A Private Physics Tutoring and Teacher Training Service
My extensive training in Physics has given me an understanding of, and between, basic Physics principles that is better than most.
As part of research during my teacher training, I became fascinated with what was called Expert Learning, where students are taught to approach a topic as an expert might. Being an expert, I metacognitively developed an approach to each topic in Physics, adjusting the methodology based on how my students responded, and more recently, how student teachers that I hosted from George Washington University’s GWTeach program responded as they took control of my classes as part of their teaching training.
Over the years, I have distilled it down to a single procedure, one for each of the base topics of algebra based Physics (kinematics, forces, momentum, and energy). This procedure will enable a student to approach and solve just about any problem that might be seen.
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I was a practicing Physicist for a number of years, and then afterwards teaching for many years, finally retiring in 2023. Ever since I started to teach professionally, I have been striving to make the beauty and logical consistency of Physics accesible to my students.
Students are familiar with the concepts of Physics, as they have literally been experiencing them, and experimenting with them, since the day they were born. They have all jumped off steps, been on bikes and swings, jumped out of planes (vicariously at least). So I have found that they can understand the science. Many, however, struggle putting it together for more difficult problems, and especially with the math. They are often unsure of how to start, or get stuck along the way. But they almost always are able to proceed if they were simply verbablly directed toward the next step.
The procedures that I have developed is based on these interactions with my students, and more recently with student teachers that I hosted from George Washington University’s GWTeach program as they took control of my classes as part of their teacher training.
The procedures have been distilled down to the essence of how a professional physicist would approach a real problem: make a sketch; write down the base equation; put the known information into that equation; and then solve the resulting equation. For a complicated problem, this process may have to be repeated resulting in simultaneous equations.
Each of these four procedures are specific to the four basic Physics topics, but general enough that they can be applied under any circumstances.
My products are not meant as parts of a complete course out of the box, containing notes and quizzes and tests that the gym teacher can use to teach Physics. Don’t fool yourself – that never ends well.
Rather they are meant as a tool for teachers to create their own resources. I have been a participant in many summer workshops for IB and AP teachers, and a member of several Physics forums. These experiences have demonstrated to me that there is an enormous number of Physics teachers who, through no fault of their own, have not had the requisite training for the positions in which they find themselves. A Biology teacher told to teach AP Physics C, for instance.
These products are not meant to teach a teacher Physics. Rather, they are meant to take what you already know, and make it more consistent and rigorous. Each procedure is logically developed and explained with numerous detailed examples meant for teachers, and many more examples for classroom use.
What I promise is that you will acquire the power to create your own resources for use with your own students going forward. What I promise is that they can make you a more effective Physics teacher. If you have any questions or comments please click the Contact button and complete the form. I will responds as quickly as I can.
My products are hosted on the website Teachers Pay Teachers (TPT) for preview and for purchase.
You can download the pdf my full 1-D Kinematic Unit as an example of what the full course content will be like. The link to download is below.
Any updates to my products will be pushed out to you automatically even after purchase. Updates may come from because of furture AP or IB curriculum updates, from suggestions from users like you, or because of additional activites or questions that I come across. Like me, BrighterPhysics products just get better over time!
This free download provides a pdf of the Powerpoint portion of the unit. If purchased through TPT, the Powerpoint presentation (pptx) including all the student forward worksheet blanks and solutions found in the Powerpoint will be provided in WORD and pdf formats so that they can be customized for your classroom and purposes.
The Powerpoint presentation is meant as professional development for teachers, but can be modified into an approprioate and powerful presentation for your students in your classroom.
If you have any questions or comments please go to Contact and complete the contact form. I will responds as quickly as I can.
TERMS OF USE:
For a short sample of my work, you can download a presentation on Free Body Diagrams to AP teachers in June of 2024. Common inconsistencies made by the AP, by Khan Academy, and unfortunately by too many Physics teachers, are highlighted. A Free Body Diagram, correctly drawn, uniquely defines the system. Newton’s Law (as in this presentation), Impulse-Momentum Theorem, and Work-Energy Theorem can then be applied in an unabiguous way leading to a better understanding of the Physics involved.
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For whatever reasons, issues with the definitions surrounding different types of collisions have arisen. To avoid confusion, we must all adhere to the accepted definitions. At the level of high school and introductory college level, Physics is not as complicated as people tend to think. There are strong unifying concepts that pervades all of Physics and allows for a small set of consistent definitions and concepts. The standard definitions are presented here and connected directly to these underlying concepts.
TERMS OF USE:
This is a presentation to AP teachers at the June 2026 AP Physics grading in Tampa. Using an modified example from the 2021 AP Physics 1 test, it demonstrates in a symbolic way how a solution can be constructed approaching the given problem methodologically without regard to the actual question itself – just based on what is presented and what can be done using kinematics, forces, momentum, and energy principles.
TERMS OF USE:
You can download free versions of my AP Physics 1 products here.
These free downloads provide a pdf of the Powerpoint portion of the unit, minus student solutions. If purchased through TPT, the Powerpoint presentation (pptx) including all the student forward worksheet blanks and solutions found in the Powerpoint will be provided in WORD and pdf formats so that they can be customized for your own classroom and purposes.
My products are hosted on the website Teachers Pay Teachers (TPT) for preview and for purchase.
Any updates to my products will be pushed out to you automatically even after purchase. Updates may come from because of furture AP or IB curriculum updates, from suggestions from users like you, or because of additional activites or questions that I come across.
If you have any questions or comments please go to Contact and complete the contact form. I will responds as quickly as I can.
TERMS OF USE:
Please use the form at right to contact me. I will respond as promptly as possible.
For tutoring, please let me know the course type and your needs.
For teacher resource information, please be specific in your need.
