How to Take Online Classes

Have your classes gone online? Because of the Covid19 pandemic, schools around the world are shutting down and sending their students home.

That’s not to say that education is coming to a halt. Most schools are scrambling to put classes online.

For many students AND teachers, this is their first experience with distance learning. It’s kind of a meta experience, in some sense – everyone has to learn HOW to learn in this way.

We’ve signed up for a few online classes over the years, but honestly, we’ve never actually completed a whole course this way. Did you know that the completion rate for online courses hovers around THREE PERCENT?

We put our minds to it and gathered all the best advice we could to put in this video. We were actually planning on releasing it in August/September, for the start of the school year, but we thought it might help people more now.  Share it with all the teachers and students you know!

How to Take Online Classes

 

Stay home and stay safe, Socratica Friends!

KHH

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10 Back to School Tips for Success

We all think of ourselves as eternal students here at Socratica.  That means we get a little thrill every September, even though we’re not in the classroom anymore.

Between us, the Socratica team has a LOT of experience points – both as students and teachers – we’ve learned a lot about how to be do well in school. That collected wisdom is what we’re trying to share in our Study Tips series.

Here’s our latest offering – advice on how to make this school year a great one:

10 Back to School Tips for Success.

 

Don’t feel like you have to tackle all 10 tips at once. Try incorporating one or two, and see if it helps. Not everyone has the exact same strengths and weaknesses. But in our experience, these strategies won’t hurt and may actually mean the difference for you.  Give it a shot!

Good luck and be sure to use our videos for help this school year!

KHH

Links to our playlists on YouTube:

Abstract Algebra

Astronomy

Biology

Calculus

Chemistry

English Grammar

Geometry

Python

Study Tips

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Send Socratica to SXSW EDU!

Socratica might go to SXSW EDU…with your help!

SXSW (“South by Southwest” or just “SouthBy”)  is a HUGE conference held every year in Austin, TX. You may be more familiar with the arts side of the conference, but did you know there’s an education component? It’s called SXSWEDU, attended by thousands of teachers and administrators.

Socratica has applied to give talks there in 2018 – but it really depends on our panel ideas getting “upvoted.” That’s where you come in!

You can register and vote for panels for free, no obligation. This is a way for the organizers to gauge interest. We’d love for you to show your support for Socratica, so we can share our channel and our experiences with thousands of educators.

Kim is proposing a Case Study of the pathways to becoming an online educator. She and two fellow EduTubers will be discussing their journeys from Scientist, to Teacher, to YouTuber.  Her panel is here: Scientist-Teacher-YouTuber: Paths to Online Edu

Michael is proposing a Workshop about how to make higher quality educational videos. He’ll be running the workshop with two other EduTubers who make great looking videos without spending a ton of money. His panel is here: Taking Your Educational Videos to the Next Level

You can see our founders at SXSWEDU in 2018! Please register (free) & vote!

After you register, it’s easy to get lost in the website. You can click these links to go directly to our panels to vote for them!  And please upvote other panels that look interesting to you. You don’t have to attend, but if you do, we’ll see you there!

Kim: http://bit.ly/2ujW2tW
Michael: http://bit.ly/2vgeCST

Here are the instructions from SXSWEDU:

On Monday, August 7, the greater online community is invited to vote and share its input on your session idea through Friday, August 25. The community’s input will amount to 30% of the total score for your proposal. Your proposal will also be evaluated by the SXSW EDU Advisory Board (40%) and SXSW EDU staff (30%) during this time.

The community will have the opportunity to “Vote Up” or “Vote Down” on all session ideas (votes will be kept private) and add comments to each page. We encourage you to use this commenting feature to expand on your session idea, make notes of any updates or changes and even engage with the voting community.

Anyone with internet access can cast a single vote for as many proposals as they would like upon creating a PanelPicker account.

We really appreciate your helping to send us to this conference!  It’s a great opportunity to meet other educators and let more people know about the work we do at Socratica.  Every bit of awareness helps our channel stay in business.  Hope we see you next year in Austin! THANK YOU!

KHH

PS You’re Subscribed to Socratica, right?

SERIES PREMIERE: BIOLOGY

 

We’re launching a new series on Socratica! Today we released our first video about Biology. 

We’re starting with that most important molecule, DNA.  DNA provides all the instructions an organism needs to develop, survive, and reproduce.

Before you can really appreciate how DNA works to do all these vital tasks, you must understand the structure of DNA. That’s why we’re starting with this video!

We had a secret weapon for making this video. We knew we wanted to build a model of DNA, but we didn’t want to just buy a kit that snaps together. Honestly – that’s just too easy. It’s all too easy to snap the pieces together without really digesting what you just built.

Our special tool?  A 3D Printing Pen!

