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The Sport of Physics

9/26/2014

 
Greetings physics athletes and parents,
The beginning of the school year is always a little unsettled. What is this class like? Who is in the class? How will you participate/engage in the class this year?

This year, your physics learning will involve more of yourself than you may have experienced in previous science classes. You will discover important content and learn how to apply them through practice, unlike other science classes where you are presented with the important content and instructed how to apply them.  I will coach you and guide you through structured inquiry activities and discussions and giving you coaching feedback on your skill of science investigation, science thinking and science discussion.

It is said, "Education is what others do to you. Learning is what you do to yourself."  In this class, you will spend most of your energy doing the "learning" side of this quote, and a little energy doing the "Education" side.  One implication of this quote is that you will be actively engaged in all activities, over the whole course. Another implication is that I will be coaching you on what you *do* in the class. I will be closely watching the "how" of your learning as much as the "what" of your learning.

How will this work out as we learn physics?
Our learning of each physics concept will progress through the following learning cycle: Engagement, Exploration, Explanation, Elaboration, and Evaluation. In each of these steps of the cycle, you will be working with your classmates to construct a mental, graphical and mathematical model that explains the concept. I will be carefully questioning, probing, providing feedback and resources, and evaluating your explanations.
By the end of the process, you will have built an understanding model that you will be able to confidently use to solve physics problems. I will coach you through your problem-solving application *while* you engage in it, not before. Like a coach with his athlete, I work with you as often as you need until you are confidently applying what you've learned.

Our approach to learning physics is commonly referred to as "Modeling Instruction". As you may understand from the above description, this is an active learning environment. You may still have the question, "how will I participate in this class this year?" I ask you to consider the following suggestions.  As a learner, you will benefit by:
- choosing to put forth effort in doing new things. The thinking and discussion and knowledge construction I ask you to do may involve ways of learning you have not done before.  You will benefit by pushing past the discomfort and try it.
- choosing to have confidence that you *will* learn. This learning cycle has been demonstrated to be effective in producing student learning with more than 20 years of research, practice and solidification. You will benefit by choosing to believe that you will learn about physcis and science regardless of any temporary feeling of confusion or "not getting it".  Those feelings will come and go. You, your classmates and I will work together to ensure your confusion will not stick around, but will be replaced by understanding.
- choosing to be a learner in everything you do. Unless you have already learned physics to a post-graduate level, you will inevitably face challenging learning situations in this class. You will benefit by choosing to learn from every challenging situation and choosing to learn from every learn from every feedback you get ("good" and "bad") while you exercise your learning.

I hope this description helps you have a better sense for what to expect and what is expected in this course this year.  If you have any questions or comments, please let me know.

Welcome to 2014-2015

9/12/2014

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Greetings Physics student and parent,
 
I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you to Physics 1 / Introductory Physics. My name is Christopher Dannug. I have been teaching physics and math for fourteen years at Troy High School. In the last three years, I have been training to coach physics learning in a more effective, more sustainable way. As you embark with us on this journey of learning physics, know that our learning will strengthen your success as a learner and allow you to understand physical phenomena more accurately. By the end of this course, you will gain understanding of physical concepts. Of equal importance, you will gain a working skill of science, a better mindset for learning, and preparation for the next step in your educational career.
 
We will learn physics from an “experiment first, concept second” approach this year. By this, I mean that you will be engaged in the scientific process as your path to building your understanding of the underlying concept.  This is a minds-on, hands-on way to learn.  This is an active way to learn, where you are expected to be actively thinking and participating rather than waiting for the “lecture and notes” to start.  I will coach you through your process of experimenting, making sense of data, and coming to scientific consensus with your peers. I will help you exercise your thinking and evaluation.
 
Physics is the study of interactions in our physical world. In this class, we will study interaction through experimentation and analysis.  In these first few weeks, we will learn and use the learning tools necessary for the rest of the course. With these tools, you will learn and apply tools of observation, scientific thinking, and discussion to build your personal understanding. By establishing an effective WAY to learn, we will give ourselves the opportunity to make the learning of physics content more quick, more understandable and more permanent.
 
I am excited to start this learning journey with you, and coach you through the learning process.  With my guidance and support, you will build your strong understanding of physical interactions that will last.
 
Remember, if you have not filled out the student survey, please complete it by next wednesday at the following link: http://goo.gl/i2ia35
 
If you have any questions or comments, please contact me immediately.  I am available to you in the following ways:
email - cdannug2@troy.k12.mi.us
twitter - @DannugPhysics
in-person after school - Monday, Wednesday, Friday (1 hour); Tuesday, Thursday (30 minutes)
 
I also send out occasional reminders over text using the “Remind” service. If you would like to sign up to receive texts, please visit following website:
https://www.remind.com/join/dannugp1
https://www.remind.com/join/dannugip
 
I look forward to our year together!
Christopher Dannug
Physics Teacher
Troy High School
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