Robin and Thomas reflect on a first week back under the new Covid guidelines and find time to talk through a simple required practical – timing a trolley rolling down a ramp.

It’s a strange world at the moment as we eye winter warily and a second wave threatens. It is interesting to reflect that school openings have been one of the rare success stories of the pandemic. As usual, teachers and schools have taken on the impossible mission and delivered. We know it’s a stressful time, but we did want to urge you to take a moment to refelct on how much you have achieved: your students are back in school and learning again.

This week we discuss the early days of the pandemic and how you might think about using demos instead of class practicals, and that practical work can still go ahead with thought and care. We also are making this up on the hoof, so please do contact us using the form below to share your ideas and successes.

We will catch you next week, but meantime, stay healthy and be kind to yourself. It will take us time to get used to this new reality and we are not going to work miracles… well not at first anyway…

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