Network Learning Project

I have successfully assembled and tested my launcher.  As I explained in my previous post I had to redesign it since I couldn't get the correct size PVC pipe.  The launcher is made up of an air chamber, valve, barrel, and a piston.  When the valve is opened, compressed air rushes out which pushes the piston forward.  The piston quickly accelerates down the barrel and rams into the tennis ball which is help at the very end. The piston is held in the barrel by a length of thin rope so after it hits the ball it stays inside the barrel.

Here is a video of a test in slow motion.

As you can see in the video the piston impacts the ball and it shoots out.  The piston is made out of a short section of dowel.  The dowel has two rings of electrical tape wrapped around it and greased up to act as an air seal in the barrel.  This was an old trick I learned from some internet sources.

Overall this project meet some of my objectives and not others.  It is simple to use and effectively throws the tennis ball, it was also very cheap to build after I redesigned it.  Still, it has not meet my range expectations yet.  In this test I was operating the ram at 160psi (the limit of my bike pump).  I have tested the air chamber up to 300psi and know that it can safely function at that pressure.  The next step will be to test the ram at higher pressures to see if the range can be increased.

But for now my coverage of this project will have to end.  The overall goal was to use the internet to learn something new and I think I have achieved that.  I utilized many forums and videos in the making of this launcher and while it isn't perfect, I know that there are further resources out there that can help me refine it.

Networked Learning Project

So I ran into some supply issues getting my PCV for my launcher.  In an effort to save money and actually produce something cool I have redesigned my launcher.  I am left working with what I already have and special ordering parts wont be an option.  Ultimately, this means I can't get the special 2.5" pvc needed for a tennis ball sized barrel.  So I went back to the K9 Kannon design and thought of a new way to tweak it with conventional materials.

The picture below is a cutaway of a pneumatic ram.  In it the long cylinder at the center extends outward when air pressure is added at the back end.  The air essentially pushes the rod out of the chamber.


I have adapted this concept for use in my tennis ball launcher as a way to get around not having a barrel for the tennis ball.  Much like the K9 Kannon it uses friction to hold the ball in place and then uses a ram to kick the ball out.  The K9 Kannon used a spring powered ram which would over stress the plastic body if  the power was increased.  My new design uses an Air Ram to kick the ball out.  The benefit of the air ram is that the only part that needs to be strong is the pressure chamber, which is easily done.

Heres how it works.  The air chamber is pressurized and contained by the ball valve.  The Ram is pushed into the rearmost position so that it sits next to the valve.  When the valve is opened, the ram shoots forward down the barrel and impacts the tennis ball, which kicks it out of the end.  The ram will be retained by a cord of some kind so that it can't exit the barrel.

Digital Identity and Teacher Identity

Much like Pernille Tranberg suggests in this excellent TED Talk, it is important to understand who is accessing our digital footprint and how they are using it.  Once you put something on the internet you lose much of your control over who gets to see it.  It is important to keep this in mind when making posts on social media but it can spread into your browsing history as well. Much of our data is mined by corporations and algorithms for various reasons. As educators this becomes increasingly important because we teach technologically savvy students in an age where personal information is only a click away.  In my own time as a student I witnessed countless teachers, unaware of who was watching, share too much or be too open on facebook.  I have also seen fellow students get into tough situations because of what they or someone else posted.  With these memories in my past I move forward with a concept much like Mrs. Tranberg.  I can't control everything about myself on the internet, but I can make my data inconsistent and false when I'm absolutely required to give up some control.  At the very least this throws a small wrench in the data mining system but perhaps more importantly it creates noise between my personal digital identity and the professional identity I want students to interact with.  This noise acts as a barrier and will be less distracting to my classroom efforts since none of it can be tied to the professional identity.  With the professional identity I can dictate who sees it and to what extend.  Perhaps my professional Identity only exists in person and on this one blog, it only needs to serve the purpose of helping to educate my students.  This limited professional digital identity can then be built up and fleshed out in order to interact with my students and reinforce the teacher they know in the classroom.

Creating Online Content

Student Teacher M. P.   Grade Level  9     Subject English

Date of lesson_______________               Length of lesson two class periods

Lesson Topic:  Writing Dialogue/ Characterization

Overall Goal:  (Broad statement using non action verbs)  “Students will understand that….

