Summer's End

I know, I know, summer only started 11 days ago, but the summer school class that I've been teaching ended today. It was actually a real whirl-wind class, starting the day after Memorial Day and ending today, two days before the 4th of July. It was actually a fun class to teach. It was a conceptual physics class which meant I had to try and teach everything with minimal math. That is a good challenge for me and a good intro for the students. Those that only wanted a survey have been exposed to a lot of physics and those that are going on now have a basic conceptual understanding on which to build the mathematical framework. Still it was a bit like trying to Shakespear in unmetered Spanish. Much of the beauty is lost and it is awkward. I had to study a lot more than usual for lectures not because I didn't know the material, but I wanted to see how the author presented it. Still the class was fairly easy to teach. My boss had prepared homework assignments and solutions and there was a good test generator to make the tests. The only really challenging part was grading the labs, and that was mostly a motivational problem. All in all a good experience.