Week 3 Reflection

This week in physics a lot of progress was made for me personally. I feel as if my level of understanding of the thought process is improving and I'm starting to focus more on the process of a situation rather than the final answer. This is the first class I've had that is based upon pysical experiences, so I still have to get used to it, but I'm learning information, not just memorizing it. For example, I class each group drew graphs of position (m) vs. time (s), exchanged boards, and physically walked the direction of the movements using yard sticks on the ground representing the graph. There were no notes taken and a lecture wasn't present; the whole exercise was to discover and learn by ourselves, with of course assistance from our teacher.

It was announced on Monday that we were to have an assessment the Friday of this week. I'm not going to lie, at first I was a bit apprehensive about it because there weren't many notes to study and I couldn't just memorize information in order to do well on the test. Physics is a skill-based subject and that's exactly how the assessment went. Memorization was not key to do well on this test; to do well on the test you had to be present and involved in class. I personally am used to going home and over-studying many nights before the assessment, but for this class I found myself reviewing the processes we discovered in class and not much else could be done. This was some what relieving for me, but also a bit scary.

A huge aspect of this class that has helped me is the use of Google Drive. As long as I have my phone I can have all of the class documents, worksheets, and keys with me. This is so incredibly helpful. In preparation for the assessment, I re-did and worksheet, which was posted on Google Drive for our use, and was able to check it and learn from the key posted as well. Because we don't have written homework for this class, there weren't any written worksheets I could study, so this source helped a ton in preparing.

This class is an opportunity to not only learn, but to grow.
Physics 2012 - Challenge Accepted.

Week 2 Reflection

To start off, this week in physics I have discovered that I need to develop a new way of thinking and learning to be successful in this class. I'm normally used to reading the book, studying extremely hard for the test, getting an A on the test, and then slowly losing what I have learned over the next following weeks. However, physics is different. It's a more hands on subject that builds on the knowledge you should have already aquired. It's not necessarily based upon memorization, but rather personal experiences and experiments. This is something that I personally am going to need to get used to, but as we say in physics, challenge accepted.

In this past week I have also learned a ton about setting up an experiement properly, getting results, and analyzing those results to uderstand why we proposed the experiement in the first place. I find that using the whiteboards is extremely useful in expressing ideas in my head and for making mistakes. There have been times when my group has had difficult graphing or has made a mistake in using mathmatical techniques that weren't needed. But because we are using a bigger space to put down these ideas, it's easier to disect the problem and get assistance from my teacher. In addition, we're a group and we learn together through our mistakes.

I know this sounds basic and a bit corny, but physics has to do a lot with thinking, problem solving, and also problem shooting. For example, in the buggy challenge outside of the school, there were many possible ways to calculate results, but which one was the best? Even after completing the experiment, I'm not quite sure. Do you measure the distance the car goes in 1 second and quadruple it? Or do you find the distance the car goes in 4 seconds? Which one is more accurate? This is the process that confuses me, yet interests me. This is something that I hope to master this year.

So long until next week.
TmPhys12

Week 1 Reflection

My first week of physics with my current teacher consisted of one day, but just in that 49 minute class period, I enjoyed myself more than I have in two days with my previous teacher. My previous teacher was erratic, confusing, and plainly boring. And frankly, I would be ok with that if he taught me the information I needed. However, us students were given homework without actually being taught the material. Needless to say, I requested a different teacher for physics and that's how I ended up here actually enjoying myself.

And in the 24 hour class change, my perspective on physics erratically altered. Due to my previous teacher, I was confused and ultimately worried about physics because I knew absolutely nothing. But on the first day in my new class last Friday, the first thing told to me was "It's not about the answer, it's about the process." No teacher has ever shed light on this issue as my current teacher has and I've learned that it's not about always being perfect, but the journey that leads us to success. Being a perfectionist myself, actually being told this is relieving and refreshing. This caught my attention. I'm already learning things about myself and my habits one day into the class... impressive.

Going into the weekend, I was much more positive about my learning in physics and felt much more relaxed about the year. And to think that one good teacher could do this to you: make you feel involved, significant, and relieved for the road ahead. "You must be present to win." No, you're not going to be perfect or have the right answers 100 percent of the time, but if you're learning, you're winning. Based on what I've been presented with so far, I'm excited to see how much I'm going to grow personally and intellectually throughout the year. Physics 2012? Challenge accepted.