Students will understand how to use dialogue to advance plot and develop characterization in a narrative.

Learner Background:  (This addresses why the lesson is being taught.)  Describe the students’ prior knowledge or skill related to the learning objective(s) and the content of this lesson, using data from pre-assessment as appropriate.  How did the students’ previous performance in this content area or skill impact your planning for this lesson?  

The students have previously done a lesson on characterization and have studied several characters in the book.  They know that characters can be developed through dialogue but have not been taught how to write it.  The purpose of this lesson is to show students how to utilize dialogue as a means of developing characterization as well as progressing the plot.  Students will be asked to write their own dialogues to practice this skill. They will need to understand how to make inferences. They have also read Chapter 2 for homework the previous night.

Curricular Standards:  Identify the primary standard(s) this lesson is designed to help students attain:

• National (NCTE) #4 Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.
• State (CCSS) W.9-10.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or evens using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well structured event sequences.
• Local (optional)

Student Learning Objective(s):  Identify specific and measurable learning objectives for this lesson.  Use action verbs.  “Students will be able to….”

1) SWBAT use dialogue to display the characterization of a selected character in Lord of The Flies.

2) SWBAT use dialogue to convey character actions in their writing assignments.

3)SWBAT write a realistic and believable  dialogue involving themselves and one or more characters in Lord of the Flies.

Assessment:

Part I:  How will you check for student understanding during the lesson?  (Formative)

-I will ask targeted questions while modeling. (Is this word choice appropriate for this character?)

-I will listen to students during their turn and talk.  I will be looking to hear that they have made inferences and      can explain them to others.

-I will circulate around the room during the individual work time and check student work to make sure that it has an outline with character traits as well as plot objectives.

Part II:  How will you ask students to demonstrate mastery of the student learning objective(s)?  Attach a copy of any assessment materials you will use, along with assessment criteria/rubric. (Formative or summative)  

-Students will be assigned to write a brief dialogue between themselves and one other character from the book using pixton.com.  The exercise is intended for them to practice using dialogue as a way to strengthen characterization.

Materials/Resources:  List the materials you will use in each learning activity including any technological resources.  

Smart Board or Projector + Whiteboard

Computers

Internet access (access to pixton.com)

William Golding’s Lord of the Flies

The Lesson:

Initiation:Part I - Briefly describe how you will introduce the lesson, engage students in the lesson and connect it to previous learning. (This is intended to motivate students.)  

1)Show portion of video adaptation of Terry Bisson’s “They’re Made Out of Meat” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tScAyNaRdQ

1. Ask students to take notes while they listen and write down as much as they can learn about the speakers and the world that the author has created.

2)After the clip call on students to explain who the two speakers are and record on the board in list form.
     a.   They are aliens/ not from Earth

2. They are part of a highly advanced civilization.
3. They have just concluded a lengthy study of Humans..
4. They have been away from each other during this time.
5. Humans are the first example of biological life and it is apparently shocking.

3) Explain to the class that everything we just learned about the speakers was done through dialogue only.  Point out that there was no narrator feeding the reader/listener information.

Initiation Part II – (This is intended to bridge to the lesson:  set expectations for learning, articulate to learners what they will be  learning in this lesson and why this is important).  

-Explain that this lesson will focus on dialogue and how it can be used to deepen characterization and plot development. Explain that authors use dialogue as a way to give the reader information without being obvious about it and to make the reading more interesting.

-Explain SLOs 1-3 to students and that they will be writing dialogues that develop characterization and plot.

Lesson Development: Describe how you will develop the lesson:  what you will do to model or guide practice and the learning activities students will be engaged in to gain the key knowledge and skills identified in the student learning objective(s). Include the questions you will ask, identify and explain the instructional grouping (whole class, small groups, pairs, individuals) for each lesson segment, and include the approximate times for each.    Include reference to Bloom’s taxonomy to identify higher levels of thinking.

