In refreshing the design of my 10th grade Physics course, one thing I have been attempting to do is find new ways to replace worksheets or problem sets with different sorts of activities, especially ones that promote more group work and discourse within groups. (See kinematics card sort, momentum card sort.) For my Balanced Forces… Read More Problem Solving Lab Stations for Balanced Forces
After my first card sort activity, I was eager to design more. Quick heads up—this card sort is VERY different from the kinematics one that I designed. Some Inspiration I had this tweet from Brian Frank in mind as I started to work on my revised packet for the Momentum Transfer Model. Leaning toward trying… Read More Multiple Representations of Momentum Transfer — The Card Sort
I’ve been making major updates and changes to my materials in the intro physics course this year. It is the first year we are teaching a yearlong physics class to everyone (10th graders) in my school as the result of a big curriculum redesign in science, and the first time back to teaching a course… Read More Stacks of Kinematics Curves as a Card Sort
One of the best things about my current school is that the students push me to rethink practices that I’ve taken for granted in the past. They even push me to rethink practices that I’ve put lots of effort and intention into developing, like my final exams. “Can we have a group test?” I’m in… Read More “Can we have a group test?” Alternative Assessments in Science Classes (Part 1)
I’m really excited to announce the AAPT High School Physics Teacher Camp 2016. The camp will be held on Sunday, July 17th (that’s the Sunday of the AAPT summer meeting) from 8 am – 5 pm at Rio Americano High School in Sacramento, CA. What is Physics Teacher Camp? The camp is a day-long interactive… Read More Physics Teacher Camp 2016
I don’t do lab reports. Maybe that’s a strange way to begin, here, but stick with me. I haven’t found lab reports to be useful assessment tools in the past. Instead, I have claimed that our work in the lab is too important to grade. It’s the basis of all of our knowledge. On the one… Read More Assessing Scientific Abilities
In my college summers, I was a camp counselor at a Girl Scout camp in Michigan. (Bear with me, this is going somewhere.) During my first summer, I loathed having to spend one night per week sleeping outside and tried to find any way out of it. During the staff training week the second summer,… Read More This Class is SO My Class
