Physics Study Group - Changes in Structure

The Physics Study Group seems to be going well at this point, as we continue to work as a group answering example IB questions. However, I still believe that it could be more effective. Originally, the main goal of the group was to prepare Physics students for the IB exam. However, we are all concerned about our current grades in the class, and we often feel unprepared for tests and uncertain about homework. As such, I think that we may want to shift the focus towards group discussions regarding what we feel we need to improve on, and then address those issues to the best of our abilities at each meeting. Once we improve our grades as a group, we should be able to more efficiently prepare for our exams in the Spring.

Model UN - Practice Debate

The Model United Nations group met for about an hour and a half today after school. The primary purpose of this meeting was to hold a practice debate, in order to prepare us for the trip to New York next year. The topic of our debate was whether or not Guantanamo should be closed or left open. There were not many people at the meeting, so the debate did not move as quickly as we had hoped. However, it seemed to be a good start, and the idea of practicing debates seems like it could be very helpful. We spent the rest of the meeting trying to organize the group so that we could meet more effectively. I suggested the idea of providing people with packets of information about the topics of the debates before the debates themselves actually take place, so that we will all know what we are talking about at each meeting. The group seemed to agree that this was a good idea. However, we had some trouble determining which days are best for after school meetings, because this is a very busy time of the year. Despite these problems, the group seems very determined to succeed in its preparations.

Physics Study Group - SAT Review

The last Physics Study was spent going over material that some students would need to know for the Subject SAT in Physics. This material included the concept of relativity, which we had only just started to learn, but was likely to be on the test. The group was larger than normal this time, and other students, who were working on labs at the time, contributed to the discussion as well.

I am not sure how successful this meeting was towards the goal of helping students do well on their SATs; it is a complicated subject, and we did not have much time to learn it. Also, I am concerned that not everyone in the group completely understands what we are learning. I hope that I will be able to find a way for the material to be effectively communicated so that everyone can understand it.