Author: Garrett Esponda

On WordPress you will find all of the work that I have posted. In this post I want to highlight a few of my favorite posts for viewers to be able to see.

(Google) Form(s)ing New Ideas in VSEPR Theory

How AI Could Lead Future Teachers to Water, but not Make them Drink.

My Two Week Winter Break

I have learned a lot throughout my time using WordPress. Please feel free to comment on any of my posts and offer your point of view! I have learned that there are many technological resources that an be utilized very well with a little bit of practice. Many of these technological resources that I have used are not ones that I previously knew about. It has taught me to reach out and try new tools because I may find some that would be very effective in my classroom.

by Maddy Lopez and Garrett Esponda

This lesson is designed as a professional development for K – 12 educators. The goal for this lesson is to introduce fellow teachers to PhET, an interactive website for Math and Science education. In this lesson, we will…

• See, Think, Wonder about PhET
• Share ideas for how to use PhET in classrooms
• Show all the resources PhET has to offer
• Brainstorm ways of using PhET in your own personal class

In order to create this lesson, we used PhET, Google Slides, and Jamboard. Google Slides is used as a way of presenting information to the class about PhET and Jamboard is used for the class to easily collaborate digitally.

Google Slides:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/15Lh7QWTPK_xHM67IETKwwcU83nfVja_QhJ_B93mIcUs/edit?usp=sharing

See, Think, Wonder Jamboard:

https://jamboard.google.com/d/1NnEHhW4GhYNanB3sybJvK6Q3i4nciNr-cUOWj2VtTq8/edit?usp=sharing

Implementing PhET in the Classroom Jamboard:

https://jamboard.google.com/d/1IGLVNfyuJvmy8bpOIMy1Clm1NazIYMAcGrSDP_1N75A/edit?usp=sharing

Featured Image: Image by Theo Crazzolara from Pixabay

April 20, 2033

Dear former me,
It seems like only yesterday, I was at UP.  It was the spring term, 2023. 

So much has happened since then …

You had the most amazing and crazy first year out of college. Getting married, starting active duty, and getting deployed gave you a whole new perspective on life. The first year after UP gave you a lot of challenges but you were UP for them. You never forgot the resilience and determination that you had developed in your former days. You accepted challenges and let them mold you into the man that you are today.

The next few years were full of adventure. A new life in the Springs left all paths to be ventured. Skiing, biking, and golfing throughout, there was never a dull day. The day without kids in marriage were full of fun and spontaneity. Being a junior officer was keeping your life full, but enjoyable. There was never a day were you didn't have to work hard, but it was worth it. Developing your subordinates, educating them, and leaving a lasting impact on those you met in Army was all so worth it.

The last five years is where all the fun really happened. I wish I could tell you where you lived or how many kids you have or if you're still in the Army or a classroom, but those are joys that only you get to know. Whatever the answer to those questions are know that you never stopped enjoying the little moments in life and tried to leave a lasting impact on all that you interacted with. 

The past ten years have been more unpredictable than I could ever imagine, but I know you have enjoyed it. Here is to you and all that you've done.

Congrats, I wonder what your Space Jam was.

By Garrett Esponda

Self-Graded Quiz

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfJvqFdOvct0cLJ4eOJJKFkrIBtFCy4ERriJSZbCaIlonluFg/viewform?usp=sf_link

Branching Quiz

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScf5Ov-iS92Xkx9YmPnx7m-BS57VG7eBZ4gxXZa4y6DXvEr2Q/viewform?embedded=true

These google forms are so awesome! They can be used in so many ways. There is so many ways to differentiate material for students and allow them to work at their own pace. This also allows students to use their own technology to be able to develop their own skills. Furthermore, this could be used really well in sub plans. The directive and guidance able to be given in the forms is a very useful aspect to be able to connect with students even when the teacher cannot be there. I think that this is where I will use the tool most and it would be highly beneficial to develop students and monitor their learning while not able to be in the classroom.

By Garrett Esponda & Maddy Lopez

Click the image to get taken to our website!

This lesson would be used as an introductory lesson into trigonometry. The goal for this lesson is for students to be able to develop a sense of understanding of trigonometry while using different online tools to assist them.

