Thoughts and musings of Peter Kupfer

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  • Using the Red Bull Stratos Space Jump in Physics Class…

    Posted on by Peter Kupfer 1 Comment

    When I heard that a man, Felix Baumgartner, was going to jump from space I was intrigued at how I can use this in class. It is one of the unique teachable moments that comes each year that as a teacher you need to capitalize on. It is one reason I am grateful to work in a district that doesn’t have a lock step teaching mentality, so I can diverge when needed.

    In any event, I searched most of Sunday night for someone that had posted data of the fall and was unsuccessful, so I created some myself. I started with this video:

    And watched him fall. I noted that after about 20 seconds of falling the speeds were displayed on screen. The speeds updated at .5 HZ (2/second) and I plotted the data. The data is as complete as the video allowed and I hope Red Bull posts the rest of the data, including altitude, later. I typed into a program called Graph (which is a free ware program I highly recommend and can be downloaded here.) I also put it into an Excel file to share with others which you can find at the end of the post.

    In addition, one of my colleagues found on-line someone who had recorded all of the ascent data and we also put that into Excel and made a graph of the ascent.

    You can see that the velocity graph curves, which awesome because we so rarely have a chance to graph a real work changing acceleration, or the jerk. So, we then created a very simple worksheet to use in class today along with the video to spark a discussion. If I wanted to spend more time on this activity I could have had the kids collect the data, but that wasn’t something I wanted to invest time in today.

    Here is a copy of the worksheet if you wish to use it.

    Red Bull Space Jump Analysis Sheet

    Jump Worksheet (PDF)

    Jump Worksheet (ODT)

    Here also is a copy of the raw data if you want to work with it.

    Excel File - Red Bull Stratos Data

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  • Classroom Management Apps for the iPad

    Posted on by Peter Kupfer Comment

    Today someone on the physics modeling list serv asked for an app for a tablet with the following abilities:

    • Allow me to create a seating chart showing student names and photos.
    • For each student, I could click the photo and get a drop-down menu with user-created options (mine would be “on task,” “off task,” and “Notes”–the notes button would open an editing box where I could type notes).
    • Each time a mark/comment was made, the date and time of the comment would be recorded in the database.
    • I could then generate reports periodically with a summary of how many times each student received each mark.
    • It would be nice if I could export points earned into a text file for importing into my grading program.

    Two other important requirements that I realized after starting my research were that I wanted to be able to import my class lists from a csv file and I needed to be able to separate the classes by period as opposed to one long list.

    I had wanted a similar application for my iPad, but I hadn’t really put any effort into finding one. So, I set out to evaluate the different classroom management type apps for the iPad.

    As I started investigating I found that there were couple of themes categories that the apps fit into:

    • Random Picker/Seating Chart Apps — There are several apps that are designed to just pick students at random from your class list.
    • Just Attendance Apps — Several of these apps are just for attendance taking and possible seating charts.
    • Behavior Tracking — Not necessarily designed for grades but usually for attendance and also student behavior and consequences.
    • Full Grade Book/Management Apps — These apps includes the features of the others and then also function as grade books. They vary by the grade level they seemed designed for.

    Random Picker/Seating Chart Apps

    Pupil Picker was the first random picker app that I came across. It has a very simple interface and serves one purpose, to randomly pick students to answer questions in class. Pupil Picker wins some points because it offers a free version to test. In using that free version one drawback I found was that you could not import a class list from a csv file or from a spreadsheet. The author says that you can bring the students in if they are in a group in your contacts, but I don’t have any groups in my contacts and for some reason I can’t currently open my contacts, so I can’t test that. Another nice feature is that it allows you to mark whether the student answered the question correctly or not. This could work for the purpose of monitor productivity in a lab, but you can only pull the student up at random, you can’t pick a student from the list which would make monitor productivity difficult at times. Ultimately, this app does what it says and it seems to do it well.


    Attendance Apps

    Attendance is an app that is simply designed for taking attendance. The app costs $5, which seems excessive for just taking attendance when there are some cheaper alternatives, so I didn’t test it. The description says that you can important class lists and export the attendance data back out to a spreadsheet via iTunes or Dropbox. The program supports pictures and allows you to select random students to answer questions. You can see a video of the app here.

