Group Project 2 Done!

I'm 2/3 there!
Two group projects, two prophesy papers done!
The presentation went well with Tammy, and it all turned out very nicely. I added some island music to the videos of the DNA and RNA replications, which made them more entertaining.

Regarding the project itself - this applies to all the work so far - the amount of material on the internet is amazing, and it's easy to get flooded by volume. But it's such an easy way to research and get fast answers to questions about everything. It's so easy to see why knowledge is exploding in recent years - there is so much out there and it's all (mostly) accessible.

DNA Movies

I'm having fun putting together the Bio group project with Tammy. She missed a class, but we have been fine with iterating via e-mail and it's getting close to done. We used our option to present on week 2 of the groups, which is Monday.
I decided to create a stop action animation illustrating DNA replication using the K'Nex kit. I've got the setup complete and tested a few times, and I'm ready to do a final version. The intent is to have an illustration for the hands on project of replicating DNA that the students would use in the lesson.
The second prophesy paper came together well and was well received. The concept is working out and I think I had some better examples than in the first one. It's amazing how many connections there are in the ROchester area to key breakthroughs in science.

Halfway Home

I received comments back from Joe on the first journal submission. I forgot to submit a mid-class entry, so this is it - late.
Some of my earlier comments and fears about lacking knowledge about "what does it mean to be a teacher" have been reduced quite a bit. I am really beginning to get an understanding of the big picture. Earlier, even the terminology was new in many cases (like rubric???). It's coming together and I'm more familiar with he structure of the state standards, how to put together a lesson, and an integrated lesson.
The prophesy papers have been coming together well - the early suggestion of a trilogy is exactly what I have been doing, but not exactly the same character. Using the son to father letter to reflect on the son's world is an easy way to describe what his life is like and explain his feelings.
The second group project has been fun. Tammy is very sharp and her teacheing experience is very valuable. She pulled together a lot of material for the lesson about DNA and GMOs. I ordered a K'Nex DNA kit to provide a good hands on example.
Bottom line after half way - I'm having a great time and wish I was farther ahead in my certification so I could do this for real. (except for the quitting a job getting a job thing).

Finish #2

Not that I'm procrastinating, but I just finished prophesy paper #2. It's basically the same length and format as number 1, but focused on biotech. I used more Rochester history for some of the old aspects, centering on the Ellwanger and Barry nursery history and the plant grafting aspect of biotech. Reading some of the reference material can be scary - genetic engineering can go either way - save the world or destroy the world. Hope it's #1.

Reprieve

We were number 5 on the list of presenters and only had time for 4 tonight. All the other teams did great jobs and I could see where we could tune up our paper a bit. It almost gave an unfair advanatage to be able to review it a little. But seeing the experienced teachers gave me good insight into what the assignment should look like.