I made an introductory book on elements and types of bonds for students. I used this book for students to be able to gain a general familiarity with these two topics and to be able to get a better visual understanding of them.

I liked using bookcreator because it was quick and easy. I experimented with a lot of different writing options, shapes, and media. Ultimately I found that it was a good way to be able to get across information for learners of diverse needs.

Direct link to book: https://read.bookcreator.com/FV74cbktZvT9AJj9Xt14JLDYNwp2/OrnfrbyZRYykXADatXrTkg

Featured image via Pixabay

Direct link to Sway presentation: https://sway.office.com/VqDynPwMU7kz2ufw?ref=Link

---

I am from a Small Big Town

I am from a small big town that’s be transformed by years of transition

A place where the nature and beauty hasn’t been yet lost

I am from an environment where the trees represent the people

Strong, resilient, one of a kind

I am from somewhere where I find peace and inspiration in the nature

The awe and power of my surroundings motivate me

I am from a place where the sea meets the land

A land where polar opposites learn to live together 

I am from the deepest of waters

Not made timid by the possibilities of what can be

I am from the brightest of colors

Where the background of myself is bright

I am from the biggest of stages

On which people come together to bond

I am from the brightest of lights

Where the brightness of friendship shines together

I am from Petaluma, Ca

The smallest big town in the northern heart of the bay

I chose to use sway. I really appreciated how simple this website was to be able to tell a story and connect it with images. I think that this resource provides a lot of opportunities to be able to tell stories in their classes. I ultimately chose it due to it being very user friendly and straightforward.

Targeted Students – This lesson could be used for middle or high school students who are studying United States History.

Instructions

Choose three of these locations to learn more about! Use the historical landmarks to help guide your research. Make a compare and contrast bubble chart of all three of the civil war battles to be able to highlight the similarities and differences. Use the map as background information on how where these battles have taken place influence their impact on the war.

Goal

The goal for this lesson is for students to get a better understanding of the major civil war battles and how their locations impacted their final outcomes. This map works towards the goal because it helps giving the students understand how these locations changed their impact of the war.

There are many potential implications for AI to be used

As the development of AI rapidly progresses, there are many applications that could be used for future teachers. Ever struggling to think of quality multiple choice questions? Enter chatGPT being told to “Make me a multiple choice test on molar mass for high school students” and you get…

The great thing about this for teachers is that it can provide a framework for question ideas or prompts. These questions can be used to make study materials on websites like Kahoot! or Quizlet. If a teacher is feeling up for more chatGPT prompted materials, they can develop whole lesson plans/ideas. By prompting chatGPT with “Write me lesson plans for stoichiometry in chemistry. Using science standards from the state of Oregon”, I was provided the following:

These lesson plans provide ideas for teachers to be able to build on to deliver quality instruction to students. Ideas for lesson plans can be helpful due to their ability to generate new ideas for teachers. However, we know how teaching has much more to do with developing relationships with students than it does have to do with making lesson plans and creating tests. Here come chatGPT, yet again, to the rescue. When asked “How to console struggling students as a high school teacher”, chatGPT responded with:

To my surprise, chatGPT offered pretty helpful advice. This advice can be useful for teachers to ground themselves and provide perspective to be able to be the most effective educators to our students. To many students surprise, teachers are not robots like chatGPT is.

AI generated responses can be a great resource for teachers to help them develop materials, prepare for their classes, or grow in toolkit skills for student interaction. However, all of these things require, dedication, effort, and consistency. AI can help teachers find water, but it cannot make them drink. There is exponential opportunities provided by the help of opensource AI, but it requires professional stewardship and honest work to be able to derive all from it.

This assignment is targeted to a high school world history class. The purpose of this assignment is for students to cultivate ideas about geography and generate discussion among the students.

Student Instructions – Take 10 minutes to view the images and create compare and contrast chart. Once the time is up, discuss your chart and the questions attached to the pictures with your group mates.

Remember to think about…

What is not shown in these pictures that could give us more perspective? What similarities and differences can we see? How could geography play into these farming methods?

Pixabay / Pixabay / Pixabay / Pixabay

Remember to think about…

How could these houses represent or misrepresent the type of geographical location they are in? What perspective do these zoomed out perspectives of the houses give you? How do these images compare to each other? What do these similarities and differences tell us?