"Oh, I love seeing teachers outside of school. It's like seeing a dog walk on its hind legs." -- Janis, from Mean Girls
This page last updated August 20, 2008 7:34 PM
Resources for Parents
Thoughts on my courses
- Honors Physics: this course is intended for juniors who have completed biology and chemistry and have finished Algebra 2. Many student find themselves struggling for the first time in this course; many who have never sought help become regulars at our daily "Homework Parties" or on the Catlink forum, which is a kind of bulletin-board any student can read and post to. My most successful students listen well in class, participate actively in the online and outside-of-class support environment, demonstrate leadership in the lab, and work hard to get at the basic concepts the homework and exams are testing. Some students do better with a more traditional textbook than we require -- copies of Conceptual Physics by Paul Hewitt are available for loan at the Academic Support Center
- AP Physics C: many students consider this to be the "hardest" class they take at SI. It consists of two semester-long college-level courses, and most students take two AP exams in May. My most successful students play an active role in teaching others (Honors Physics students and other AP students at the "Homework Parties" at 5th period and after school in Room 313) and maintain a consistent work ethic through the year. The second semester is significantly more challenging than the first, so its is important that students remain engaged even when college acceptances are rolling in.
- AP Computer Science: this course is an introduction to computer programming -- it is the second year we've offered the course in its current form using the Java programming language. It is very important that students get plenty of solo programming time at home and that they ask their questions in class, on the forum in Catlinks, or during the after-school "homework party" in Room 313 (it's a physics classroom, but we plan to have laptops available).
Websites I Recommend
- Course curricula -- these give you a good idea of the goals of the course and the expectations of students
SI Science Department -- here you can find information about our department's mission, our curricula, and our recommendations for planning a healthy, engaging 4-year science sequence
Recommended Summer Internship & Other Programs -- if you are looking for something for your child to do in the summer that will increase their aptitude, interest, and/or preparedness in science
YouTube: SI Physics -- I try to update this regularly with interesting or fun videos that are physics-related. Please feel free to find any physics-related videos and add it to this group.- SI Focus on Learning Report -- this is really useful if you want to know more about our school as a whole and our challenges and successes
New Scientist magazine -- this is my favorite popular science magazine; I subscribe to several of their
RSS Feeds as well -- I particularly recommend the
Teenager feed 
Wikipedia: Physics
Books I Recommend
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"Doing School": How we are creating a generation of stressed-out, materialistic, and miseducated students by Denise Pope; this is a great book on some of the problems we are facing in teaching high-performing students - Stressed-out Girls: Helping them thrive in the Age of Pressure by Roni Cohen-Sandler -- the name speaks for itself
- Transforming Classroom Grading by Robert Marzano -- how to build a grading system that actually tells you something about how much students know and understand
- The People's Physics Book -- Three physicists (one was me) wrote this to provide a low-cost workbook students can really use (in concert with the associated web resources). Each year we update this book with better problems, better solutions, more web resources, etc. This year we are transitioning to using the workbook as a 'living' portfolio, containing everything the student works on in the course of the year.
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Conceptual Physics 9th Edition by Paul Hewitt / 8th / 7th -- this is a very easy-to-read, conceptual, gentle introduction to physics. Great for the struggling student or the interested parent. We have copies available for loan at the Academic Support Center - The Cartoon Guide to Physics -- surprisingly complete & topical - a very useful thing to have by your bedside table