About halfway done with online content

Happy Tuesday everyone. I am about halfway done with all of the online content; there are 5 little content assessments up and 4 left to go, plus an optional test.

Keep sending me those labs from before break and making up any tests you missed. I also have a retake available for the SHM test; email me if you need any test files.

Today's cat picture:

Next Assessment Up

If you haven't heard, this morning the governor announced that schools are officially closed for the rest of the year, so at least we know that :/

The Electric Potential section at https://volkeningphysics.blogspot.com/p/electricity-unit-remote-learning.html is now ready, with an assessment at the end.

The rest of the sections have some things in them, but are not complete. I do not recommend going beyond Electric Potential at this time.

Today's cat picture:

3-27 Update: New Zoom Code and Times

Two updates today:

1. Open office hours on Zoom will now be 1-2 PM Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. If you can't make those times, email me to schedule a different time. I also have a new meeting code:

https://zoom.us/j/6593917841

2. I added FRQ quizzes to the AP Classroom. I only added ones that cover material that will be on this year's test, and match very closely the format of the actual test. If you submit any FRQ (quiz or progress check) on AP Classroom, email me so I can go in and grade it. It doesn't send me a notification on its own.

On the weekend I will not respond as quickly as I have been this week. I intend to treat the weekend like a real weekend, and you should too. So have a good weekend :)

Obligatory cat photo:

3-26

Not much to talk about today.

I finished the next section of content (Coulomb's Law) in http://volkeningphysics.blogspot.com/p/electricity-unit-remote-learning.html and there is an assessment for the topic ready to use.

The College Board released some FRQs for home use that had previously been secured, so I will go through and Modify the AP Classroom tomorrow.

Here is your next cat photo. Have a good day!

3-25 Update

Hello again everyone! I don't have a lot for you today. Keep on sending me those labs from before break and requests for tests at lisa.volkening@tusd1.org or miss.volkening@gmail.com.

I ran my first Zoom meeting for office hours today. A few people asked physics questions, but mostly we all chatted. Please remember that the Zoom meetings are COMPLETELY VOLUNTARY. I am treating them like office hours in college - they are a time when professors are in their offices, and you can just walk in and ask them things. So my Zoom meetings are times when you can hop into Zoom, ask me things, then leave again. Or you can hang out and talk to whoever is there. Just remember that I am recording the Zoom meetings, and if I figure out how I will also post them.

I am still adding content to the electricity unit remote learning page. I don't have anything more fully completed yet, just bits and pieces as I find them.

Here are some questions I heard today that I can answer:

• How do the online assessments work? Are there due dates?

The online assessments are like homework. There will be one for each content topic - it is a link to a Google form. You can repeat any assessment as many times as you want, and although there is a "suggested due date" I will not count anything late, ever. So complete them at your own pace, whenever you want, but do them in order. Again, I only have one up right now.

• Will there be a unit test?

Yes, but it will pretty much work exactly like the little "homework" assignments I just described. You can even repeat it.

• Will there be a final?

If we don't go back to school at all, yes, there will be an online, cumulative final, but it will be OPTIONAL. You would only take it if you thought it would help your grade.

And finally, during the Zoom office hour today, some of you extracted a promise from me to post a picture of one of my cats whenever I made a blog entry, so here you go. This is Charlie, who currently has a little spot on his elbow that needs to heal, so he is wearing the Donut of Shame to keep him from licking it. Have a great rest of your day.

Office Hours and First Content Up

Office Hours!

First, you all can email me or text through Remind ANY TIME. I will get back to you pretty fast, if not right away. Emails: lisa.volkening@tusd1.org OR miss.volkening@gmail.com.

On the survey you took, the overwhelming preference for Zoom office hours was 12-2 PM, so I am scheduling my first Zoom meeting for tomorrow at 1 PM. I will do this for the rest of this week and see how it goes. You can jump in at any time from 1 PM to 2 PM, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, and ask for help with anything. It works from a browser, the Zoom app, or you can download the desktop client. To join, just click this link:

https://zoom.us/j/825074462
Meeting ID: 825 074 462

I have also added it to the calendar, which is at the bottom of of the desktop version of this blog. If you use Google Calendar, you can actually add my class calendar to your calendar by going here and choosing to add it.

