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Author Archives: marcreif
The First Day of School: Marshmallows and Spaghetti
I have used this as a first-day activity for several years. Students walk in, and sit in groups of three or four assigned for them. The groups are given a large marshmallow, 20 sticks of spaghetti, about a meter of masking … Continue reading
Posted in about teaching and learning, Modeling., Uncategorized
Tagged modeling instruction, physics, teaching
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TESS has no meat on her bones
There are structural and cultural problems with the Arkansas Department of Education’s newish Teacher Excellence and Support System (TESS), the system by which teachers are evaluated. TESS is not really going to change anything. TESS is based on Charlotte Danielson’s “The … Continue reading
What should a kid get out of high school science?
Some friends asked me this question recently, and I gave a bad answer. In my bad answer I said something like “They should know some things. Some big ideas.” And I listed a few that came to mind, like conservation of … Continue reading
Posted in about teaching and learning, Uncategorized
Tagged Arkansas, modeling instruction, Science Education
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Good Intentions
The Board of Education of the state of Arkansas has recently released the descriptions of the new Next Generation Science Standards-inspired courses for high school, debuting 2017-2018: Proposed High School Science Courses. There are a lot of things to like in this plan. … Continue reading
Using Tasks Inspired by Physics Education Research
Below are my thoughts on the Tasks Inspired by Physics Education Research (TIPERS). These are really excellent tools to promote discussion in your physics class, no matter what the level. I strongly recommend buying one or more of these books. By … Continue reading
Posted in about teaching and learning, AP Physics 1 and 2, Uncategorized
Tagged AP Physics 1, AP Physics 2, PER, teaching, TIPERs
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Standards-Based Quizzing
This year in AP Physics 1 I’ve made a step towards Standards-Based Grading. I know I am several years behind the curve on this, but I am glad that I finally decided to make it happen. The slower pace of … Continue reading
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Bare wires
In the last couple of years, I have made good use of the “bare wire” lab for electric potential difference. I first learned a version of this lab in the Modeling curriculum for electricity and magnetism. In this activity, students … Continue reading
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SBG Homework only?
Tell me this is stupid. I haven’t found the time to implement Standards-Based Grading in my classes, even though I went to a great session on it at AAPT Summer Meeting in Portland in 2013. So, over the break I … Continue reading
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Forces
In the last few years, I have started the force unit off with demos, seat experiments, discussions, and conceptual questions. This year I decided to make a summary page for some of the activities we have done. They are first … Continue reading
Modeling Terminology
In teaching modeling physics, there is some terminology that is used that I have found confusing. For instance, we (modeling teachers and authors of “Teacher’s Notes” in the modeling materials) talk about the paradigms. The paradigm is a real thing … Continue reading
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Tagged modeling instruction, modeling method, physics, teaching
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marcreif
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