Sunday, September 20, 2009

Teachers Diary - Week 2

The world continues to be on the up and up for me with respect to teaching. My Physics Grade 11 students delved more firmly into Kinematics with a non-traditional ticker tape run where they determined their own acceleration. They then worked on a computer simulation program designed to reinforce the difference between position, velocity and acceleration (kids for the most part love computer simulation labs) and I have made a concerted effort to encourage the teachers in the department to make better use of such resources. The Gizmo site, Halliday and Resnick and PHET are all worth looking at. The week ended with a quiz and their teacher attempting the classic coin and feather free fall experiment.

The Grade 10 Students seemed to master a basic understanding of the law of reflections however they now need to extend their understanding by applying these principles to concave and convex mirrors. Next week will be the true test. I am also moving toward organizing a building project for them - the design of a kaleidoscope or a physics magic show (smoke and mirrors) are both being considered.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday Gavin.
-Heather Scholz

Anonymous said...

Am I weird that I think my gr. 11 physics teacher is maybe one of the coolest dudes I've ever met?

I admire this blog a lot, I really do. I have found my reading material for the next few days; how often do you stumble across a blogger so fascinating and educated that he not only blogs about subjects that make my head hurt (physics really is my bane) but also thinks Buffy the Vampire Slayer ( i freaking love Joss Whedon ) is one of the greatest TV shows ever made? NONE OF MY FRIENDS EVER BELIEVE ME WHEN I TELL THEM BUFFY IS A GREAT SHOW. And how it angers me everybody is flocking to that Twilight crap that glamorizes the vampire lore with a pretty dude who shines like a diamond in the sun. Yes sir, you made my goddamn day.

I'm looking forward to your future blog posts for sure!

P.S. How did you not like Inglourious Basterds? You are CRAZY for not liking this movie, which had some of the most finely directed scenes of any film this year (closest thing hes ever made to Pulp Fiction). But I'm happy you at least mentioned Christoph Waltz, who if does not win the Oscar for Supporting Actor or Lead, will truly mark the end of my relationship with that stupid award ceremony (i do favor Crash over Brokeback Mountain though).

NexusofThought said...

Thanks for both comments. Keep Well.