1. Explain/ review to class that dialogue consists of words spoken by characters and not the narrator. Explain that dialogue is important because it can be used to develop characters through their diction, tone, and how they respond to each other.  Also point out that characters can reveal details about the author’s world through what they discuss and how they say it.  Use the example from the clip that we can infer that the speakers are aliens because of how they talk about humans.  We can also infer that humans are the only biological life because of the speakers’ shared shock and disbelief.  These details are not told outright but are instead revealed through the conversation. Remind students that these are the types of things we are looking for in the upcoming reading. (part c)
2. Have students open their books to page 43 of Chapter 2.
3. Read out loud to page 48 and instruct students to jot down details they can learn (infer) about Piggy, Ralph, Jack or their situation/ the author’s world from their dialogue.
4. Have students do a turn and talk to share (explain) their ideas with each other. If any students do not partner up ask them (“ What did you learn about Jack?” if they do not respond strongly then follow up with “Do you think Jack might be excited to hunt? How can you tell?”)
   -Look for answers such as “Jack is violent, headstrong, ambitious, etc”

           -I will follow up any answers by asking how they came to that conclusion. This will

help to redirect any misconceptions or misunderstandings.

5. Return to whole class instruction and call on students to share what they found and list them on the board in one of the four categories. (Piggy, Ralph, Jack,  or their surroundings/ situation)

-Ask how students came to their conclusions and where they found evidence.

-Reiterate that dialogue can show us information and tell it, sometimes we need to infer or

 read between the lines.

6. I will then explain that we will be creating comic strips on pixton.com to practice characterization and writing dialogue.

• Explain how to access and log into pixton.com
• Explain that students will first write out their dialogues on paper with a partner and will later work together to create the comic strip.
• Explain that before students write their dialogues they will make a quick outline to guide them, then review some traits of characters from the book.

Piggy =   physically weak but very smart and wiling

Ralph = strong leader, rational

Jack = rash, excitable,  violent

-I will plan out my dialogue’s key points and explain that with them I can focus on how to get to each

point most effectively. This way I know what I’m going to try to write before I even start. I will

remind students that I’m going to be writing from the third person perspective.

Outline

i.I discuss with Piggy how we can convince the youngsters that there is no monster on the   island.

ii.I show that I am worried about how scared they are.

iii.Piggy shows that he is smart by coming up with the idea to take the youngsters on a tour of the island to prove that there are no monsters.

iv.I ask if he would guide the tour with me and he gets excited and has an asthma attack.

v.I decide that maybe I should see if someone else would come with me.

“Hey Piggy I’m worried about how all the younger kids believe there’s a monster on the island. Said Mr. Prince

“I agree, they seem to be really worked up about the beastie!” Piggy remarked.

“You know, when I used to be afraid of things my father would show them to me or explain them so that I understood them better, it really helped.” He added.

“You know that’s not a bad idea, maybe we could do something similar, but I’m not sure how to explain something if it doesn’t exist.” Said Mr. Prince.

“Well what if we took all of the youngsters on a tour of the island! You know! To show them that nothings out there!” Piggy excitedly suggested.
“I think that’s a great idea!” Agreed Mr. Prince. “Would you want to take the kids on the tour with me? It was your idea after all.” He asked.

“Boy would I!” Piggy gasped “I thi- nk that’s-a goo-” His face grew strained as he struggled to get his words out.

“Piggy are you okay?!” Asked Mr. Prince in a concerned yell.

“-fine-jus-t short of bre-ath”. Piggy replied.

Mr. Prince thought out loud, “Hmm, maybe I should see if someone else can do it, I wouldn’t want to lose you on the tour.”

-As I write I will stop and ask students questions to gauge if they understand how to choose appropriate responses.
Sample questions: “Is this something Piggy would actually say? How can I make it sound more like Piggy?”  “Does it make sense to show Piggy being short of breath in this way?”

-When I am finished I will read it out loud and ask students where I can revise it to make it sound more fluid and realistic.  I will explain to them that reading something out loud can help them decide if it sounds like a real conversation.

7. I will then allow students to begin their own dialogues and will remind them to plan out their conversation before beginning.

-I will circulate around the room and check everyone’s outline before allowing them to begin.  I will be

looking that they have at least one character from the book, have attributes listed for these characters,

and have some kind of plot advancement.

