Inspiring the Future
Tyson_TeachingScience.wmvI have to hope that ALL teachers entered into the profession with the hopes of making a difference in the lives of their students. Why else would you become a teacher? For me, becoming a teacher was not a choice that I made early in life, as a matter of fact I had no interest at all in becoming a teacher. But, as life would have it, teaching was something that came easy for me and I found out that I really enjoyed it and had a passion for it. I found that standing up in front of room full of teenagers every day of the school year was something that I looked forward to and eagerly woke up each day to go to school. I tell my students every year, that teaching is not a job for me...it is a blast and I love every minute (ok, some minutes are better then others).
I realized early in my career that it was my responsibility to motivate, educate, entertain, and inspire the next great scientists of the future...this was a responsibility that I do not consider lightly. How do you make a challenging subject full of equations and bizarre concepts into something that students "eagerly" want to learn each day? How many times have we all heard the question, "a train leaves Detroit at 50 mph and another train leaves New York City at 50 mph, if they are on the same track, blah blah blah...?" You get the idea...or, how many times have we subjected our students to analyzing the motion of a football or a box sliding down an inclined plane? We have all done it and we have to do it, right? How else will our students show us that they are learning physics? Before I go on, I will admit I still do this. I just hope that I do not do so much of it that it turns my students off in the process.
Dr. Tyson, I want to be one of those teachers that you speak of! So, how do we turn our students into physics majors or, at least, science and engineering majors? I would say, first and foremost, be passionate about what you are teaching every minute of every lesson. Even if you can not stand the topic personally, make it come alive for your students in some way. Do a demonstration, throw a ball at a student, show a YouTube clip, stand on your head and sing a song...just do something! You never know what will make that one student sleeping or disinterested in the back of your room come alive and to start asking questions...you just never know. Half the fun of being a teacher is trying to find creative ways to engage all of our students. Yes, we will not be successful every time, or even most of the times, but it is still important that we keep trying. Secondly, find a unique topic that you are fascinated by and teach it! Become obsessed with it...fit it into your curriculum in some way, no matter the barriers...there are so many fascinating modern topics out there...find one! Let your students know that physics is still going strong and that you are still intrigued, still learning, still blown away by something that we can all read about in the papers today. I think it is imperative that our students do not think physics is a dead science of the 19th century, but that it is alive and well and incredibly fascinating! For me, it is particle physics and the theory of special relativity...for you, it could be nanotechnology, solid state physics, superconductors...the list could go on and on. Just pick a topic, take some classes, attend some workshops....learn and do not be afraid to say I do not understand when your students ask you a question. Not knowing everything makes us look human...just make sure to take the time to look the answer up!
BigIdea_Greene.wmvLet your students know that we do not have all of the answers and we are still searching, exploring, testing. Your students will start asking all types of questions, and we may not know the answer, but that is all part of the fun...we are all learning. So, Brian Greene...what is the speed of dark? Could you imagine one of your students asking that question? How would you respond? I think it is our responsibility to bring back that desire to ask crazy questions, to wonder, to be amazed, to be astonished...to want to learn science!
Finally, make your class different...make it beyond memorization and recitation like so many other science classes...make it the highlight of your students day. When my students leave, I will call out to them..."enjoy the rest of your day...this was the best part of your day!" Now, I am kidding of course and I do hope that they will have some amazing experiences outside of my class, but I like to set my bar high. How else can you make physics come alive and create these explorers, Dr. Cox? Challenge them with some projects that are "outside the box"...build a cardboard bridge, drop an egg, make a mousetrap car...whatever the challenge, it does not matter...some of your students love to build, but may not love to use their TI-83. Also, keep in mind that some students are creative and love to draw, paint, write...give all of your students an opportunity to show their own unique skills. Give your students the opportunity to do physics, not just memorize or problem solve physics.
Ok, one more comment...use the technology that we have available to make your class come alive. I was at a AAAS conference many years ago and went to a session where the teacher was discussing how he uses cartoons to teach physics concepts...oh, I was hooked! Of course, he had all of his videos on VHS (yes, it was a while ago) and could not share them. I was ready to bring this into my classroom. What is more interesting than analyzing the motion of a crate sliding down an incline? How about analyzing Chevy Chase sliding down a hill on a super sled in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation? What would be more interesting for your students? It is not difficult to get the clips...they are everywhere! All you need to do is check out YouTube and millions of physics topics are open for you to bring into your classroom. I have found that my students are much more interested and attentive to the problems that we are solving when they start with some sort of video clip. Watching videos is what they do every day...it is the way that they process their world. You can fight it or you can embrace it...I have chosen to embrace it. Teaching through short video clips is one way to show them that physics is all around them. I challenge my students at the start of every year that I will get them to think about physics outside of my class at least once during the school year. When it happens and it will happen, I tell them that I WIN...they will come in every once in a while and say, "ok, you win...last night, I was watching this movie and I saw this..." Oh, those are some of the best moments...
So, let's inspire our students, turn them into explorers who are not satisfied with learning equations and reciting content...they want to learn more, they deserve more...we teach the most amazing subject! Let's try to be a memorable teacher for each and every student. What is the worst that can happen?