WEEK 1

4-4-16
Day 1
Today we made a mind map and 4 students were off task at first. These students
returned to task after prompted. I think because it was the beginning of the week,
students need a lot of direction and reminders. One student requested a printout from
actively learn. I hadnt considered students who may not like digital reading. Actively
Learn was a little rough as I included adding notes and vocab and students were not
familiar with this. I want this information because it helps me to see where students
struggle with vocabulary and to see what they are making sense of. Today we did not
make it all the way through the assignment. I walked around and helped many students
log-in and show them how to highlight and add notes. Otherwise the students knew what
to do and I gave them feedback on their answers as quickly as possible. Only one
student asked for a reset out of 3 who had started to answer the questions. We will
spend at least the first 10 minutes tomorrow finishing this assignment. I wonder if
students need to work in partners or if that would distract them more? If they are having
problems completing the assignment I may have them work with partners tomorrow.
4-5-16
Day 2
Decided no partners because some were done and the ones who werent were just off
task. Today went better than yesterday. Most students were working. However, some of
the students who tend to cause the problems were gone. Students worked on finishing
actively learn and then started ED puzzle. We are a little behind so tomorrow we will
finish ED puzzle and then play a few Kahoot games. I did have to remind students to get
on task but all were very cooperative today and did as asked. I did not get as many
questions today as I did yesterday. Most questions were about how to convert
temperatures. I assisted students by writing the equation on a piece of paper and
helping them to use it. I also graded all responses and left feedback when answers were
not worthy of an advanced score. A few students asked for resets. One student did not
do well but refused to retry. She hates to redo work. She likes to do it as quickly as
possible and be done. Maybe tomorrow I can get her to retry answers because her
answers just did not make sense. For example:
QUESTION: Convert 4.22 K to C.
ANSWER: You have to put butter in the medal and syraphom

4-6-16
Day 3
Today I had about half of my students finish actively learn and ED puzzle. The others
were getting off task and not finishing. It is now their homework to finish what they did
not get to. I graded all responses in class and gave feedback where needed. For the last
25 minutes of class we played 3 Kahoots to see how students are doing. I noticed a
struggle on the difference between heat, temperature, and thermal energy. They are
getting them all mixed up. Tomorrow I will remind students that temperature is how hot
or cold something is, heat is a measure of kinetic energy (how fast the molecules move),
and thermal energy is related to the number of molecules in an object. It also seems that
students forgot that particles move from hot to cold always. Students arent quite sure
what a conductor or insulator is and I have not shown this to them. This will be good for

the lab because students will research and then test out ideas as to what would be a
good insulator. On Kahoot quizzes the correct answers for all 3 were about 60% or better.
We did had a few internet connection issues so the scores would most likely be higher.
On Actively Learn 9 of 17 students are finished. (5 are in the green, 2 yellow, 2 red; there
is a good color coding system to figure out which students may need more assistance.)
Most students are trying to understand the work and are preserving to try again. Only a
few are not. The biggest struggle was #4 why are there 3 different temperature scales? I
think I shouldve worded this better because when I asked them what they would use
each scale for they seemed to get it.
4-7-16
Day 4
I started class by having students make a chart for thermal energy, heat, and
temperature. We wrote out what each is and how they are the same. This seemed to
help students grasp the differences. We are missing 7 of 16 students. The weather is nice
and students are out seal hunting. We are continuing on so that students get to build the
houses and we dont have to just stop with plans and move on. The house is the most
exciting part. Students are working hard and are really interested in their research. Some
are starting to think about how to design their house. Most of my questions today were
how to get the source of their information. Today I am telling them just to copy the web
address on paper or to a Google doc and copy and paste it. Next week I will be sure to
show students how to cite sources and write an introduction to their lab report. Students
even used our notes from the start of class to help answer a question on their research
guide. They seemed really interested and the question guide really helped student focus
on what to research. I am glad I did it. I have tried research in the past with just giving
students one main question to focus on but students did not have the skills to deepen
the research. I would get very short answers or everyones hand at the same time. No
one knew what to do. Today was like a breath of fresh air as all students were on task
and getting the information they needed.
4-8-16
Day 5
More students were here today. Lots of tardies but in the end only 2 were absent. For the
most part students worked well. Most groups decided to have one student write while the
other looked up answers. Some are typing answers into a google doc while others are
just writing on paper. One group was still confused on thermal energy. It is a very
confusing topic. I was explaining to them that it is related to heat but it is not heat only.
Objects that have more particles will keep heat longer. So size matters. They seemed to
understand. Another group came across some type of weather siding. We found that
weather makes cracks near windows and doors so it is important to caulk these areas to
make sure cold air or warm air doesnt come in. Most students were very honest on there
reflection. Most even giving themselves lower grades than I would give them on their last
question of the reflection. Here is what I wrote on the board for how I would grade them:

