challenged

Today I really got challenged on the depth of my physics knowledge. I met with our excellent Junior class council from SNU and one of the students is taking General Physics. He had some homework and asked if I had a chance to help him with one of the problems.

I said, "Of course! I've always got time to do some physics!"

We sit down at the table (as I'm thinking, "great, this is second semester stuff and I don't teach this in my class" as I realize its Simple Harmonic Motion.

I think to myself, "Okay, I think I can do this" and suddenly come to the realization that I cannot. Now if you know me, I'm not one to walk away from a challenge, I just need some time. You know, I've been put on the spot. I wasn't in a "physics state of mind".

Student leaves for class, not physics, but a class he needs to be in since @mishelleyb is the teacher of this one and I can't, in good conscience, ask him to skip her class simply because I am not fast enough on the draw with my physics knowledge. After his exit, I resume my study of the problem. Just before he left, we started to look at it from a energy standpoint. This was definitely the way to go! Why, why, why do I not always think in terms of Energy?

I must admit, I got a little flustered initially. I mean how ridiculous is it when a student asks you for help on the subject you teach and you can't deliver?!? Oh well, after some careful thought I was able to come up with the correct solution. Any .

Throughout this situation, I had to remind myself. Take your time, be patient, always draw a diagram, and don't freak out when you get put on the spot! Sure, I'm rusty on SHM, but I will be teaching this again in the next couple of months so don't stress... there's still plenty of time to study!

Reflection 27 January 2010

In my reflective writing class, we always start with 10 minutes of writing. Tonight, I am writing here. I'm thinking about this class and how very different it has been from the second module of this program. I won't say it's been better, but it certainly hasn't been worse either. Its just been, well, different!

In one way, the relaxed atmosphere has been especially good. But this has also played against me, as well. The relaxed atmosphere has not really motivated me to put my heart and soul into what has been required, i.e. reflective writing. In fact, you will notice that my posts here have been much shorter, more rare, and in general not the quality (IMHO) of my previous writing. Maybe its because I am being asked to write at a level which doesn't work very well with my lack of self confidence.

I'll shift gears...I read the resulting IEP forms from a students conference this morning today during my plan. I was struck that it said "still struggles with self-confidence issues". This seemed strange to me, given who the student was and his level of intelligence. He is on an IEP because of OHRI (other health related issues) so its a physical malady, not any sort of learning disability. I thought, this guy? Self-confidence? But he has so much going for him! He's a bright kid who comes from a good family and gets more family support than many of my kids put together. I guess it goes to show that self-confidence problems stem from many different areas. You can't just look at someone and determine what they are feeling on the inside.

I can relate with this student. I have so much going for me. I am blessed with an amazing family. I have a fantastic job, working with the most amazing students in the school. I have two children who are absolutely fantastic kids. They are the kind of students, the kind of kids who you are always proud to say "that's my child". They have a way of making me look good. Now bear in mind, I take NONE of the credit for who my kids are. I have tried to do that in the past, but its just not an appropriate thing for me to do. I think its pretty easy to look good as a parent when your kids are already amazing before you even get to do anything with them. My wife is such an outstanding woman. Little did I know, 19 years ago, what kind of amazing life I was going to share with this woman. She is the type of person who makes you want to be a better person. She literally brings out the best in me. I certainly do not deserve to spend my life with this person but that's the great thing about love, you don't always get what you deserve, nor do you always deserve what you get.

So, here's the reflective part: what in the world do I have to be "unconfident" about? Honestly, I can say: "nothing". I'll end this with some questions: "what is it about me that makes me feel unnerved when people speak well of me or place their confidence in me?"  The reason I ask this is that in this class, we have to talk about accomplishments. Do you know how hard that is when you don't think you have any?

An open letter to myself in 25 years (part 1)

Dear self,

How are things? I hope we are still teaching. There are many things that have changed by this time, such as the address of this blog, your flying car, and the amazing grandchildren we probably have now. I'm sure we are still a million dollars short of making a million dollars, but at least we still love the movie "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles"!

Remember how back in the day you used to get aggravated about "veteran teachers" complained all the time about how the kids have changed and how technology is too pervasive in the classroom and how they don't know how many more years they can take this? Are you there yet? Have you lost your will to change with the times? Are you burned out? Do you think you are having a positive influence on your peers? Are you discouraged or encouraged by the current state of affairs?

