Teacher Resources

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 procedure 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 procedure has 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. 

This product is not meant as 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 it is 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.

This product is not meant to teach a teacher Physics. Rather, it is 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. If you have any questions or comments please click the Contact button and complete the form. I will responds as quickly as I can.

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.

AP Professional Development Presentation

12 June 2024

Click above to download your free copy