The last year or so have brought about a lot of changes for me. But the biggest one is coming up next year.
Next year we are using the retirement of our other science teacher to completely restructure our science department. Our new motto is "all standards for all students". There are arguments for and against that philosophy, but we decided at this point it is the direction we wanted to go. In order to align more easily with NGSS standards, we are moving towards a Physics First sequence.
Freshmen coming in will take physics. Sophomores will follow with chemistry and biology will be a junior level class. There are other elective science courses that will be offered, including an advanced physics, engineering, anatomy and physiology, and a rotation of individual earth sciences. (Yes, all of this with just two teachers!)
I'm nervous. This is a big deal. The more I am put in front of people to talk about it, the more I realize how big of a deal it really is. You see, I sort of live in my isolated little bubble. When I leave my bubble, it tends to be when I go out to meet and learn with other science teachers. And the ones I hang out with tend to have the same philosophy that I do about rigor. To an awful lot of people "rigorous" when referring to a science class simply means "higher level math." While to some extent that is true, I do believe kids can learn and understand physics concepts without having had trig. (Or maybe I'm delusional and this is all going to go down in flames.)
I am also under no illusions that the success of this endeavor is all on me. Don't get me wrong, I have a lot of support in place. I know my administration has my back and will do everything they can to act as a firewall so I can do my thing, but I know that this will be watched very closely by a lot of people, some of whom who will look for any little chink in the armor to find a way to bring it down for no other reason than because it is different.
But I'm ready for it. And I am excited for it. And I truly think it's going to be a great thing for our kids.
2 comments:
Tracie,
I used to teach physics to seniors for five years before switching to a physics first school. I have been doing the physics first thing for three years, and I've got a pretty good feel for the differences. My school district is constantly trying to switch us back to the traditional model, so we have to defend physics first all the time. If you have any questions about the pro's and con's, then I'd be happy to help. I won't give you a commercial for either, but I could possible help you know what to expect.
Regards,
Joshua
Joshua
Thank you so much for your comment. It's funny because I know there are a lot of schools that have moved to physics first, but now that I am looking, there doesn't seem to be a lot of information available.
What are your district's reasons for wanting to shift back?
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