Musings of a Retired Physics Teacher

What can science teachers do to elevate interest in their classes and make learning more exciting and fun? This is an age-old question that educators have been grappling with forever. It is commonly assumed and studies have verified that students learn more if they are actively involved in the learning experience. Anything the teacher can do to peak interest in a subject pays rich rewards. It is common sense that if a student is enjoying a learning experience, that student will put more effort into the experience. J. L. Smith taught high school and college physics for thirty-five years. In that time he developed a teaching style that that achieved great success. Anecdotal comments from his former students express their positive attitudes towards his physics classes. One major ingredient in Mr. Smith’s approach to teaching physics was his emphasis on demonstrations that were thought-provoking, awesome and right-down fun. If a teacher can get the student’s attention and stroke the thinking process, success will soon follow. In this offering J. L. Smith describes fifty demonstrations that he has used over the years in his physics classes. Though designed for the physics classroom, Mr. Smith’s attitude and approach to the demonstrations could be extended to many disciplines of education. His techniques developed in the physics classroom will work in many other settings. J. L. Smith is also author of the stand-alone science fiction novel, Adam. His understanding in the field of physics is obvious. It is hoped that this offering will make the teaching of physics specifically, and science in general, more student-friendly and quite simply, fun.