Getting Ready for Day 1

After two weeks vacation visiting our three grandsons it is time to get prepared for the first day of school. Today i went to Home Depot to have whiteboards made and materials for stands and storage. Ron was a big help and their saw rig cuts them easily. It would be hard to beat the price at $2.79 per whiteboard (24" x 36")! I'm going to need to use a table saw to cut grooves in the whiteboard storage dolly. I couldn't cut grooves precisely enough with my cordless circular saw. That will have to wait until Friday.

In the meantime I am working on lesson plans.

I received good news about my ticket to the IT team. All student iPads will be undated to iOS6.1 to start the year. I hope to have them use free apps "data analysis", "Questimate!", "Ask3" and "my script calculator". AP Physics and Honors Physics will purchase "Sparkvue HD" ($9.99) and possibly "Vernier video physics"($4.99).

Our Pasco probes all work well with their Sparkvue HD app and the Airlink bluetooth devices. Each student can access the probe data on their iPads and put it to use. Next I need to check out the video analysis features with my laptop and iPad. I beginning to think that this is going to be the best year ever!

Modeling: Next Steps

Wow! I'm so glad I took the Modeling in Physics Workshop. I am convinced that this is absolutely the way to go, but how can I get everything in place in time for this year. I want to do this on two levels to start. All students at my school take Conceptual Physics in 10th grade. One section is an honors section for students already considering taking science electives in their junior and senior year.  I need to check overall math skills to see how to differentiate.

I also plan to incorporate white boarding to labs in the AP Physics B course. In 2014 when this AP course changes to AP Physics 1 & 2, I plan to model.

For now I'm taking two weeks to spend with our three grandsons ages 6, 4 and just 10 days. We're building some elastic launched gliders and other cool stuff.

When August comes it is time to prepare in earnest for modeling physics, middle school robotics and Science Olympiad. Our first teacher day is August 19th. I am so glad that our modeling class is planning to meet on September 28th. We can share how we are doing and get more advice from the experts, who have been doing this. This is another great thing about this course. We are not left solely to our own devices. To top it off we will also meet in December. That will be the time I begin to be concerned about post-mechanic curriculum. How do I teach it and which topics do I fit in or drop?

Making Work Work - Greg Swackhamer

This method of using energy bar graphs and energy flow diagrams is completely new to me. I like the idea of describing and representing energy in systems to put work into perspective. I can see how it can give broader understanding. I also have not seen the radiation gained by the system added to the first law of thermodynamics. I wonder if this would help teach thermodynamics in AP Physics B where I am looking for some improvement.

SOSC - I

Quick Before It Dries - Steve Adams

I've been laying awake in bed thinking about the new school year and how modeling will be applied in my physics classes. Getting off to the right start means communicating change from teacher led learning from day one!

I typically get to know the students by asking them to fill out a "How I Plan to Dominate the World" form to turn in. This year I think I will seat students in groups around tables from the start and have them discuss their plans with each other. Sharing with the entire class will be interspersed with syllabus details.

SOSC - I

Teaching Introductory Physics (3.24 Solving Problems) - Arons

Sample problems should:
1. Incude irrelevant information to prepare students for real world problems.
2. Require completely solving algebraically before making numerical substitutions to maximize learning.
3. Interpretation of numerical and algebraic solutions in words stating why they make sense.

SOSC - I

Teaching Introductory Physics / Linguistic Problems - Arons

I've got to watch what I say more closely. When describing forces on a body that are equal and in opposite direction, "cancel" is likely to communicate the obliteration or disappearance of the forces rather than that the effect is overcoming each other.

SOSC - I

A Modeling Method for HS Physics Instruction - Malcolm Wells, DH & GS

According to the article "the ultimate success of every teacher depends on opportunities to draw on the resources of the physics community." Thanks to DMAPT and AAPT memberships, connections through Twitter and the Blogosphere and now the Modeling in Physics workshop this has become an enriching reality for me. Thanks to all!