I teach 8th grade science at a tough, inner city middle school. There is one girl in my cl*** pregnant, and several have probation officers... So this week we are learning Newton's Laws. I went out on a limb and started showing drag race videos to talk about intertia, unbalanced and balanced forces, etc.... Their favorite video was DW vs. The Chevy from Day of the drags a couple years ago. I showed it in all my cl***es, and you can see DW tense up as that blown Chevy launches... thereby illustrating inertia perfectly! It was a success. It's hard to keep their attention very long, but the whole cl*** was hanging on my words after showing some videos... It's cool that my love of Hot Rods is helping these kids learn..... in case you haven't seen it, here is DW vs. The chevy... <iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ErTRuNzfI5w" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="420"></iframe>
If you turn one of them around it's a good thing, keep up the good work. I would last less than a day as a teacher.
That video is super cool! Good story...just the second sentence made me do a double take. Might be worth rephrasing. Pete
Cool! But now that you're everybody's favorite 'teach' & have their expectations elevated, ...whadya gonna do to top it? ...nonetheless, congrats on a great job! Too bad we live in a time when sports heroes & actors, much less "celebs" [Gottis, Kardashians, Hiltons & their ilk] make obscene $$s, and educators have to fight the system for a liveable income!
I have a huge respect for teachers, and even more the ones with a p***ion to teach. I bet you make a bigger impact then you realize.
You sound like an open-minded, creative, knowledgeable and FUNCTIONAL teacher. Too often, in today's schools, we're finding teachers that seem to THINK that giving a grade on a test is the ONLY required end-result of "teaching". Just yesterday, we're dealing with an 8th grade math teacher that has determined (in her mind) that "pi" can ONLY be calculated by using the quan***y "3.14". She has also determined that using the quan***y "3.1416" (MORE exacting), or that using the formula "d squared x .7854" (3.1416/4) to find a MORE accurate answer for the area of a circle than using 3.14 does, DOES NOT APPLY. YOUR method of "teaching" is refreshing, productive, and rare today. Carry on! DD
DD Cooperman, I had trouble with my 8th grade math teacher to. She tried to tell us that pie are square. I told her that pie are not square, pie are round, cornbread are square. She failed me. But that was ok because I had a crush on her. And I got her the next 2 years. ****
Wish my 8th grade teacher was able to think outside the box like that. Well done . Love that video too
Also good for friction (including static friction vs dynamic), torque, etc. Your probably gonna need some more videos. Great job Dan.
Watched that vid several times.......It had my attention.....If I were in your cl***..you would have my attention too.... Thanks for sharing!
Dan, that is awesome to hear! You touched on something that most of the kids will never forget, something cool that they can relate to real life! Keep up the good work! ~adam
Thank God you were'nt one of my teachers in High School.........It was bad enough that my Hot Rod,Car craft,etc MAgazines fit right inside my 3 ring binder and I could read them all day long until I got caught and then you want me to watch Drag racing videos, thats just plain wrong. I could have been a Dr. or something.lol. Just kidding great idea and you sound like a real cool teacher. Some of my best teachers made me think and if I didn't I got a swat.lol. Then I thought I didn't want to be in that cl*** anymore, but the no one really cared what I thought. YRUHOT.Doug
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