OAPT AAPT Winter Meeting 2006 AAPT

High School Committee

Monday, Jan 23, 2006 14:30 - 16:30 PM

Visit www.compadre.org for free lesson materials. There is no registration required to download, but you must register to upload. Compadre will also host announcements of meetings and workshops, discussion groups, and other services. All are free. This initiative is funded by the NSF. AAPT has assigned a staff liaison for each committee. AAPT provides two $500 Innovative High School Teaching grants each year. To apply, visit AAPT, download an application, and submit it before November 1st.

The New Teacher Handbook is in its review stages. It will be published shortly, and includes copyable activities. Some parts of the handbook will be posted on the web site.

Share-a-Thon has returned with this conference. The intent is to build up this event at future meetings. A delegate suggested that Share-a-Thon should be scheduled such that it doesn't conflict with the Section Reps meeting, and also occurs after the First Timer's meeting. It can be organized as a series of "Take 5" sessions, i.e., a series of five-minute presentations. Handouts can be submitted beforehand electronically, duplicated, and collated for distribution to participants. (Section Rep's note: I have attended conferences where this was done, and it works very well. Perhaps we could consider a similar practice for the OAPT conference.)

The Photo and Video contests have become huge. Some pre-screening is now required, especially for the Video contest. Videos cannot currently be posted on the web site for others to view due to copyright issues. Students are "borrowing" music tracks from commercial sources. There is a need to find a way to deal with BMI and ASCAP. A committee will be formed to adjust guidelines such that copyright violations do not occur. It was suggested that the submission format be changed from tape to DVD digital video. The top three entries can be aired at the Share-a-Thon.

The High School Committee will sponsor five workshops at the Syracuse meeting (summer 2006). One of these is the Physics of Cell Phones.