July 15th Journal

Rube Goldberg project experience

The objective of the experience was to make us think in an inquiry way of a design for an apparatus in which some exchanges of energy have to take place. Apart form this main objective, a side aim for me would have been to exchange ideas with the classmates in my group using the English language. I achieved the first one but not the later.

At the beginning, most of the group didn't like the activity, but I did. It's my feeling that we, Spaniards, are not used to this kind of open, inquiry activities and that we easily get lost. Nevertheless, finally everybody accepted the challenge and all of us wanted our apparatus to work properly in front of the jury. 

I like this activity to be done with my students in the Physics class. It's easy to adapt to different levels and it addresses to many types of learners.

July 14th Journal

Fermentation

What most impacted me about this tour was the final experimental activity and the easiness of a process that produces so wonderful results.

I have previously done similar tours in Spain to study the fermentation of other juices. So I was impressed by the different flavors and smells that such a simple organism as yeast can produce from just three components: malt, hop and water.

The process of fermentation is so easy to produce, that you can even do it yourself at home, by using daily cook devices.

July 12th Journal

2 activities/exhibits that I saw at the Children’s Museum that are science-based. 

1. Fabric picnic. Children have to create different dishes (a hot dog,a cake, etc) for a picnic using cloths. The science comes because instructors take the opportunity to explain scales. It's as when in science we use models to explain the reality. Most of the times these models are scaled up.
2. Build your one-of-a-kind structure. Children have to build kind of a skyscraper using wood struts and real  tools. They learn about Physics and Maths because they have to design a structure that doesn't collapse and, by looking at Chicago's most famous skyscrapers they realize that the best shape is the triangle.

July 8th Journal

I have no idea of how to transform some knowledge taken from the museum into a lesson. The reason is that I already have that knowledge, the innovative thing was they way in which this knowledge was display in order to be transmitted to the visitor in an interactive, attractive and clear way.

I would like to take my students to the museum but I cannot reproduce what I've seen there.

What I can apply is what we did in the first part of our visit, the experience about how to figure out things that you can not see or feel by your senses. I liked so much the activity that I wouldn't change a coma. The lesson plan we were given was perfect. Although it could seem that I say this in order to not have to write anything, this is not the case

July 7th Journal

I really have had a fantastic experience at the baseball game, but a fantastically boring one.

The evening was good because the host seating beside me was very nice and I enjoyed talking to him. And I also like to have new experiences and I was eager to know how a baseball game is.

But the game is so boring. And, in my opinion, I was not the only one to feel the boredom:most of the people pay little attention to what was happening in the field. The most exiting situations took place when the ball reached the public.

In conclusion, I liked the experience but, definitely, I don't like baseball.

July 6th Journal

My understanding of baseball has raised significantly, which was not difficult to achieve as my previous knowledge was zero. 

Thanks to my research about baseball fields, now I am familiar, to a little extend, with the places where this typical American game is played.

Nevertheless, what has been definitely vital for my understanding of the subject  has been the practice lesson. After playing for one hour, I feel confident that tomorrow I will be able to follow the game and to shout at the proper time.

July 5th Journal

Part I (13,30 pm)

I am not tutoring but if I were, it would be impossible for me to mention anything about my looking forwardness or my fears relating to this activity because I have no clue as to what it is about.

As for the free writing, I will write about a language experience I had not had but I would have liked to have and that I would like to have over the three weeks we already have got left.

I, as the rest of the teachers I've been talking to, miss more talking and feedback in the classes we are attended. It is our feeling that we are not learning as much English as we expected.

Part II (23,40 pm)

 As if you had read my thinkings, at the end of today's class I knew what tutoring was about and we had started an activity in which we had had to talk to each other(thankfully, all the people in the group agreed to speak English).

I have liked this last activity about baseball much more than simply writing the journal on my own.

Nevertheless, I still miss some feedback. I feel that I will go back to Spain with the same mistakes I used to commit before I came to Chicago. For example, I'm not sure if you "commit mistakes" or just "make mistakes".

July weekend 2th-4th Journal

This weekend didn't seem to be a good one as my for-one-month family was going out for the long weekend. But out of a sudden, a day-host, Karen, appeared and eventually I spent three great days.

