Looking Back at 10 years of EdCamps Oh how the time flies, EdCamp Madison is turning 10 this year! It will be held Saturday, February 3rd at Sun Prairie West High School. Which can be found at 2850 Ironwood Drive in Sun Prairie Wisconsin from 8:30 am - 3:00 pm. Get more information and register here: https://sites.google.com/sunprairieschools.org/edcampmadwi/home I will always remember sitting in my first EdCamp opening session at the very first EdCamp Madison and having no clue what I was in for. So, I’d like to take this space to go over some of the basic rules of EdCamp. No One Will Pitch It for You EdCamps are unconferences. By this I mean that they have a blank slate of sessions for the day. There may be a few predetermined sessions, but ultimately the session topics are determined by attendees during the pitch & plan session that opens the day. If an idea gets pitched there will be a session on it. If a topic doesn’t get pitched, there won’t be a session on it. So, it i
This week my students are doing marble roller coasters to study the law of conservation of energy. It is one of my favorite activities I do all year because student engagement reaches an all time high. It makes me think of this iconic clip from Dead Poets Society. A small change in environment can lead to a large increase in engagement. For a couple of days, the classroom looks so different as tubes hang from walls, tables, and the ceiling. Students themselves are if different locations than usual. The are on tables, under tables, standing on chairs, lying on the floor. This is not a project which requires lots of technology. It really demonstrates the simplicity of a physics investigation. When getting students out of their seats or into unique environments, the challenge is trying to focus the energy into a learning opportunity. Six Flags Great America allows for an authentic application of many physics topics studied in class with a marble