About

In 2014, district servers were too much of a pain in the ass, so I moved my class Moodle site to a privately hosted server.  I was following a webcomic called Basic Instructions.  I like the way Scott Meyer looks at the world.  This was his logo, and as it matched my educational philosophy, when I needed a domain name, Big Stick seemed good.

That’s why it’s called “Big Stick Physics”. 

At the end of the Covid Lockdown year, I was looking forward to school getting back to normal. We had a new Science wing, and the assistant superintendent did all he could to accommodate my crazy ideas for a Physics classroom. 

Physics enrollment was down after the Covid year, so I knew we would not have enough sections to keep two physics teachers.  I offered to become a 60% teacher, but administration had other ideas.  They figured with me being a few years from retirement, I should start teaching Earth and Physical Science.  Those students deserve a good show, just like the smart kids do, so I knew it would take me a few years to build the course.  By the time the course was fun and dangerous, I’d be ready to retire.

I love teaching, but there are a bunch of other things I love doing, so I chose to retire.  I’m not sore about it, but it is a shame.  Did Admin choose this approach because the assistant principal in charge of teacher schedules is married to the other physics teacher?  I don’t know.  Was it because the principal wasn’t satisfied with how the Covid year went for his son in AP Physics?  Maybe.  I wasn’t satisfied with that year either.  Doesn’t matter.  I wish them well.

So, I decided to change the class website into a blog.