How about your classes? Are they still challenging you? Or have you fallen into the "rut" of doing the same things year after year? Do you still reflect on what you are doing in class? Do you still try to make class relevant to your students? Remember how frustrated you used to get over the batteries on the laptops we used in class? Have they fixed any of that? Surely every student has their own laptop now!

My hope for you is that you are still as passionate about Physics in your "now" as we were back in this "now". If you are ever able to do anything with time travel, I'd surely appreciate a visit from you.

remembering the fall of 2009

Today is the last day of the semester for the Fall of 2009. In the spirit of Reflective Writing (my current graduate class), I am going to attempt to write in the suggested writing style of the National Board Certification about this past 19 weeks or so (with my personal writing style mixed in). Mind you, this is only the first step of the reflective writing process; its the one in which you remember the situations, writing whatever comes to mind, but always returning to "I remember". The second step is learning and discovery. The third step is setting your intentions.

Lets start with the family, shall we? This semester I remember taking Jessica to get her driving test done. We stood outside the Oklahoma DMV from about 5 a.m., until they open the doors and give out numbers at 7 a.m., in the nastiest, coldest rain (for August), trying to stay warm. I remember feeling like I built a better relationship with JC over this semester and really being able to talk about my expectations of him without him feeling like I was criticizing him. I remember building a closer relationship with Mishelleyb and being amazed that she could love me and put up with me for 19 years.

Physics during the fall of 2009 will be remembered as an average class. There aren't really any stand out moments I can remember vividly. I will remember several of the students as insightful, bright learners who have a desire to understand the World in which they live. I remember a student who hacked a computer, thinking it would be funny to add an additional password to the login process. I remember a couple of students who have more than 15 tardies in class. This should come as no surprise to many of you, since I teach high school and this is first block.  I remember having a Navy Nuclear Physics instructor come to my class and talk about Nuclear Physics with my students. I remember that the students were engaged and interested in what he had to say. I recall this semester's wiki project as one the students didn't really "buy into".

My Pre-AP class for the fall of 2009 a memorable semester. If you read this blog, you'll remember this post. Its the retelling of a great story (which consequently drove a LOT of traffic to my blog) in which I was doing a physics demonstration and had an accident, which sent me to the Emergency Room. I bet no student will forget THAT class! I remember there being several student in that class who are extremely smart. I have had a sibling or two of theirs in my classes already and the parents of those families are doing something right. I remember having a Particle Physics researcher come in to speak to that class. I think the kids were interested in what was being said even if they didn't totally understand it all. The researcher spoke at the level of about a 3rd year college class and she has a pretty thick Russian accent.

I remember fall 2009 as a semester in which I taught Earth Science for the first time. It was a time of heavy collaboration with another teacher; one who had also never taught Earth Science. It seems to me that we muddled along for the first 9 weeks but really hit our stride after fall break. We got things organized and began to collaborate using GoogleDocs and Google Calendar (take that PC Library Media!) I remember thinking "if we could get the whole school to share a calendar and documents, wow! How much more effective could we be?

I remember this semester as the one in which our school took a step BACK in technology. We (the corporate we, not me) decided it would be advantageous to go back to a handwritten calendar book when scheduling computer labs in the school instead of continuing the use of Google Calendar as a viable way to do scheduling. (grrr...) I remember being very disappointed when I couldn't get a return email after an initial offer from Discover Magazine to begin hosting my blog in their new Science Education part of their website. I remember telling myself I wouldn't get my hopes up, but I remember (more vividly) when my hopes were dashed on the rocks of a very steep cliff. I remember thinking to myself "why am I writing this blog, anyway?" I remember this being the semester that I felt like I began to get my feet underneath me as far as teaching goes. I also remember starting my Master's and that totally erasing the "feet under me" feeling, since now I have much less time to plan for class. I remember this semester being one in which I was finally able to begin getting to work at a time in which I am comfortable. This is due wholly on the fact that my oldest child drives herself and her brother to school, so I can pretty much get here when the doors open (which is around 0645). I recall this semester being particularly difficult, given the fact that I chose to procrastinate on what may be the most difficult class of my Master's program. This made the rest of the semester extremely stressful, especially because I recognize I was the cause of all of that stress.

