blog blocker

So today for some reason, WebSense was blocking our blogging. Eventually we figured out that if you go to some other site, like games.com, and type in the websense password, then you can access blogs for a while. But it sure seemed more aggressive in blocking us out today than it did yesterday. Maybe because Chuck was in the building.
One concern: If we have kids writing blogs, will they get blocked like we have been? We can't give them the password, so what then? If we do this with classes, we better figure that out first.

Ideas for using blogs in class

1. In AP Chemistry, students write lab reports. Maybe instead of having them all write the same thing, I'd have them create a blog, wiki, or Google Site about their research.
2. In Honors Chemistry, we study organic chemistry. This unit involves a small amount of actual content about organic chemistry and a large amount of practice in naming molecules--not really that important or interesting. Maybe I'll put in some sort of research project instead.
3. I coach the Knowledge Bowl and Quiz Bowl teams. I've always had the schedule online, but have only been able to keep up with posting results once. I'd like to create a blog to post results for students, parents, and whoever else. Maybe pictures too?
4. I take pictures at KB and QB events, but have never had a good way to share them. I'd like to use either Flickr or Picassa to make them available, and allow students to add pictures.

Error analysis

All measurements made in lab involve systematic error. Analyzing this error in quantitative investigations is an important part of understanding the relationships between the data and the calculated result. In this project, you will conduct an experiment and determine the sources of systematic error. You will determine the effect of each source of systematic error on the data that is collected, the effect of that data error on each step of the calculations, and finally the effect on the final calculated result. Each relationship will be explained along the way.