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Author Archives: Mr. Bigler
Treating Students With Compassion
Several friends on Facebook have asked me to comment on the article entitled Lincoln High School in Walla Walla, WA, tries new approach to school discipline — suspensions drop 85%. What the article describes is more or less exactly how I … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy
1 Comment
Tough Love vs. “Tough Shit!”
The lesson from “tough love” teachers is that if you don’t do the work, you can’t master the subject and you fail. Most kids have already learned how to fail. What they need to learn is how not to.
Shocking My Students
Electricity & Magnetism is a fun topic, especially for teachers who enjoy watching teenagers act like themselves.
Pushing the Reset Button
On Friday, while I had cafeteria duty, I noticed a girl with a bruise on her face. I asked her what had happened. She said with a sheepish half-smile, “I got into a fight. But don’t worry. It wasn’t on … Continue reading
Demonstrations and Experiments
On 3/25/2012 11:03 PM, Drew Melby posted to the ChemEd-L discussion list “I’ve never felt the need to ‘entertain’ students by making things ‘memorable’. Chemistry is a serious business, not a magic show”
Some Thoughts About Classroom Management
I was talking with some of my colleagues yesterday about classroom management, and about a colleague of ours, a second-year teacher who is struggling a little with finding that magic balance.
Vacuum Cleaner Hovercraft
To demonstrate the power of hydraulics, some of my students and I built a hovercraft out of plywood and a wet/dry vacuum cleaner.
Posted in Science
2 Comments
Seizing the Moment
When I’m teaching, I live for teachable moments. Right now, I’m teaching my physics students about fluids—pressure and hydraulics, to be followed by buoyancy, gas laws, and Bernoulli’s Principle. However, today one of my students innocently asked, “Maybe you can … Continue reading
Keeping a Lab Notebook for Inquiry Labs
Isaac Asimov once quipped, “The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds the most discoveries, is not ‘Eureka!’ (I found it), but ‘gee, that’s funny …’ “ The phrase is exciting because it means the scientist … Continue reading
Pressure-Perfect Sleeper; Extra Firm
I’ve always wanted to build a bed of nails, especially since I started teaching physics. Now I’ve done it.