A-did your work

B-Couldve worked harder
C-did something, but not a lot
F-did about nothing

WEEK 2
4-11-16
Day 6
Today many students finished researching. This took much longer than anticipated.
Research skills are low and I believe this is why it took so long. Students typed the
question into Google and only wanted to look at the first few links. I would encourage
them to keep searching and they would eventually find it. Students are getting very
anxious to start building. Tomorrow groups will be ready to work on the frames. Students
today did not really have many questions. They just got stuck and couldnt find answers
because they only wanted to look at the first couple of sites. A few misunderstood
questions and when I rephrased they knew what to do.
4-12-16
Day 7
Today was great! Students were totally engaged in building. I got sample materials and
built a sample model. Students placed orders for materials today and then started
framing their houses. Some are going to be surprised at how much material they need.
One group orders 2 cm of scotch tape. I will be interested to see what they do with it. 3
groups out of 6 turned in orders. Those who didnt will have to expedite materials
tomorrow if they need them. I made the change of ordering materials because it gives
me a chance to check their math and ask them questions about what they want to order.
Some groups took a lot of time measuring out how much they would need, other just
guessed. It will be interesting to see how building goes tomorrow. I forgot to get the
reflection form today. I was totally engrossed in seeing the students be creative. They
were really thinking. We also had a visitor, community member, come visit unexpectedly.
He wanted to talk with them for a bout 5 minutes and this took up some time. It wasnt a
bad thing but it is hard when we are already short on time.
4-13-16
Day 8
Today all but one student did great! 1 student struggles sometimes to work with a group.
When I asked her what she was doing she shut down. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. I
will start out focusing on that group. All other groups did as expected. One group ordered
a lot more stuff than the rest. So it will be interesting to see how theirs compares with
others. I was able to talk with one group and they were able to explain why they chose
certain materials. They are good insulators. One group rushed an order of cotton balls
for an extra $2. One thing I do notice is almost all conversations are related to the
projects. There is very little off task conversation or behavior. One group got off task
waiting for a glue gun. I have 4 for six groups. They couldve gone over and shared with
another group. I told them this and they went over to a glue gun that was vacant.

I had 5 students stay for over an hour after school and 6 total students stayed after
school. One stayed for about 15 minutes. Total that is 37.5% of the whole class and 43%
of students present today. They were really excited about it!
4-14-16
Day 9
We did not even get close to finished today. Most are finishing houses and I would expect
no more than one class period to do that. Next week I will continue on and we will work
on the lab reports. I interacted with groups by videotaping and taking pictures. I asked
about what they were doing. I also advised one group to think about their order and then
rush it because this was the 2nd rush order today. I overheard one student explaining to
one of his partners that we want to keep the thermal energy in. Students are also
discussing insulators and are able to explain the choices they make. I wish there were
more time to complete this project. 50 minutes a day is just not enough. At the start of
class 8 students were missing. 3 left earlier in the day for NYO. 3 showed up over 10
minutes late. So many students missing for hunting or other things is making it difficult
to finish this unit. Next week I could be missing about half of the class for the whole
week due to our districts dance festival.

WEEK 3
4-18-16
Day 10
Today students continued on their houses. I explained the lab report and passed out a
rubric. Students are working hard and tomorrow I will be missing 5 students. I reminded
those leaving to think about some of the different parts of their report and try to get an
idea of what they wan to say.
4-19-16
Day 11
5 students are gone to the district dance festival. All students still working on house.
Students will not be able to order any more supplies tomorrow. Some students have
started to divide working on the house and the report. This way they can get both done.
Students are helping each other out. Then they ask me if they can get some of that
groups grade. I have to remind them that they get a grade for their project but I
appreciate them helping others.
4-20-15
Day 12
Today the first group tested their house. We tried leaving the light on for 5 minutes but
the house got too hot and we were running out of time. We lowered the time to 2
minutes and still got good results. One of the students said, I can see the thermal
energy escaping. Heat can come from light. They were seeing the light through the
parts of the house that werent covered. I noticed some students who were ahead tried

to help groups who were behind. It really seems more like a community in the class.
Everyone is helping each other out.
One groups house had a mishap and fell off the cabinets. They did not push it all the
way back and the movement of the building during the day was enough for it to fall. It
broke, but was not completely destroyed. They are working to piece it back together as
best they can.
4-21-15
Day 13
Today another group tested their house and collected data. I assisted them again today.
Their house had very little light showing, only on the bottom of the door. 4 groups have
still not tested yet, but one group finished at the end of class today. She will be ready to
test first thing tomorrow. The one group that tested today was upset that we didnt leave
the light on longer. After they collected the data I let them turn back on the light just to
see what would happen. I tried explaining to them that we just did not have the time to
test longer and other students needed to use the supplies. Students are still very
engaged. They are dragging their feet on working on the report. This is not the fun part. I
just keep providing encouragement and asking if they just think about one part, like the
question.
4-22-16
Day 14
3 groups have now collected data and another group will be ready first thing Monday.
The other 2 groups are way behind. I think by Tuesday at least half should have a report
ready. Today I helped the 3rd group get data because she was alone today. Her partner
has been gone to the dance festival. The 2nd group wasted time and did nothing today.
The rest of the students worked hard. As I had a chance I tried to redirect the group off
task. But to no avail they continued to procrastinate. It was very frustrating but I tried
not to show. I tried breaking down the task to coming up with a question and either
writing it or recording it. Even that caused them to ask for an extension to Tuesday. I
think the hard part is weather is too nice. 3 students left after my class to go bird
hunting. Their focus was on other things.

WEEK 4
4-25-16
Day 15
Today groups were working on their reports. Many students are struggling with staying
on task. Some students are helping other student, which is great, but they are doing it to
procrastinate on writing their own report.
4-26-16
Day 16
We played a game of Kahoot for warm-up. Then I explained how to do the introduction
and cite sources. I assisted another group in collecting data on their house. Many
questions today related to how to write a report or make a video report. I had one group
off task. They complained their computer was not working but would not put it back and

get another one. The other groups were mostly working. 2 groups have still not tested
their houses. We are moving on next week regardless. Some groups are just not working
to full potential. They will still be able to complete the work but will have to do it outside
of school hours. One group is mostly finished and one more day should be sufficient time
for them. Students are having a tough time getting the report done. They had fun
playing with the materials but doing the work is not as much fun. One group complained
about not having enough materials. I told them to use what they had and test. They did
not finish.