When I have less to do, I will probably make the Zoom meetings longer, like whenever I am at my desk. That way people will be able to jump in and talk to me whenever they want. For now, if you really need to talk to me outside of 1-2PM, and email isn't good enough, let me know and I can schedule a supplemental time. I really am just at home, working for the length of a workday, then still at home, but doing not work things. I can cut a piece out of my "workday" and move it to whatever time is best for you if that is needed.

First Online Content Ready!

I have put up the first bit of content at https://volkeningphysics.blogspot.com/p/electricity-unit-remote-learning.html . It is actually what we would have done in a modular + sequential day, so it is a lot. I don't have the assessment up for that yet, but I will sometime today.

YOU DO NOT NEED TO RUSH THROUGH THIS. This whole unit would have been done by April 21st if we were in school, but now you have until May 21st. So take your time, feel free to put off physics to leave more time for AP review, family, work, etc. I will not be offended.

Reminder: If you still plan to take the AP test, your stuff is here: http://volkeningphysics.blogspot.com/p/ap-review-resources.html . I would be totally okay if you put off the electricity content in favor of AP stuff.

What I'm Currently Doing

Over the next few days I will continue to add to https://volkeningphysics.blogspot.com/p/electricity-unit-remote-learning.html, answer your questions as they come in, update the calendar with suggested due dates, and send out make-up and retake tests to those that ask for them.

Next week I will start grading your labs and tests, then sending you PDF scans of yours so you can see what you got right/wrong.

Again, if you have any questions, at all, contact me.

Also, here is my cat Bruce, who refused to move for like 10 minutes while I was trying type this up.

                                                       

The Plan Going Forward

I just sent a message through Synergy to everyone in my classes and their parents/guardians. Here is the message again, and it is also on its own page (check the tabs at the top of the blog) so you can find it again easily.

If you did not get this as an email, it means that we do not have your email in the Synergy system, or that it is incorrect in that system. Be aware that that means you may be missing emails from your other teachers too.

_ _ _

This is a form letter going out to all of the students in Ms. Volkening’s AP Physics 1 class. It is written for the students, but it is also going out to their parents/guardians. Please read the whole thing – students, please take the survey at the bottom after reading this. This letter, and all materials referenced and put out in the future, will be at volkeningphysics.blogspot.com . You should bookmark that and check it often. There is also a place to follow the blog by email at the bottom of the right side panel (on the desktop version). I will also post on Remind whenever there is an update. 

I do not know how long schools will be closed, so I am planning for us to be gone the rest of the year. If we come back before that, great! We will cross that bridge when we come to it. But let’s assume for now that we need to mop up the semester remotely. Here is the plan. 

1. 1: Old Business: 

Many of you missed the last unit test and need to make it up. I am going to let you take that at home. I know that there will be a lot of temptation to cheat, so I would like you to take it with someone else in the room with you. It does not have to be a parent/guardian - just someone that can attest that you didn’t go on your phone or talk to your friends while you were taking it. I will email you the test, you write your answers on a piece of paper (you do not have to print out the test an write on it – that seems like a waste), then you take pictures of your answers and send them back to me along with contact information for the person that was supervising you. I will acknowledge that I received it, then you destroy your answers and delete the test. I foresee all kinds of problems with this system, but I also don’t see a way around it, so...yeah. I can also send tests through the actual mail if needed – let me know if you need that. 

Most of you also need to turn in your Speed of Sound in Air Lab. Just email me pictures of the relevant portions of your lab notebook. The sections you need to turn in, as well as instructions for an online simulator to get data if you missed the lab entirely, are at http://volkeningphysics.blogspot.com/2020/03/lab-speed-of-sound-in-air.html . 

