Monthly Archives: November 2017

As the pressure to adulterate the science taught in Florida’s public school classrooms builds, it’s worth keeping in mind that this is not a religion vs. science issue.  For example, the Catholic Church is fully on board with great science.  … Continue reading →

What would the ideal teacher certification process look like? If you are a high school physics teacher, tell me what you think it should take to be certified to teach high school physics. You can send me a tweet (@PaulCottlePhys) … Continue reading →

The Panama City News Herald’s coverage of yesterday’s induction ceremony for the Dr. James T. and Jana L. Cook Future Physicists of Florida FSU Panama City Chapter is here. Some additional scenes (courtesy of my iPhone):

For those who think that incentives should be used to reverse the decline in the supply of high school math and science teachers in Florida, there has been good news and bad news recently. The good news was in Bay … Continue reading →

The Dr. James T. and Jana L. Cook FSU-Panama City chapter of the Future Physicists of Florida will induct 224 students from Bay District middle schools this coming Monday.  The ceremony will begin at 5:30 pm at FSU-PC’s Holley Center. … Continue reading →

A decade ago, a group of scientists and science educators at the K-12 and postsecondary levels were working to assemble world-class science standards for Florida’s K-12 classrooms.  In February of 2008, the tumultuous process reached a climax when the State … Continue reading →

Engineering is built on a scientific foundation of physics and a mathematical foundation of calculus.  Therefore, nobody should find it surprising that the American Society for Engineering Education recommends that high school students who are considering college majors in engineering … Continue reading →

Can technology improve student learning in science? Technology can raise the ceiling on science achievement and open new career vistas for every student. But students can only take advantage of those new opportunities if they can have intense interactions with … Continue reading →

When I pulled up Jeff Solochek’s Gradebook post on the drive to unionize teachers at Florida Virtual School, I got stuck on the first clause:  After teaching middle school science at Florida Virtual School for nine years… I wondered:  What does an … Continue reading →

The teachers I know well are working their butts off.  And so are many of their colleagues. If we are going to have the conversation we need to have about the future of the teaching profession, we all need to … Continue reading →