Why Drawing is More Important Now Than Ever

I had a really interesting conversation with a student a few days ago.  We were swiftly approaching the big one:  the Forces Test.  In physics, this is kind of a Waterloo moment, where the math really is based off of physical ideas in a way many students (myself included) find incredibly challenging, especially in terms of the normal force.  (Aside:  If someone else says 'natural force' to me again whilst referring to normal force, I'm going to lose my mind.)

The point of all of this is the fact that I have had multiple students come to me in near tears because they are terrified of this exam.  They are normally A/B students who have found themselves getting a C or D on exams that they have prepared for as they would for any exam in any other class.  Physics is a beast unto itself, with things that may some logical but are incredibly difficult to define mathematically.  And this is an honors class, which is just another layer of math on math on math.  So, panic attacks have ensued and I have had the responsibility to talk students back from the edge. 

One such student came in and told me their study habits, which is not uncommon for this area.  On average, after they finish school they go to their after school sport and get home between 5 and 6 PM.  Then, it is not uncommon to do homework until 10-11 PM.  I can tell you as a teacher, I don't make assignments that should take that long.  Also, many students do work throughout breaks in the day and so have 8 hours of classes and possibly 8 hours of homework.  This student also dedicated their entire Saturday to my class. 

So I did what any adult would do: I asked the student what they do for fun.  A big part of learning is letting your brain rest.  You need to take a moment to not think on occasion, to do something enjoyable.  Your brain often will be still be churning through the question in the background, but focusing on something else takes the pressure off.  I think this is why I actually could engage hardcore in art and science in college.  I would oscillate between the two because they were different parts of my brain, and it allowed me a time to let something go in the background.

What the student said scared me.  Nothing.  They do nothing for fun.  I asked if they like to draw.  The response was "Yes, I love it.  But you can't make money doing that."  Which absolutely broke my heart.  I know where they are coming from.  Many parents in this area (mine included) feel that creative arts jobs are not for their children.  It's true that the jobs with stability are hard to find, but they absolutely exist.  Also, you can still enjoy and profit from your hobbies. 

So, to help illustrate my point to my student, I took out my sketchbook for Inktober.  I'm doing my best to do a draw every day this month, and I find the challenge actually really inspiring.  The look on the student's face as we flipped through brightened.  All my students can see how hard I work and how much effort I put in, and yet I have given myself time to enjoy a pastime.  This, however, doesn't help students see someone not just emotionally profit from drawing, but financially profit as well. 

And that’s when it struck me.  It's imperative that I keep drawing and enjoying myself.  It's easy as a teacher to get sucked into just grinding all the time to keep up on grades and to find new and exciting activities, but for me, creating something should be a focus as well.  And it's not just for my own amusement, enjoyment and profit anymore.  Teachers are inspirations to students, as egotistical as it sounds.  I want to be able to tell my students I made something and made money from that.  Or that I'm using my creativity or am proud of something I made.  Especially at a school with so much talent and drive, I feel like I need to match that.

Technology in my Classroom

So, we have best practice at every department meeting, and at a recent one, a coworker shared an app he uses called Zipgrade.  Being the curious little science teacher I am, I decided to try and use it.  This brings up a neat topic that I feel is becoming increasing relevant in this day and age: technology in the classroom.  I actually did a project about it in graduate school, but I feel like it has become a more polarizing difference between teachers.  I find myself straddling the line between pro-technology and wary of technology, but when it comes down to it, I like when things can save me time and effort.  So, let me share with you a few tricks I've begun to compile while I experiment with apps, widgets and all that stuff.

Apps and Stuff
These are a combo of some apps for phone (both Android and iOS) and have some kind of computer interface to download and analyze data.  If you are pretty good with Excel or Google Sheets, the process of setting up classrooms in these apps is pretty straight forward.

Zipgrade:  I have a few apps I use for expediting the grading and analyzing of data.  One of the newer ones I mentioned was Zipgrade.  Through this program you can print out and grade, rather quickly honestly, scantron style multiple choice tests.  You scan with your device and can then upload a file of grades to your grading system.  Compared to how I grade a quiz of a comparable size, it takes about 1/3 of the time to grade and post grades to School Loop or whatever system you use.  The set up process takes some time, and it took me a while to figure out the weighting component, but I loved it.  That way, I never have to worry about using a scantron reader or entering grades by hand.  I'm into it.

Doctopus:  This is a mass copy system that works through Google docs.  Basically, it can make a specific copy of a Google file for each student to use so they don't edit the original document you share with them.  I use it mainly for rubrics for projects and lab reports so they can get feedback much faster.  There's a plugin where you can speak your feedback as a recording, which is great for accessibility.  There's a ton of stuff this one is capable of, I just haven't unlocked its full potential as of yet.

Socrative:  This is one of my favorites for quick quizzes.  Basically, you create an online quiz where students can answer either on their phone or on a computer.  You can use it to create a quiz game, exit tickets, team up the students or keep it individual.  The school I am currently at has a pretty strict no phones out policy, but in a classroom where you have Chromebooks or a less strict school phone policy, you could totally do a quiz game where they have rockets that shoot off into space as they get answers right.  There is an app for students and an app for teachers.  The teacher app can connect directly to your Google account and gives you a really comprehensive readout of what students have gotten correct and incorrect.  A lot of this app is similar to Zipgrade, but it is free and has a free response option.  However, in terms of assessment, it's good for formative, but for summative, I would lean towards Zipgrade due to the phone not being a part of the student interface.  Taking a test on a phone with the internet so close is too much for me to handle.

Plickers:  I'm trying this one soon with my freshmen.  This is a good check for understanding tool where each student gets a specific QR code to use during class.  You ask a question and scan for responses.  I am excited about the anonymity it brings to students, the accountability for understanding and the ease in grading with another spread sheet like Socrative and Zipgrade.  The thing I am not fully in love with, and this could be due to my inexperience with the app, is the organizational system.  Zipgrade and Socrative both have questions organized in a quiz format.  Plickers has the questions in a shared folder, so you have to choose the questions in your queue before each session as I see it now.  Hopefully, I can figure a better system.

Overall, these are the apps I have found that work the best in my space or I'm excited to try out.  If you have any experience with another system, please let me know.  If you can't tell, I'm excited to test out anything that will make my life easier and allow me to give better feedback.  I suck at giving work back in a timely manner.