Enough! Enough of the negative! I remember this being the time in my life when I was able to purchase a motorcycle. This was made especially delightful given the fact that I was able to do it without incurring any debt. I remember riding out to Arcadia (to Pop's) and enjoying every minute of it (the numbness of my buttocks notwithstanding)! I remember taking the long way to school in the mornings just so I could ride for 5 extra minutes. I remember freezing my unmentionables on a few upper 20 degree mornings but taking the long way anyway!

Overall, I remember the fall of 2009 being a pleasant time in my life. I'm certainly thankful for that.

getting back in the grove

Its been quite difficult so far this week to get back into the grove. This should be evidenced by the fact that I am blogging during class. Fortunately, I made it easy on myself by having my students work on presentations this week. They are reviewing themselves for the final by creating presentations that cover the main topics we have worked on this 9 weeks. It was designed to be a self made review. As I write this, I am watching students and some of them are on task, while others are not. I wonder what I can do to get more of them engaged? I think this is one of those projects that students either buy into, or don't; its very much like the wiki. Maybe I haven't done a good job of selling this so students are vested? I'm not sure, but I will definitely be changing this in the future. I like the concept, I like the process, I do NOT like the product so far. I guess I should wait until I see the results (the presentations) before I pass judgment. We'll see.

In other news, I'm already a little behind on my graduate homework. Not a very auspicious beginning to the New Year. I'm not sure I like the tone it is setting for the rest of the year.

I have to give a verbal "book report" tomorrow night. How long has it been since you've done that? Its been a while for me for sure! I had to choose at least one book I have read for education and then I am encouraged to choose one I read for pleasure. Its difficult to differentiate between the two since technically they were both read for pleasure. I chose "The Scientists" by John Gribbin, which is a history of science as told through the eyes of the people who made it all happen, and "First You Build a Cloud" by K.C. Cole, which is a brief introduction to Physics as a science and a way of life. Both books are excellent very well written and could be read for either purpose, although each purpose is intertwined as far as I am concerned (at least at this point in my life). I plan to read a short excerpt from each to illustrate how they are both written in an interesting and very readable style. I hope everyone else will be able to see how much I enjoy both of them!

I am learning how therapeutic blogging is for me. Even the act of sitting down and writing this is helpful to me and helps my mood about my classes. I'm sure at some point I'll get into a groove of blogging and it will be easier for me to go back and look at how I've grown and changed over the years. O

n a side note, last year was the year of gray hair, it looks like this year is going to be the year of vision changes, there will be no more making fun of my mother-in-law when she holds something five feet from her face to read it!

closure

I think its time for some closure on Educational Research. Through talking to several people, I have drawn the conclusion that Ed. Research is one of the most stressful classes in the program. Well good. At least it's over. In the words of another professor, "let the stress ooze out of your fingertips, use the words "I" and "me" freely". It looks like the tone of the current writing class is going to be much more conversational, so I thought it would be appropriate to have a (probably one-way) conversation about Research. Let's finalize that and get back to the casual style of writing with which we are more comfortable, shall we?

I think I'll just post the summaries sent to me by my colleagues about their presentations in a nice numbered list with my comments following:

1. "My paper was about pacing calendars.  Teachers and administrators are in agreement that they want pacing calendars but would like them to be flexible documents that allow teachers to do what is best for their students yet gives them direction in accomplishing all the state standards before the testing window in April. ~R.G." This presentation had a great opening, in which she took many large books and dropped them on the table and reminded us what it was like to be a new, overwhelmed teacher.


2. "Title:  The ADD Learner The research took a closer look at children with ADD and the challenges each faces when trying to learn and survive in the educational environment. The study looked at people who are affected by ADD and how parents, teachers and family can have a huge impact on the success or failure of the person with ADD. ~T.B."  I learned so much from this one! There are so many issues that students with ADD deal with each day. Many of the symptoms were unknown to me previous to this class. Hopefully, I'll be able to recognize them now and offer some assistance.


3. 
   
   "Student Nutrition or a lack of it is a large part of our Discipline problems.  Google the Healthy Schools Program and read a little.  The schools that have done a whole school concept have been extremely successful. How much better could our schools be if our Professional Development was on Nutrition and Fitness and the teachers, staff and students share this together with parent education.  I would rather spend time teaching than dealing with the behavior problems we are dealing with now. ~S.T." This one took a really hard look at the nutrition programs of our schools and made me re-think some of the choice I make in my own life. I also loved the "fake food" that looked exceptionally real


4. 
   
