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. [EDIT: We are indeed out for 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.
- 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. [EDIT: some students have been having their supervisor just write and sign a statement on their answers. That is great] 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 .
- 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.
- 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 participation 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. [EDIT: THIS UNIT ASSESSMENT WILL BE OPTIONAL]
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.
- Last Thing – The Final Lab [EDIT: since we now know that we are not coming back this year, this section is now irrelevant. There will be an OPTIONAL cumulative final IF PEOPLE ASK FOR ONE. If no one wants one, I won't bother]
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:
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
Sincerely,
Lisa Volkening
UHS Physics
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