Hybrid Teacher-Coach: Science/Physics
Chris Meyer, York Mills C. I.
President, Ontario Association of Physics Teachers
Teacher of physics, science, and math in the TDSB for 21 years.
The Hybrid Teacher-Coach is a practicing teacher who can provide subject-specific and general pedagogical support for teachers' professional learning.
This is a pilot project with Teaching and Learning with Technology in the TDSB.
Contact Me: christopher.meyer@tdsb.on.ca if you would like to arrange some professional learning. I am available for full days at my school (York Mills C.I.) and, on occasions, afternoons at other schools.
Release Time: Please note that teachers will need to arrange for release time with their administration - ask about using the student success budget! Newish teachers can use JELI/JAM days! (choose "board professional learning opportunity"). It is helpful if we have a full day or full afternoon to work together.
Forms of Support
- Exploration classroom: Come and observe my grade 11 and 12 physics classes in the morning at York Mills C. I. and explore ideas for your own teaching in the afternoon.
- One-on-one discussion and planning: Available at York Mills in the afternoon or for a full day after an exploration classroom
- Workshops for groups or departments: I run full day workshops at York Mills, and can arrange afternoon workshops for departments at their home school.
- Long-term mentorship and support: One day is not enough to make meaningful changes to one's teaching. We can arrange for multiple visits and stay connected electronically.
Content Expertise
- grade 11 and 12 physics
- grade 10 optics
- grade 9 electricity
- grade 9 astronomy
Pedagogical Expertise
- Collaborative Group Work
- Inquiry
- The Science of Learning
- Assessment and Global Competencies
- Sense-making and Mathematics
- Student Engagement and Success
Exploration Classrooms
My Classes: This semester I teach grade 11 and 12 physics in the morning. Our students don't have physics lectures - they learn through cooperative group work using guided inquiry investigations. I play the role of coach, helping students with their learning and providing regular feedback on their individual work. The class is a bustling hive of activity as students explore and discover physics ideas while they practice authentic scientific habits and behaviours. Most importantly, students spend the class talking and writing about physics in their own words, instead of passively listening. Don't let the physics discourage your visit! I have had teachers of many different disciplines join us and enjoy the experience.
Choose a lesson: My classrooms are always open for teachers to visit. Feel free to check out the schedules of lessons for our grade 11 and 12 classes and choose a particular lesson to observe. Our tests and exams also involve cooperative group work and have been very popular days to visit! Please email me (christopher.meyer@tdsb.on.ca) to arrange a time to visit and I can double check that the schedule has been updated!.
Workshops
Science Content: I provide workshops on a variety of science topics that cover physics strands. All these workshops have two goals: to help you improve your personal understanding of the topics; and to introduce you to new activities, teaching techniques, and strategies for those topics. Here are my workshops from last year:
- gr. 9 current electricity
- gr. 9 static electricity
- gr. 10 optics: rays, reflections, and images
- gr. 10 optics: lenses and images
- gr.11/12 motion: models and sense-making
- gr. 11/12 forces and interactions
- gr. 11/12 energy: deeper learning using visualization tools
- gr.12: electric fields
Please feel free to contact me (christopher.meyer@tdsb.on.ca) and request workshops. If there is something you are interested in that does not appear in my list, please ask - I enjoy creating new workshops!
The Fall 2018 semester will only have a small number of workshops. Many more will be offered during the Spring 2019 semester. Workshop sign-up will be available soon through Key to Learn.
Resources
Below you can find the electronic resources my school uses for teaching our science courses. Access to these resources folders is limited to TDSB staff. Contact me directly if you need help. You can find more resources at my personal website: www.meyercreations.com/physics
Physics Teaching Resources: I have a whole page with lots to help you out: Everything You Need for Teaching Physics
Physics teachers at Earl Haig have put together a fun and excellent set of instructional videos for grade 11 and 12 physics. Check out: http://earlhaig.ca/departments/science/physicsreview.php
The website of Roberta Tevlin has a great selection of resources for grade 9 science, grade 12 university and college (new!) physics, and an interdisciplinary engineering design course. Her lessons have a strong inquiry and hands-on focus. http://roberta.tevlin.ca/
Pedagogy in Action: Watch Chris's Classes and Workshops
Classroom Videos
Presentations and Workshops