in. I could have made it so that you needed to turn more humans, so that you had fewer stat points, so that you had less time to complete the game, etc. While I didn't put it in (again, yet) it is something that I think I could do if I wanted to.
10. Is there a way to have a cell that the user inputs into be modified by the program? Not that I was able to figure out. The best I got was the boxes above the movement area where players could at least we where to input their next move command.

Again, this was a really interesting exercise for me and I plan to continue challenging myself to improve this game and my web skillz. And my zombie survival skillz.

I've had a few different people try out the game in the past week and I've gotten some really good feedback on the game. It seems like a lot of people struggled with some elements of the user interface so I've added a quick little command key in the corner to help out a little. I've also made some minor tweaks in the behind the scenes calculations for the humans that affects how the humans move around the map. They are moving a little slower and are statistically encouraged to move towards the center of the map so that few end up in the ocean on the periphery. I've been trying all week to find a way to add an animated image onto the UI in order to make things a little more appealing but the best I was able to do ended up just creating a very slow, very choppy flipbook style image. I've put the game out on twitter, reddit and, of course, on our private Google+ community and I'm hoping that I will see more people trying it out and offering feedback. Even though this is my last required project update I plan to continue tweaking some of the game elements in order to flesh out the game. The last thing I think anyone wants is for this game to die, then come back and destroy the world. Thanks to everyone who has given feedback, ideas and words of support.

If you are interested in trying out the game please check it out here. I'm always excited to get feedback and ideas from others.

Quotation: "Only when we care about experimentation, play, and questions more than efficiency, outcomes, and answers do we have a space that is truly open to the imagination" (Thomas & Brown 118). I feel like this is a mission statement for the entire text. It seems to represent a move towards an unknown and interesting future that I look forward to being a part of.

Question: How will I stay a part of this new culture once I move out of school and into the "real world"?

Connection: My brother has been an avid player of World of Warcraft for years, sometimes spending 40+ hours a week playing. Its a game and that is unlikely to change but at the same time I have heard him talk about the effort that he puts into selecting the right load out of items to carry, the right combination and order to cast his spells, etc.  I really believe that the skills that he has put into playing this game at this very high level (he has topped national and world wide leaderboards in a few areas) has corollary skills outside of the game.

Epiphany: I think that one "aha!" I experienced while reading this chapter was that games should not be pigeonholed into the dead end time wasting exercise where society currently seems to place them. Just as fiction, newspapers, magazines and the internet have all been derided and then eventually accepted as valuable tools to train our minds games my be redefined as well.

Chapter 4 - Learning in the Collective

Quotation: "Our ability to produce, consume and distribute knowledge in an unlimited, unfiltered, and immediate way is the primary reason for the changes we see today... With just a computer and access to the Internet, one can view or consume an almost unimaginably diverse array of information and points of view" (Thomas & Brown 51). Despite all of the things that Star Trek got right (which was a surprising amount all things considered) they missed the huge effect that a planet wide communication and computational system would have on society. Where past ages have been defined by some tangible discovery like bronze and iron, our most recent age is being shaped by information. And we have a lot of it.

Question: Is it even possible to harness students use of technology to funnel them towards state standards without stifling their ability to be truly creative?

Connection: To echo statements that I have made elsewhere, and many other people have said in many other places, including Will Richardson in "Why School?". The problem is no longer that we don't have enough information, its that there is too darn much of it. Trying to find information on most topics is like drinking from a firehose. So much so that I am reminded of a bit of advice I saw recently on twitter:

Epiphany: Creating and using these collectives is free. I'm not sure yet how to use them, but I believe that they can be truly powerful tools to facilitate learning in this new age. And its free!

Chapter 5 - The Personal With the Collective

Quotation: "Almost every difficult issue we face today is a collective, rather than a personal, problem. And approaching some of our biggest challenges- whether financial, environmental, or health-care related- in terms of the collective has led to the development of meaningful solutions" (Thomas & Brown 59). By working together we can tackle bigger problems than we can handle alone. Which is good because the problems we face today sometimes seem very large.

Question: How can I help students understand how they should interact and participate meaningfully in appropriate collectives?

Connection: A while ago I read a book called Super Crunchers: Why Thinking-By-Numbers is the New Way To Be Smart, that talks about the emerging systems that are using to vast amount of information that is currently available to create solutions to problems that people didn't even know existed or that can do/predict things that are far beyond what even a highly-trained expert can do alone.

Epiphany: I am part of dozens of collectives! I'd never come across the concept of a collective before this reading and yet I've been participating in different collectives for work and play for years!

Chapter 6 - We Know More Than We Can Say

Quotation: "Inquiry is the process by which we ask not 'What is it that we know?' but 'What are the things that we don't know and what questions can we ask about them?'" (Thomas & Brown 83). We know a lot of things. I've spent my whole life learning things. But if I content myself with what I already know then that information dies because it is no longer a living, breathing, growing thing that is able to react to the world around it.

Question: How do I get my students to figure out what they know and leverage that into asking more about what they don't know?

Connection: I spent my senior year at CSUSM developing an Inquiry-based gas chromatography lab for use in a high school. It was an awesome opportunity to play around with some powerful instruments and learn what it takes to develop a lab for students. I've been trying to foster Inquiry-based learning since before I started the Credential program but I'm still learning about what true inquiry looks like.

Epiphany: I finally got a better definition for inquiry. I'm probably going to frame this quote somewhere.

Its go time everyone. I've got the game to a place where I need play testers! If you have the chance try it out once and then leave me a quick comment about what you think of it so far. Please let me know if you experience any bugs or have any ideas that you think need to be implemented. 

This link will give you access to the game. If you are interested feel free to take a look at the coding I have going on behind the scenes. A few if/then commands can go VERY far.

For those of you who don't have time to be playing video games I've included a short video of the gameplay below. The agonizingly slow pace of the game really helps channel your inner zombie.