    Smart Seat is an app that takes attendance, but its true calling is as your a seating chart making app. I have long wanted a program that would make a random seating chart for any OS and this app does this simply. I like to change seats every unit, so the geek in me wishes that it had the ability to save the old seating charts for comparison and I would be ecstatic if it kept track of who a student sat next to before and tried to randomize with that as a constraint, but that is probably a bit much. The official website says that you can import students names from a csv file but the app doesn’t support pictures. The app allows you keep different charts for each section or your course and to select a random student to call on. If you are just looking for attendance and random student selection, this app looks cleaner and is cheaper than Attendance.


    Behavior Tracking Apps

    I tried to evaluate Teacher’s Toolkit by downloading the free lite version, but it crashed repeatedly on me.

    Full Grade Book/Management Apps

    TeacherPal at this point is the app that comes closest to the requirements stated above (plus it is free). With TeacherPal you can import your class list using a simple comma separated value (csv) file or add them manually. You can also add a picture to each student from your saved picture folder. Once you have set up your class, you can easily make a searing chart for your students by clicking on their face until it wiggles (like moving an app on your home screen) and putting it in place. You can add a picture of each student (as shown below) and you can then click on the student’s face in the seating chart to mark them absent. Additionally, TeacherPal has a simple and simple to use gradebook for recording scores. The gradebook can be export to a csv and into a spreadsheet for merging into other desktop electronic gradebooks.

    Creating a Student in Teacher Pal Setting a seating chart in Teacher Pal

    Teacher’s Attaché – This seems like a nice app that takes attendance and does something with grades. The app is more geared towards a college classroom, in that it lacks a seating chart, so I didn’t invest the $5 to evaluate it. However, from the reviews, it would seem that this is a pretty nice app for college professors.

    Teacher Tool One — Sounds like a great app, but it seems almost too powerful and with too many features. In work with the free version, I had a hard time completing simple tasks and determining how to assign grades and work with students. It seems to be written for a German school system and that it would integrate with some other kind of SMS. For a price tag of $30 for the full version, it seems like overkill for what I am looking for.

    Teacher Assistant Lite — This application seems more designed for elementary education or special education teachers. The students can not be arranged by group or period. The application seems best suited to tracking behaviors as opposed to tracking grades or students participation in a class on a single day.

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  • The End of the School Year — The Annual Goodbye

    Posted on by Peter Kupfer Comment

    The end of the school year is a hard time for me. Each year I meet a new group of students and get to form relationships with them. One of my co-workers has been preaching for a couple years about how the key to successful teaching is forming relationships. With this in mind, I have made an even more concerted effort this school year and I think it worked well. I open myself to my students in a lot of way that other teachers do not. I talk to them about non-school things during class (which is pretty common), I friend with them on Facebook if they request, and I allow them to text me. (Mind you I have only ever kind of given my number to my bowlers, but the number seems to get around.)

    A lot of teachers would be uncomfortable with some of these avenues, but for me I truly believe that it has made my teaching more effective, (Research would seem to agree, Link 1, Link 2.) and it is the only way I know how to be. Many times I would see something on Facebook that I could discuss with the students during class the next day to build those connections, or a student would see something I posted about myself or Isaac and then we could use that to build a connection in class. I try to tell myself each year that I am not going to get as close to the students, but I can’t do it. I love teaching and I love it because of the students I get to meet. They change me for the better and hopefully the opposite is true. When the days are tough and I need a break from teaching, the kids are what get me up in the morning and keep me going. If I didn’t have a strong relationship with the students, I wouldn’t enjoy my job nearly as much. I wouldn’t know how to teach any other way.

    On Scrubs Dr. Cox says he teaches through fear, but I can’t do that. I have too much fun being a goof with kids and interacting with them. Each day I am not sure what is going to happen in class, but it usually results in us laughing and having a good time. I’ve always believed that I can get more out of the students if they like me and want to work in class for me, if not for physics. Some people yell to manage their classes, but I like to use my relationship with the kids to manage the classroom.

