Thomas and Robin look forward to a new – albeit different – school year with some reflections on “the new normal” and an interview with physics-teaching Royalty.

Season 3 is here! And Thomas and Robin start by thanking you for all your feedback after last year. We got some good ideas for this year and we’re looking forward to more Ways to Teach, more on the Core Practicals and more of the guests you have told us you love!

This week we have a couple of zingers to kick off the season.

First up, Thomas’s ‘boss’ joins us (the inverted commas indicate that Thomas is a free spirit who answers to NO-ONE). Matt talks us through his departmental COVID response and pays tribute once more to the wonderfu folk at CLEAPSS who have our back once again (link below). We wish you well with this, and our first Ways to Teach will refelct on some of the early lessons learned. Drop us a line with any good ideas you have had or heard for how to work practical work around the restrictions – there’s a contact form below, or Tweet at us @physicstp

If you want to start Season 3 with a real bang, you need something a wee bit special, and we are delighted that Richard Brock (Yes, THE Richard Brock!!) agreed to come on and talk to us about physics stories. Richard in case you don’t know, has been educating physics teachers and looking at the power of narratives in hooking students (and others!) into physics. Richard has written a series of brilliantly entertaining stories about physics, and the good news is that they are all freely available from the fabulous IOP Spark site (see link below).

Having Richard on was a great way to start season 3, and with physics teachers around the world getting back to the classroom and seeing their students again, the world seems a little brighter. Have agreat year and we will see you next week.

Links

• CLEAPSS Advice during the COVID-19 / Coronavirus Pandemic
• Stories from Physics

Join in!

Please share ideas or successes – or indeed questions – on our Facebook Page: https://fb.me/physicstp .  You can also message us via our website contact form at the.physicsteachingpodcast.com, Twitter @physicstp, email using  the address given in the podcast (if we remember), you could even email us an autio file if you are feeling really keen.

Music

• Season 5: Crescents by Ketsa.
• Seasons 3 and 4: Disco Sheik by Podington Bear.
• Seasons 1 and 2: One legged equilibrist polka by Circus Homunculus.
• Occasionally we also use Cantina Rag by Jackson F. Smith.

The music is used under the Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License