4 Chem/Phys e-Learning!!!!! We got this!!!

So, let's make the most of the situation. Let's get into the distance learning mindset! We can and will get some things done, learn a bit of electromagnetic induction, hopefully have a little fun, use a little technology for more than just doing Google searches or writing a Google Doc, and make it through an unprecedented period in our education and in our country's history. This will be one of those stories you'll tell your kids some day. Please think of this for what it ultimately is - closing public spaces will help contain and reduce the number of people who will be exposed and get the COVID-19 virus, and that saves lives! This is important that we are closing school, and we are all helping protect those who are vulnerable to this disease.

Before anything else, you know how big I am on health first: physical, as well as emotional, mental and social. This is new territory for you, and school is your primary time for social exposure. Not being with your friends in person, in a classroom or other space at school, will be strange, yes, but perhaps can begin to take an emotional toll on you. That's OK, and probably normal!! Never hesitate to reach out to me, friends, parents, your counselor, siblings, other teachers, or whoever, if you need to talk or de-stress about this situation!! And yes, counselors, social workers and school psychologists will all be available during the next weeks.

Set up
We are in decent shape already, since we have our video library in tact. Even if things like Zoom don't work well or crash (keep in mind online services could become overwhelmed, as it is estimated some 400 million students will be doing some type of remote learning around the world). I will have things linked that you can view any time, and we'll be using this blog to keep track of everything. You should have picked up hard copy packets, which most of you prefer to electronic, but the electronic files are in our EM Induction folder on my school site. There are 4 packets for induction, and we'll go in order since in the past students found it easier to focus on one main idea at a time.

Zoom
The way Zoom works is I will be the host, and all you will need is a link to the meeting. I will email the links, which will be for certain times, and all you need to do is click on that link at the appropriate time. For you, it should be that easy. We will have both audio and video, so if you want people to see you be sure your webcam is not covered. You will be able to see my screen, so we will be able to go over material, take questions and comments, show video clips or simulations, etc. If you ever want to try Zoom, you can hold free meetings for up to 40 minutes. I have an account since I'm on it a lot, and have unlimited time for meetings.  We tested it at school, and Zoom was working on the Chromebooks.

Simple Class Chat
Let's keep things simple, because we don't want to have to keep worrying about new Apps, sites freezing, or not being able to download or get to different resources because of limitations of ChromeBooks. I'll just have a Google Doc set up, which one can only access if logged into your dist202.org account (so people outside our classes cannot access it). This will be for questions, comments, concerns, and general discussion items (related to school - do your personal chats on your own platforms). Again, simple and accessible and safe, so we can all share questions and responses as we go through new material. Also keep using whatever study groups and group chats you've been using since last year. We can still collaborate, peer tutor, hold virtual study group and Face-time sessions, and so on, like you normally do.

Good Resources
You have your textbook at home - take advantage of it for once!! If the videos aren't helping, or answers to questions don't click, the textbook is a great resource, with lots of examples!
An online textbook at CK-12 is good, and it has relevant demo videos, etc. Something called Physics Classroom is a good resource. And of course, Khan Academy has videos on most topics we'll be covering. We will use some PhET simulations at some point. One of the greatest compilations of physics knowledge ever written down is online - the Feynman Lectures on Physics. And if you want to keep up with general science headlines like we do many class periods, Science News and Scientific American are two of the best places to go.

For Tuesday, March 17, 2020
First thing to check out is a really well done video on the math modeling of the spread of something like COVID-19. This is about exponential growth, logistic curves, and why social separation and hand washing really are the right things to do to stop the rates at which diseases spread, which in turn saves lives! Please watch the following video, take notes on the way they develop the math model, and also take notes on 'sensitivity testing' they talk about near the end of the video. Many of you will do math modeling of some kind in college and careers, so this is an expert talking through what they do.