Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Lifelong learners
1. How do you stay current with evolving teaching strategies and methodologies,
model reflective practices, and seek opportunities to grow in your content area
and/or grade level?
Last year, I wrote that I read voraciously and built a strong network with physics
teachers at Westminster and at other schools. I would say I have increased these two
things tremendously in the past year, I now regularly read the blogs of over a dozen
math and science teachers, as well as many other blogs about science, technology and
other topics. Since the creation of the Atlanta Metro Physics Teacher Network, I met
many new colleagues in the Atlanta area, and through twitter and the teaching blog
I’m now keeping, am in touch with more than a dozen physics teachers around the
nation. My work with colleagues at Georgia Tech has also developed into a grant
proposal for a research project to explore new ways of teaching mechanics to physics
students in high school and college using computer modeling.
3. How do you collaborate with students and colleagues to further knowledge and
understanding?
I think the Brain Based Learning Research Program I am starting with Anna More
will be a fantastic way to collaborate with students, as they will become our
research partners in this project, and I am excited by the new discoveries we will
make together.
Another way I collaborate with students is the website I’ve created for my classes.
Last year, I simply kept a blog for my classes, this year, I’ve set up a full-blown
learning network, which features a common class blog, but also gives students
their own individual blog. The primary goal of this blog is to get my students
exploring science outside the classroom, by trying challenge problem, writing
about topics that interest them, and generally keeping our discussions going
outside the normal classroom hours (Student participation in the blog does not
factor into their grades at all). So far, the network is a pretty big hit with about two
dozen posts and almost 100 comments so far, students have found everything
from fascinating plant research that suggest plants might be able to recognize their
kin, to a recent discovery that a ringworm shares a brain structure very similar to
humans.
In addition, I have now fully turned over grading in my classroom to encouraging the
growth mindset. Homework is for practice only; it is assigned, and I give feedback, but it
does not factor into a student’s grade. Grades are based solely on the understanding a
student demonstrates, and they can attempt to demonstrate understanding in a variety of
way and are given a near-unlimited number of attempts to do so, with only the most
recent attempt to demonstrate understanding counting toward that student’s grade.
Community Member
1. I think I’ve already described in detail the many ways in which I collaborated with
colleagues last year. I think I am trying to do this even more by attending
meetings of the Campus Corps, and working with Jim and Frances
to discuss issues of student stress and intellectual engagement.
2. I am continuing to coach the novice debate team this year. With a year under my
belt I feel much more confident to instruct the novice debaters, and think that I
will begin to take more of the day-to-day responsibility for instructing the novice
debate team.
Strengths
• Passion for learning new ideas and engaging students by doing science.
• Desire to teach students a love of learning that empowers them to make a positive
difference in the world right away.
• Ability to connect ideas across disciplines and use technology to accomplish my
goals.
Challenges
• Maintaining my energy level and all of these projects with the impending birth of
a baby daughter in October.
Last Year’s goal
Last year’s goal was to set up a class blog and get my students to be active users of it. I think I
mostly accomplished this goal, though participation died off near the middle of the second
semester. I think part of my problem in accomplishing this was not giving my students enough
freedom to explore ideas of interest to them, and instead requiring them to document things from
class discussion.
Primary Goal
My primary goal for 2010-11 is to develop my personal teaching blog as a place to document what
I’m doing in the classroom, raise questions about my teaching, and collaborate with teachers
around the globe. I’ve already written ~40 posts, and found the blog to be an incredible resource
for helping me to explore ideas for lessons and reflect upon my teaching.
Secondary Goal
I would like to continue to develop the learning network I’ve set up at burkphysics.com, as well
completing some of the other projects I’ve listed above (brain research group, innovation
incubator, metacognition curriculum).