Mo Physics Mo Problems

Learners in my classroom are very comfortable doing what they are assigned to do. They aim to complete the task at hand as defined by me. Many do not question the why of the learning because of an understanding that this is what it means to “do school”. When given an assignment, it is a task to completed. The learners in my classes are very compliant in that way. When given hands-on tasks that ask them to create a product, they are highly engaged. Some take the opportunity to unleash their creativity and go beyond the norm to own the process while the majority create within safer prescribed paths. I want to provide more opportunities for students to  own their choices on a daily basis in our classroom. For a few years now, I have been working with freedom of choice in forms of summative assessments in my classroom.  But, the day to day practice work in my class has really fallen into the compliant practice question mode. The practice work my students do has several faults t

My goal in the class is not only mastery of course outcomes.  I really want learners to find some connection to physics. When they hear the word physics, it won’t not something unattainable. It is directly connected to who they are. If I plan to help students make these connections, it is not enough for me to just learn my students names and faces. As the content expert, I bring something essential to the table. I know what physics is beyond a narrow or incomprehensible definition one might find online. Students on the other hand have topics they are passionate about.  If they are going to find a connection to physics, I can’t expect all learners to find that attraction on their own. I am the one who needs to show them that physics can be connected to their passions. I am the matchmaker between the student and physics. In all of my teaching career when first getting to know students, I basically looked at a their faces on the roster and their names and played a little game