MorphPen was kind enough to send a 3D printing pen to Socratica for us to try.  It’s like nothing else we’ve ever tried before. Sort of like an incredibly pliant, quick-drying clay that goes right where you want it to. We can make 3D sculptures! 

We’ve always known how vital it is to draw something, if you want to really understand its shape. Think of all those maps you drew as a child.

But to be able to draw in 3D is a game-changer!

If you’d like to #trymorphpen yourself, here’s a link:

Thanks for checking out our new series! Let us know in the comments what you think! 

KHH

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Periodic Table App on Google Play
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SERIES PREMIERE – Study Tips – How to be a Great Student – Cornell Notes

This is the FIRST EPISODE of our new series on How to Be a Great Student! In this episode, we learn about the CORNELL METHOD.

 

This is a great method for taking notes in class (or from your textbook, or watching a video). There’s no way to remember every word of a lecture. But taking great lecture notes is the first step to getting good grades and being a great student.

The most important rule is don’t write down every word. Listen carefully, then write simplified and abbreviated phrases that capture the main ideas.

When you get home, RE-READ your notes! Proofread them, making corrections as needed before you forget. Check your notes with a friend! In the margin, write brief headers that will cue your memory of each section of your notes.

Finally, write a summary at the bottom of the page so you can quickly tell what this page of notes is all about.

Do you have a different method of taking notes? Let us know what are your favourite study tips in the comments!

KHH

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Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss this exciting new series from Socratica:
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And please share with all your friends. They deserve to be great students, too!

SOCRATICA MERCHANDISE
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They ship worldwide!!

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Related:

Are you curious about how we filmed these videos?  Check out our episode of Socratica Backstage about this video shoot:  Socratica Backstage: Overhead Mirrored Shots

Watch the trailer for our Study Tips: How to Be a Great Student series

 

Socratica Backstage: Behind the Scenes look at Mirrored Overhead Shots

We’re launching a new series on Socratica called “Study Tips: How to Be a Great Student.” An essential part of the videos in this series will be overhead B Roll and Insert Shots, to demonstrate things like how to take notes, how to use flashcards, etc.

Where do you put this thing when you’re not using it?

Many people use a large frame and suspend a camera overhead in order to do overhead shots. It’s one thing if you’re using a GoPro, but this isn’t something you really want to do with a larger camera with a nice lens. Other drawbacks include the amount of space an overhead frame takes up, and the fact that the camera is not easily accessible. You can’t zoom in during a shot unless you have a sophisticated remote control setup. You can’t easily move the camera from its fixed position, which limits the kind of filmmaking you can do (no pans, tilts, or slider shots).

Today on Socratica Backstage, you can watch how we mounted a large mirror in order to do better overhead shots. We immediately put it to use, filming B Roll and Insert shots for our first video in the Study Tips series, “How to Take Great Notes.”

 

We release our Backstage Videos early to our Patreon Supporters.  Thank you for being our super-fans!  Your support means so much to us.

If you are not yet a supporter of Socratica, please visit our Patreon Page and consider joining our team. You’ll be supporting our efforts to make more high-quality educational videos. Thank you!
https://www.patreon.com/socratica

Don’t forget to Subscribe to Socratica!
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KHH

 

 

For COSMOS lovers: What are neutron stars?

All of us at Socratica grew up watching Carl Sagan and his groundbreaking series Cosmos.  Most people think of it as a series on astronomy, but it was really more about our place in the universe as thinking, exploring creatures looking to understand who we are and how did we get here.

When I taught biology, I regularly showed Sagan’s episode about evolution as an introduction to the topic. My students would laugh about his pronunciation of “yooman” and his odd speech patterns with unexpected….PAUSES. But by the end of the episode, they were completely won over and wanted to see more of this fascinating man.

This line always got a big laugh.

Carl Sagan’s enthusiasm and broad knowledge of so many subjects made us want to learn almost everything from him. The work we do at Socratica is maybe best considered an homage to great teachers like Sagan.  There’s no way we could ever capture his special sauce – but we do get inspiration from his candor, his love for teaching, and his quest to know.

We’re over the moon to start a new playlist on Astronomy. Our first video:  What are Neutron Stars?

 

Over the moon, see what I did there? I crack myself up sometimes.

 

We recommend, obviously:

 

Cosmos: Carl Sagan
This is the 13-hour set of DVDs – one of the best programs in television history.

 

 

Cosmos

And this is the companion book with a new foreward by Neil DeGrasse Tyson.

 

KHH

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Socrates. Put to death for corrupting the youth of Athens. Our hero.

Socrates is considered one of the founders of Western Philosophy, and the inventor of the Socratic Method which is still widely used in classrooms today. He’s something of a mystery, though, because what we know of him comes from second-hand accounts. What?! It’s true, the great teacher left behind no writings of his own.

