September
2009 e-Wave
Alabama
Section of AAPT
President-Marllin
Simon msimon@physics.auburn.edu
President-Elect-Duane
Pontius dpontius@bsc.edu
Section
Rep-Stan Jones stjones@bama.ua.edu
Secretary/Trees-Tommi
Holsenbeck eholsenbeck@alasu.edu
Past
President-Chuck Hanke hankec@montevallo.edu
School
is in full SWING and hopefully H1N1 isn’t.
The
current Professional Development opportunity is the Alabama State Teachers Association Fall meeting at the McWane
Center on October 20, 2009. To learn
more about the conference go to:
http://asta.auburn.edu/2009%20Conference/2009%20INDEX.htm
The
Ala Section of AAPT will be represented there and publicizing our organization
and our spring (2nd Semester) Meeting. Time and Place will be announced at
ASTA. To help our Section and ASTA, we
are partnering in a Silent Auction,
similar to the one we help at Montevallo in February. We would like any and all donations to raise
money. 75% will go to ASTA (we are using
their space and conference) and 25% to Ala Section AAPT. Theirs will go for teacher travel to a
national NSTA Meeting. We tried to use
funds for the Summer Meeting of AAPT, but no one applied. Our grant for teachers may continue or change
to another version. But if you have
anything to donate (physics or otherwise) please contact one of our officers
and they can arrange to have it picked up or you may deliver it yourself the
morning of the meeting. Hope to see you
at ASTA. Two-Year College, College and
University are always welcome.
Also
for 2-Year College and High School teachers go to:
www.phyiscsworkshops.org
for a
wonderful opportunity.
A
new benefit of Ala Section AAPT Membership
There is
a new perk with your membership to Alabama Section of AAPT for 2009-10. A wiki has been created to host discussions
among physics peers about all sorts of concerns. A physics teacher is often ALONE in the high
school setting with no others to laugh at physics jokes. The biology and chemistry educators usually
have others to council them, console them, bounce ideas off, and ask
suggestions from. This site will have
some resources and also recent Ala Section AAPT news, but also discussion
boards to discuss or just to read. There
are pages for all levels of physics: Physical Science, H.S. Physics, 2-Yr
College, 4-Yr College and Universities.
Each member can view them all and ask questions plus also give
answers. There have been national groups
hosting discussions, such as TERC with Labnet, but the Ala Section wants to try
to encourage peer sharing and way to get answers to your questions. They could be physics based questions or
requests but also classroom management, homework grading, make-up work
selection, parent involvement, or any topic you select. Hopefully this will help physics teachers in
varied classrooms bond to support student learning. Sharing is ALWAYS the best policy and
everyone needs help sometimes. Maybe you
can be the one to supply the support a physics teacher needs. You will be receiving an invitation to join
within the coming days and hopefully you will say YES! Or go and ask to join.
Join www.wikispaces.com and then add http://alabama-physics-teachers-alasectionaapt.wikispaces.com/ to your Favorite Wikis. Let me know if you have any other questions
about the Wiki. There is a HELP link to
answer most of your questions. You can
monitor a specific topic and you are notified by email. Just try it; you’ll like it.
Request
from National AAPT
AAPT is
working on developing a campaign that would inform Guidance Counselors on why
they should advise pre-college students to take physics. Do any of you work with counselors who
actually recommend that students do take physics? If so, do you have any
insights into what has persuaded these counselors that physics is beneficial
for them? Send any information,
suggestions to me and I’ll pass it along.
Of course this could also be discussed on the wiki!
Some sites to check out:
I don't know whether
your school blocks games, but your students might find some of the physics
games interesting.
This post is
about the comparative importance of algebra in physics (high school).
http://scienceblogs.com/principles/2009/06/algebra_is_like_sunscreen.php#more
Watch this and see what folks have been
arguing about:
http://www.break.com/usercontent/2007/2/Candle-Power-Who-Needs-Batteries-220129.html
http://physicsandphysicists.blogspot.com/
(Among
the topics addressed on this blog
are the physics of animating the new movie "Up". Lots of
interesting topics.
Pass along to any interested teachers:
Alabama Section AAPT
Membership Application 2009-10
Name: ______________________________________________
School Name: ________________________________________
School Address: _______________________________________
________________________________________
_________________________________________
Telephone ( school): ____________________________________
Home Address: ________________________________________
_________________________________________
__________________________________________
Telephone (home): ______________________________________
Other phone: _______________________________________
Email: (please print) _________________________________________________
Occupation: _ K-8 _HS Faculty _2-Yr Coll _4-Yr Coll _ Univ Fac_ Other
Send dues ($5 or check to
Alabama Section of AAPT) to:
Tommi Holsenbeck
Montgomery, AL 36111