    Anyway, the point is that I formed some pretty strong relationships my students this year. I wouldn’t say it was with every student, but on the whole I felt closer to my students this year than any year in the past. One of my big fears in teaching had been that as I got older, I’m 29 now, I would start to lose touch with the students. I have actually found now that the opposite is true. This year I have found that more students have talked to me in an advice type sense than any other year. So, while my relationship with students is different than it was when I started teaching, I find that I am enjoying the new role I am in.

    So, now the end of the year comes and I have to say good-bye to these wonderful young people. I do not know why this is so hard for me each year. Part of my says I only see these kids for 44 minutes a day for 180 days this shouldn’t be this hard. But, even knowing that, I feel a void when they leave. The truth of the matter is I see a lot of these kids more than that. Some come in for help, some come by to hang out, and some I just see other times. I love how things go for the first 9 months of the year, but the last week or so is just really depressing. I often refer to it as Post-Prom Depression. It is a rough week because the kids are stressed out and cranky because they are going through a bunch of emotions with high school ending and their teachers piling on projects. I have to battle with them to stay on task because they have senioritis yet I have to be the responsible one. At the same time I just want to hang out with them because they are going to be gone soon. This really makes closure tough to come by.

    I try to do somethings to get closure. I give them a little speech with a couple of simple pieces of advice. Then I teach them how to tie a neck-tie. This year I started a new tradition by doing something that my high school calculus teacher Mrs. Courtney O’Berry did that was very memorable for me: I read them Oh The Places You’ll Go by Dr. Seuss. This was received well and I liked it.

    Anyway, I am not really sure what I wanted out of this post. Mostly I just felt like I needed to get some thoughts off of my mind. I love teaching and interacting with students and I would never conduct myself in any other way than fully committed to building relationships with students. This year in particular I have grown particularly close to two students and they have helped me grow as a teacher and as a parent. They may never know they affect they have had on me just like I will never know the effect I have had on many students. I recently read a quote, The true meaning of life is to plant trees under whose shade you do not expect to sit. I don’t really like quoting other people, but this really sums up what I believe in a very elegant statement. I guess the hardest part is never knowing if the things I do on a daily basis have a positive lasting impact.

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  • Changing Education for the Information Age

    Posted on by Peter Kupfer Comment

    A parent of one of my students sent me this video link today. Take a look and I will meet you down below.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpEnFwiqdx8

    When I watch a video like this (I have seen similar one before) I feel extremely overwhelmed. The amount of knowledge and information out there is so huge. I find myself constantly saying that the combined knowledge of the world is at our fingertips and we just need to start taking advantage of it. Look at the growth of Facebook, and that was primarily with college students. Also, Facebook was free and televisions weren’t but those number are still huge.Now, I wonder if Twitter is going to beat that to be biggest fastest.

    That there are more texts sent each day then people in the world, Holy Cow! Adults often just mock the younger generation and their texting, but to ignore the phenomenon is just ignorant. The Technology Tailor on WGN Radio, Alex Goldstein (or something like that) constantly mocks Continue reading →

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  • 25 Random Things

    Posted on by Peter Kupfer Comment

    So, if you were tagged, you are supposed to write your own list and tag 25 people including the person who tagged you. I say, do what you like.

    1. I love teaching. However, it is way more work than I ever imagined it would be and I have a tremendous amount more respect for the good teachers I have had.
    2. I love being a parent, but it is way more work that I ever imagined it would be (people always tell you it will be hard, and I beleived them, but you don’t know until you are there yourself.) I have a tremendous amount more respect for my parents now that I have a son.
    3. I love Star Wars. I don’t know why. I know it (probably) isn’t real but the pageantry and the grandeur and the philosophy of it all is just so mesmerizing. It truly is an Oprah.
    4. I have ADD and probably have my whole life. I was not officially diagnosed until I was 23, and knowing that I have it makes it easier as a teacher to deal with students who also have ADD (even if they don’t know they have it.) I also take drugs for ADD and, at least for me, they work.
    5. I do not currently have a job next year and this weighs on me more than I let on or want to think about.
    6. All I really want out of life is to do something that matters. I don’t know what that will be and I don’t know if I will know what it is (it may already have happened) but I will keep working at it until I die.
    7. My son is named for Sir Isaac Newton (perhaps the single most important person of the millennium) and I think this is awesome and I don’t know if Gina will ever truly appreciate how much I appreciate and love her for allowing that. Continue reading →
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