   "Homework in Elementary Schools -- While the current research CLEARLY states that there is no academic benefit to giving elementary students homework, EVERY teacher interviewed uses it regularly. Conclusion: teachers assign homework out of tradition and not based on available research. ~K.R." Even though this one was specifically about elementary school, I did a lot of soul searching about homework in my own classroom. I wondered, WHY do I give homework? Is it necessary? Is there a correlation in my class between student achievement and homework? Interesting!


5. 
   
   "Mine was Cell Phones in School. Basically, it was looking at the pros and cons of using cell phones at school. I also looked at using cell phones for technology use in the classroom. ~K.B." If you've read this blog for very long you know exactly how I feel about this one! I embrace technology integration, especially cellphones. Its the one piece of technology that nearly 100% of students have, even if they have no internet access, they have a phone.


6. "All things are difficult before they become easy."- Thomas Fuller "This quote best describes English language learners and writing skills. With a variety of effective teaching methods available it all comes down to each individual English language learner, meaningful experiences, and daily writing practices. ~R.J." I really had to take a hard look at the way in which I deal with ELL and ESL students in my class. I constantly wonder, am I being too easy on them? Am I using skills which will enable them to be more successful? Or am I JUST enabling?


7. "The topic of my presentation was the motivation of Pre-Advanced Placement Students.  Here's a run down of what I found the most important to me:
   1) Students can't achieve without motivation.  Doesn't happen.
   2) Giftedness isn't just genetics, so you can gain it or lose it based on your environment.
   3) It's not about stopping apathy, but correcting the state prior to apathy.
   4) The three main sources of motivation identified by the students were parents, college, and accomplishment.
   5)  The three main sources of apathy identified by the students were not understanding, when hard work doesn't pay off, and low grades. (Remember they're perfectionists...)
   My favorite quote due to its percise truth: "I've been taught that if you work hard, it will happen."  We teach this to our kids all the time, but do we really teach them what to do if it doesn't? ~S.A." Yikes. What do we do when students work hard and they don't get all they had hoped for? Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. I've used those words in conversation many times since hearing this presentation. Thanks for good information. I'm rethinking how I treat my honors and non-honors kids.


8. "What Teacher strategies helped you learn Spanish Fast. Students were interviewed to find the most effective strategies that helped them learn the language fast. They were Span. III students. The most repetive pattern was repetion and a descriptive teacher. ~Z.B." This one had the best video, made by students, I had seen in quite some time. Really enjoyed seeing the fruits of a caring teacher's labor.

All of the presentations, even the ones not listed here, were top notch. I am in a class with some really high achievers. That really puts the pressure on my to be on my game. Thanks to all of you who responded with summaries. And to those of you who weren't able to, thanks also! This class and the people contained in it have already made a tremendous impact on me, both personally and professionally. I'm looking forward to growing both as a colleague and as an instructor. Keep up the good work guys!

As always, thanks for reading.

I am

an accomplished teacher because: I care about my students (Core Prop 3). I have developed relationships with students. Students come and ask me for my opinion about life issues. I was a finalist for teacher of the year which leads me to believe my peers feel I am an accomplished teacher (Core Prop 5). I have a difficult time promoting myself. I have difficulty giving myself compliments because there are probably some self image issues that I have unresolved for whatever reason (Core Prop 4). My students come to me for help with things like participating in a holiday assembly (as the teacher who tweets), to proctor military physical entrance tests (as the timer, not as a co-runner), and to talk about which college they should attend. I don't think I am the only teacher with whom students have this type of relationship (Core Prop 5). However, when I began teaching, I remember wanting to teach because my wife was someone who had this type of relationship with students and I wanted to be an influence (Core Prop 1)  on students in the same way she was.  My mantra of teaching is "to build and maintain good relationships with students and be a positive influence in their lives (Core Prop 2)." I am an accomplished teacher because I am doing that. I set out with a purpose and I am succeeding at achieving that goal.

This writing is being done in class as part of a graduate-level Reflective Writing class designed to help me learn to write for the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards certification. The writing prompt was: I am an accomplished teacher because... I also had to go back and see which of the NBPTS Core Propositions we wrote to without even knowing what they were.