-Students will have the rest of class to work and can start working on their pixton.com comic as

soon as their dialogue is written out. The total lesson is planned for two class periods.

• Give students time notifications so that they can plan accordingly and finish on time.
• Have students post a link to their work on the online classroom or have them message it to the teacher so that they can all be combined into one post.

Closure: Briefly describe how you will close the lesson, help students understand the purpose of the lesson, and show how it will connect to future learning. (Rather than an administrative closure, interact with learners to elicit evidence of student understanding of purpose(s) for learning and mastery of objectives)

1. Toward the last several minutes of the second class stop students and have them wrap up.
2. Have students share and explain which characters they are using and which traits they developed.
3. Show several examples of student’s pixton.com comics and have students discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the achieved level of characterization. (constructive criticism only)
4. For homework have students log onto the class forum and pick three of their classmates pixton.com comics to read and reflect on in a post.  Note: students can read and reflect on work from other groups that have done this assignment as well)

Individuals Needing Differentiated Instruction: Describe students with learning differences. These students may be special or general education students and need not be the same students for each lesson.  Students may represent a range of ability and/or achievement levels, including students with IEPs, gifted and talented students, struggling learners, and English language learners.

Note: Differentiated instruction may not be necessary in every lesson.  However, for formal, scripted observations and in lessons included in the portfolio, it is expected that each student teacher will demonstrate the ability to plan and implement differentiated instruction in order to meet the needs of students at both ends of the learning spectrum.

Remember:   differentiation means “different”, not more; differentiation should focus on learning, not behavior

Which students do you anticipate may struggle with the activities and/or learning objectives of this lesson?
Student initials	Evidence that the student needs differentiated instruction	How will you differentiate instruction in this lesson to support student learning?
B.F.	B.F. has displayed a limited vocabulary in his previous assignments. Since dialogue requires the writer to use vocab appropriately for each character B.F. may have difficulty choosing words. Characteristic: Readiness B.F.’s limited vocabulary will hamper his ability to select appropriate diction for his characters. Component: Process B.F. will receive slightly different instructions to guide him through the assignment.  He will use a different process but the outcome will be the same as the rest of the class.	I will give B.F. a list of synonyms for common words (vocab expander).  He will be instructed to use this list when ever he cannot think of an appropriate word for a character.  I will have B.F. write his dialogue out and afterwards I will meet with him to review his word choice.  I will ask him questions such as “Can we say this differently?” and “Is this the best word for this character?”  We will then go through some options on the vocab expander and find alternate words which might be more fitting or add more variety to his writing.
Which students will need opportunities for enrichment and/or higher level of challenge?
Student initials	Evidence that the student needs differentiated instruction	How will you differentiate instruction in this lesson to support student learning?
S.H.	S.H.  has shown skill in crafting dialogue for previous assignments. She often finishes quickly and revises her work. Characteristic: Readiness  S.H. is coming into the lesson with a mastery of the skill and would not be challenged enough by the standard assignment. Component: Process/ Product S.H. will use a different process to complete the assignment since she will be inventing a new character.	S.H. will be instructed to invent a new character instead of writing from her own perspective.  She will use her dialogue to develop this character and will review her work with me.

Standard Assignment Imagine you and your partner as a characters on the island! Ralph and the others have just returned from their expedition and everyone is gathered together to discuss what to do next.  Imagine and write down a conversation between you and one or more characters.  Your narrative dialogue only uses this chapter as a starting point so don’t be afraid to take the plot in a new and exciting direction!

Remember create an outline of what you want your dialogue to cover, then write the dialogue, then create your comic strip. Do not forget to post a link to the Google Classroom page so that your work can be graded and reviewed.

S.H. Assignment Ralph and the others have just returned from their expedition and everyone is gathered together to discuss what to do next.  Create a brand new character and write a narrative dialogue between them and at least one other character from the book.  You’re narrative only uses this chapter as a starting point so don’t be afraid to take the plot in a new and exciting direction!

Remember create an outline of what you want your dialogue to cover, then write the dialogue, then create your comic strip. Do not forget to post a link to the Google Classroom page so that your work can be graded and reviewed.