Quantum Leap

My greatest concern has always been to improve physics instruction, and to make it more exciting and more approachable, so it attracts more students with different backgrounds (it’s not a secret that less than 20% of all American high-school students study physics nowadays). With this in mind, I persistently strived to attain three main goals: to make the educational process more individualized, to incorporate various visual aids and hands-on activities in everyday learning processes, and to develop non-traditional methods of instruction. To make the introduction and recapitulation of new material more effective, I created a useful logical system that included various graphs, charts, and diagrams. In addition, I compiled a variety of summary tables for all major topics of the physics course. The purpose of such tables is to logically relate different physical facts, phenomena, and laws in a convenient/memorable visual form.

But a lesson is sometimes too short to answer all questions students might have, and thus to quench their scientific curiosity. That is why I constantly work on developing a system of project-based learning and extracurricular activities related to physics. The most interesting form of such work was "Physics Weeks" devoted to certain branches of physics, historical events, or scientists. The objective was to make a subject as difficult as physics more interesting and comprehensible. During those weeks students issued newsletters with physics content, created visual aids of instruction (poster-boards, power-point presentations, models, etc.), prepared fun experiments, took part in field trips to scientific and educational sites (such as Exploratorium, Academy of Science, Great America, etc.), and organized “round-table” discussions, debates, conferences, and meetings with scientists. The idea was to give every student a chance to express himself/herself by choosing an activity that best suited his/her interests and skills.

Ever since I became a teacher, I was interested in how physics was taught in other countries. I wanted to learn more about the science curricula, textbooks, experimental equipment, and teaching methods used by teachers abroad. That was why I chose "Tendencies of Physics Education in Modern Japanese Schools" as the theme for my doctoral thesis (I defended it in 1988). I learned a lot while working on my dissertation. The main thing I realized was that even if the schooling systems differed greatly in different countries, depending on their cultural and historical qualities, on the level of their economy, and on the role of physics education in their schooling systems, there were still many issues and problems that were common to all countries. That is why I strongly believe in comparative education that enables teachers to analyze and then incorporate the most effective teaching methods, techniques, and curricula from other countries in their own teaching routine.

With this in mind, my colleague, Inna Levine, and I decided to open a one-of-a-kind after-school enrichment program for school-age kids based on the best educational practices of Japan, Hong-Kong, Singapore, and Russia, countries that are well known for their advancements in teaching Math and Science.

After my first year I began teaching 4th graders; I'm currently starting my fifth year in that school, working as a second grade teacher. Ironically enough, I decided to go into teaching profession as a result of a rather unpleasant experience with one of the teachers in my own high school. I’ve made up my mind back then that I would bring different methods of educating children to this profession, and therefore would be a better teacher and mentor than what I experienced as a teenager.

As I started teaching, I became aware of many of my character traits I never suspected existed. I realized that I am a lot more outspoken, and even somewhat opinionated, than I previously thought of myself. I discovered that I am very resourceful, versatile, and capable of multitasking with a very high success rate.

However, what surprised me the most was that I was very good in math and science – contrary to what I’ve been told pretty much all my life. I enjoy solving problems and using various ways of finding correct answers, but, most importantly, I love bringing all this and much more to my students, thus passing on my newly acquired passion to another generation.

Too many children, particularly girls, are told year after year (directly or indirectly) that they are not good enough at math. This instills a life–long fear of this beautiful subject in their young minds. I believe that with a proper program (multi-layered and customized by age and skill) and enthusiastic instruction all children can become capable of mastering math logic, and therefore becoming much more successful and creative members of our society. It is my strong belief that by being exposed to math at a very young age through pictures, manipulatives, hands-on activities, positive attitude, and strong reinforcements, all kids can learn to love, value, and enjoy mathematics and science throughout their school years and beyond.

Now I am beginning a new phase in my life. A big and I hope exciting part of if will be our unique after-school enrichment program for school-age kids, where my colleague, Nellie Levine, and I will get a chance to implement all our innovative, well-thought-out methodologies and techniques into teaching math and science, and to make a real difference in our future students' lives.