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Why Another Teacher Blog?
Why Another Teacher Blog?
This website serves two primary purposes: a place to organize my curriculum that is split between a growing number of folders in Google drive, and a way in which I can pay it forward to other teachers by sharing my materials and expertise.
This 1st blog post is for the new Physics teachers, those looking for ideas and inspiration, and simply a repository of resources that I have collected over the years.
What is the Best Resource for Teaching Physics?
What is the Best Resource for Teaching Physics?
Easy answer, the amazing physics teaching community! As a teacher you’re told not to reinvent the wheel, but that’s a difficult prospect if there’s no car to drive in the first place. Through this community I have gathered ideas, lessons, PowerPoints, worksheets, activities, guided notes, tutoring, thought-provoking questions, and a general sense of support and welcome-ness.
This eclectic, experienced, unbiased community can be accessed in multiple forms. I can only share my own experiences and interactions so this is far from an exhaustive list.
Starting From Scratch? Check out these Teachers ⇩
Starting From Scratch? Check out these Teachers ⇩
Joe Cosette
Joe Cosette
This Minnesota Teacher offers free fully organized IB Physics Powerpoint lessons that are EDITABLE, Consistent stream of innovative activities with included resources and lesson plans, and a true passion for physics.
Twitter: @cossettej
Website: passionatelycurioussci.weebly.com
Jon Thomas-Palmer (Flipping Physics)
Jon Thomas-Palmer (Flipping Physics)
This Michigan Teacher legend has utulized YouTube and filmmaking to develop engaging and digestible physics videos organized by topic.
Even better, each video is accompanied by learning guides to allow students to effectively process the concepts. All these resources are free but you can sign up as a Patreon member to support the channel!
Twitter: @FlippingPhysics
Website: FlippingPhysics.com
YouTube: Flipping Physics
Linda Detwiler
Linda Detwiler
Specifically for AP Physics 1 (She may have it for other courses) Linda has put together a detailed Year-At-A-Glance which includes everything you need to plan out your year or to simply pull resources from.
Linda is a prominent and active member of many teacher Facebook groups including "National AP Physics Teachers" which is a great place to connect with her or to seek support from the community of teachers found there (more on that below).
Linda is also a part of PIVOT Interactives, a valuable teaching and lab program (more on that below as well) and she has her own blog on its website.
Resource: AP Physics 1 Year-At-A-Glance
Twitter: @LindaDetwiler13
Matt Trask
Matt Trask
Matt Trask has an amazing collection of guided notes packages for entire units, as well as quiz questions and even some assessments.
On his website you'll find resources for Physics Year 1, Physics Year 2, AP Physics 1, AP Physics 2, and Chemistry. His resources are great for modeling instruction, using as review, or even to flip your classroom.
Website: Mr. Trask's Physics
Twitter: @TraskMatt
Dean Baird
Dean Baird
A Very active, and accomplished physics teacher, Dean Baird packages his experience and expertise into his blog that includes free full curriculum guides, labs, reference materials, and worksheets.
Dean also produces fully fleshed out, rigorous, EDITABLE, and exhaustive full unit packages that can be purchased through Teacher Pay Teachers (TPT).
As a new teacher I spent far too much money grabbing a quick resource here and there on TPT often finding a lot of junk. My encouragement to new teachers is if you ARE going to use TPT, ask around and find a solid full curriculum, then ask your school or district if they would be willing to purchase it. Don't spend your own money!
Blog: Phyz.org
TPT Store: The Lessons of Phyz
Twitter: @Phyzman
More Resources
More Resources
My goal with each blog post is to keep information brief and resources easy to find and access. With that in mind I will break up my different tips into future blog posts:
Blog Post #3 - Who Can I Turn to For Physics Help?
Textbooks?
Textbooks?
It may feel strange to include a section on textbooks at the very bottom of a post about getting started with Physics Curriculum. The fact-of-the-matter is if you are in a district that bases its curriculum on a textbook model then either you are already provided with one, or will need to conduct research into a textbook/program that fits your school and/or districts needs. That is far from my area of expertise as I only use textbooks as a reference guide and largely just for my AP students.
With that being said here are some textbook resources that may be useful:
Fully online and free. Relatively traditional textbook structure with all the topics and content you would expect out of a print copy. You don't need an account to access or get started so its a great resource to either assign to students as a whole or simply pull out specific sections.
Fully online and free. Basically same premise as Openstax but written more at a lower-reading level so more appropriate for non-AP/Honors courses. Can also find some of the pages in Spanish!
Traditional Textbooks
Traditional Textbooks
Physics for Scientists and Engineers (Author: Randall Knight) - I primarily use this to pull AP style questions out of for student practice.
Physics: Principles with Applications (Author: Douglas Giancoli) - Want to know physics? Read this cover to cover.
Cartoon Guide to Physics (Author: Gonick & Huffman) - Want to learn or share the basic concepts of physics phenomena with helpful illustrations? Here's your guide.
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