Our hero and namesake is the star of our latest “Great Thinkers” video.

 

We recommend the following works from Socrates’ students, Plato and Xenophon:

 

The Last Days of Socrates (Penguin Classics)

 

Conversations of Socrates (Penguin Classics)

 

And just for fairness, we’ll include Aristophanes (although Plato called the account of Socrates in the play “The Clouds” slander):

Lysistrata and Other Plays (Penguin Classics)

 

KHH

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My first screen-cast for Socratica: “Balancing Chemical Equations”

I’ve been writing and editing and producing videos for Socratica for a little over a year now.  That’s been all behind-the-scenes work.  It’s been gratifying to see my ideas take form and finally appear as a finished little movie on YouTube.  Every now and then, however, I think maybe I have been a little too behind the scenes.  We get comments on our videos sometimes – that are being performed by actors – “You’re so smart! How do you know all these things?”  Errmmm.  Our actors are very bright and thoughtful people, but it is a bit of an ego blow to think that the audience doesn’t realize there is a whole production team writing and editing that material for our actors to perform.  I guess I know how most screenwriters feel.  When was the last time someone fawned over the brilliant minds behind our most beloved movies?  We give all of the attention to the faces on the big screen.

Not that I want to be signing autographs or anything. I think, for instance, that the cult of ego is taken to the extreme in some cases on online personalities.  Look at Sal Khan, for instance, who Bill Gates called “the best teacher I’ve ever seen.”  I guess he doesn’t know many teachers. That’s what happens when someone becomes an online celebrity instead of – well, instead of what I’m trying to be – a maker of beautiful, quality educational materials.  It’s really okay if people don’t know my name, as long as they have found the best videos that help them learn.

This week, I made my first attempt at a screencast video, on one of the most common problems for chemistry students, “balancing chemical equations.”  In this video, I work through 5 examples using the “inspection” or “trial-and-error” method.  In a follow-up video, I’ll demonstrate solving the same examples using the algebraic method.

My latest foray into educational videos is still somewhat anonymous – I won’t appear in these screencast videos except for my voice.  Maybe one of these days I’ll actually show my face in a video.  And then WATCH OUT WORLD!

KHH

Related articles

• Preparing for screencasting via storyboards (jasonrenshaw.typepad.com)
• Reflections on Tools to Present Content (cmgough.wordpress.com)
• How well does Khan Academy Teach? (Washington Post)
• Welcome to Socratica (The Socratica Method)

Please be a teacher: A Response to Warnings and Resignation Letters

Please be a teacher: A Response to Warnings and Resignation Letters.

This is a blog post I read recently that got me thinking a lot about things I had put out of my mind. Namely, how and why I left classroom teaching, and do I still consider myself a teacher.

I used to teach Biology and Chemistry – first at the college level as a grad student, and then at an exclusive prep school.  I loved being a student, and I loved being a teacher. I loved the classroom.  I loved my students.  I loved the work.  It was the best job I ever had – and I would still be doing it, if it were possible.  But it isn’t.  I found myself pushed and prodded and bullied and micromanaged to such a degree, it made doing the actual job, the work I was so crazy good at*, impossible.  Why would they hire an expert, and then not allow her to function?  It was an obscene farce.

I soldiered on for eight years, believing in the work I was doing.  But finally, what amounted to the last straw was an ethical dilemma, where I found administrators more intent on maintaining their power than doing the right thing for some kids who were bullied.  I was disgusted.  I couldn’t bring myself to be in the same room as those people for one more day.  All I could think was – “You don’t get to work with me anymore.”

That meant – no more being a teacher for me.

Or did it?  I entered what I called “semi-retirement” – I puttered around at home, went to the library, went for long walks in botanical gardens, swam laps.  But I couldn’t turn off the teaching part of my brain. I found myself still mentally composing lectures and activities for my students – but I had no students.  I used to teach about 50 students a year, intensively. I missed them.

Well, I found a way.  Now I teach thousands, through Socratica, all over the world.  I can still be a teacher.  I still am a teacher.

KHH

*not to tootle my own horn, but I was awfully good at my job.  Presidential awards and other commendations. Unbelievably high test scores. After taking my class, kids got lab jobs and into top colleges – the works.  But nothing was ever good enough.

Related articles

• Teacher Resignation Letter Says His Profession ‘No Longer Exists’ (huffingtonpost.com)
• A teacher explains: Why I won’t resign. A letter of resolution. (blogs.ajc.com)
• Growing Losses: List of Teachers Who Have Publicly Resigned (teacherunderconstruction.com)
• Welcome to Socratica (The Socratica Method)