When I completed my PDPP training in 1997, I was using overhead transparencies as if they were going out of style. \u00a0That about sums up my skills utilizing technology as I entered my new career! Substitute teaching for only two years, I fortunately landed into my former Physics teacher’s position at the high school at which I graduated from. Now, seventeen years later, I remain in the same classroom where I had been taught Science 8 and Physics 9-11. \u00a0Thankfully, I no longer use overheads!<\/p>\n
One of the reasons why I love my career choice is that I am never bored. \u00a0Even though, Physics 11 has not undergone any major revisions in the past two decades, I NEVER teach it the same way. \u00a0Different labs, different demonstrations, different field trips, different technologies, different assessments— there are countless ways to keep my job fresh and personally engaging. \u00a0Thinking back on my own high school years, I remember little to none of the content, which is why it is very important to me to produce opportunities within my classes that are attached to an emotional experience. \u00a0 Will my students remember Newton’s Three Laws twenty years in the future? \u00a0Probably not. \u00a0However, they will likely remember measuring their g-forces on the roller coaster at Playland and the excitement of their spaghetti bridge being destroyed in front of an audience.<\/p>\n