On Saturday, I took the bicycle that my family had lent me and I cycled along the lake. I also jump into the water twice. I cannot use the verb “swim” because my two baths lasted less than three minutes. The first one, in the morning, I felt the water really cold.By the time I made my way to the water for the second time, the water had warmed up but I was afraid of leaving my bag alone on the sand. For me, being on my own with a bicycle is synonymous of happiness.

On Sunday, I met Karen and two other teachers at the Art Institute. Karen turned to be not only a great host but also a lover of art, so we had a lot of fun at the museum. Later on we went to the Botanic Gardens. They are splendid but too huge to be visited in just a couple of hours.

And the big day arrived. In the morning we did an architectural tour in Oak Park, again with Karen. In the evening, we went shopping to an outlet. I don't like going shopping very much (just sport items). But visiting an outlet in the US is one of the must-do things for a tourist. Finally I bought nothing but at least, I'm done with outlets. And to finish the weekend as well as it had started, we took part in the barbecue hosted by Alejandro's host.

July 1th Journal

I would focus the students on things that they were able to do in order to contribute to global sustainability. They don't usually worry about saving resources (paper, water, electricity, etc) and when they do, they tend to think that there is little they can do. And even more, if they finally are aware of the importance of that issue, they argue that as they are the only ones doing something, the effort is worthless.

I would make my students calculate the amount of paper and electricity we were able to save in the school by means of changing certain habits. Later on, we would translate this amount into trees and into money(the language they understand the best). To end with, we would design a campaign to convince the rest of the students in the school to modify their habits relating to wasting resources.

The questions I would make sure my students respond to are:

Are resources endless?
Does nature suffer because of us (human race)?
Is there something we can do to release some of the nature suffering?
What easy things can we change relating to our conssumpsion habits?

June 30th Journal

The smallest park in the biggest city would supply with a bit of sustainability. Just because it is a park, Millenium Park is a sustainable resource to the city of Chicago. Especially if the grounds where the park currently lies used to be occupied by parkland, rail yards and parking lots. For sure, it is better to leave future generations a field full of green living things than tones of concrete.

When it comes to focus in specific aspects of the park that you notice that are sustainable or that promote sustainability, the task turns into a hard one. I have found just three :

• The Exelon Pavilions, that are certificated as sustainable. All the apparently mirrors that cover the buildings, are in fact solar panels.

• McDonald's Cycle Center. A place to hire a bicycle to ride not only the park but the city too. 

• Some bins to recycle waste.

June 29th class journal

The lab I think it would be easier for me to incorporate into my teaching back in Spain is "Egg Bungee Jump".

Introduction.
This lab is important to me to teach my students because I can cover lots of concepts with an activity that students will find fun. This way they will be motivated and therefore willing to learn so, consequently, they will learn (or at least, the probability that they learn something meaningful is the highest).

Objectives (what I want my students to learn):

• To undersntand concepts related to Physics and Ecology:
• Gravity force.
• Elasticity.
• Inhuman treatment to hen.
• To use Maths (proportions and equations) to solve problems.
• To realize that Maths matters and that it is a basic tool to solve problems you might have to deal with on a daily basis.
• To use different units of measure and to change one into another .
• To take measures and to reduce the error obtained. 
• To work in group.
• To discover things on their own.

Procedures (how my students will reach the objectives).

• They will apply the scientific method.
• Under the guise of a game, they will be given an otherwise tough lesson.
• They will work in group.
• They will discover things by themselves.

June 28th class journal

First I wrote:
'So far I don't like Google Docs but I do like Google Sites and Blogger. So I will just talk about the latter two'.

But after talking to Pat, who usually use Google Docs, I've changed my mind and I will include it.

No matter what the context is: this program, my classes and my students, etc, the utility of either Docs, Blogs or Sites is that you can share stuff in an interactive way.

With Docs you can work in any office document more than one person at a time. If you want your students to do a teamwork that should be presented as an office document (presentation, written document, etc), with Docs they can work online and in the distance.

Both a blog and a website is convenient when you want other people to see your work (or the teamwork), for example if they are to be shared with the rest of the group.

A blog is easier to create and it's a good way to show information and to obtain a response, if needed, to this information. For example, in the program we are taken, the information will be our answers to the questions made by the teacher and that will conform our class journal.

With a website you can organized all the information in a better way. If the students are doing a work, the different sections can be displayed on the website in a clear way.

In my opinion, a website is the most useful of the three, because it includes all the possibilities or options.