2. 2: New Business – AP Test 

If you are going to take the AP test, please read the page here: http://volkeningphysics.blogspot.com/p/ap-review-resources.html . If you are not taking the AP test, skip that. 

3. 3. New Business – The Last Unit 

We have one more unit to cover: Electricity. Historically this has been students’ favorite unit, and I strongly feel that it is one of the more useful units in terms of your future life in modern society, so we are still going to learn (some) of it. But this will be difficult under the circumstances, so modifications are being made. Here is the general plan: 

 -Content will be posted online at http://volkeningphysics.blogspot.com/p/electricity-unit-remote-learning.html . These will be a combination of videos, web pages, simulations, etc. I will make some of it and some of it will have been made by other people. 

-After each topic, an online (probably multiple choice) assessment will be posted, sort of like the Plickers we would have done in class. You need to complete all of the assessments at some point. Those are your “homework” grades. 

-There will be one lab in which you will use an online simulator to take data. You will then graph that data, linearize it, and find the equation of your best-fit line, just like you’ve done many times this year. You will send a picture of your graphs to me for the lab grade. 

-There will be an online assessment for you to complete. I am still thinking about the details for this, but you will probably have the opportunity to retake it multiple times if you want.  

All of the above will have suggested due dates, but they will be work at your own pace. There will be no late penalties. I may nudge students that show no progress at all for extended periods, however. 

I will be holding live “office hours” periodically where students can jump into a public Zoom meeting and ask me whatever they want. Those meetings will be recorded and posted on YouTube, then posted on the blog, so keep that in mind before you jump in. I will be using data from the survey at the end of this letter to choose the times for these sessions. UHS is putting together a master schedule of everyone’s office hours to try to keep them from overlapping. 

Students can also email me questions or ask questions through Remind. If it is very specific, I will just answer directly, but if I think other people might benefit I will create a video tutorial or other response and post it in the relevant portion of the blog. 

4. 4. Last Thing – The Final Lab 

Usually instead of a cumulative final test at the end of the year, I have assigned a final lab. If we never return to school, this will be cancelled and I will create an OPTIONAL cumulative, multiple choice final. Students can just not take it and keep whatever grade they have earned from their other work, or they can take it in an attempt to increase their grade. I will not allow the final to drop your grade. 

If we do return to school with enough time, I will assign the final lab instead, and everyone will need to complete it. I will send details if it looks like that’s what will happen. 

Tools I Intend to Use 

I am hoping to use Zoom for office hours. You should go see if you can set it up at https://zoom.us/ or download the app. You do not need a webcam for this – I don’t have one myself. You can join using just audio, either with a microphone on your computer or your phone. I think you can even join by dialing in with a regular, non-smart phone. I will be asking about your ability to join Zoom in my survey at the end of this letter. If you can’t/don’t want to join Zoom, that’s okay; just email me your questions and I’ll respond later. 

I also want to use Microsoft Teams and Forms for the assessments, but I need to see if you can log in. You actually have an account already, but probably didn’t know about it. Please go try to log in. Here’s how: 

Go to: portal.office.com 

login: [matric#]@s.tusd1.org (be sure to use the "s") 

password: your TUSD password 

This should bring you to a page with a bunch of icons. Choose “Teams,” then look for your AP Physics 1 class. If you get this far, comment in the chat so I know you made it. 

Staying in Contact 

I am using volkeningphysics.blogspot.com as the main info source. I will send a message on Remind whenever I update the blog, but I won’t send content on Remind. If you still want to join Remind, text the relevant code to 81010: 

Period 1: @volkening1 

Period 3: @volkening3 

Period 4: @volkening4 

Period 5: @volkening5 

Period 6: @volkening6 

Don’t know your period? Use @volkening 

Finally, the Survey 

Students, please complete the survey at https://bit.ly/PhysicsRemoteSurvey . Thank you. 

Sincerely, 

Lisa Volkening 

UHS Physics 

Lisa.volkening@tusd1.org or miss.volkening@gmail.com