Jeff Bigler
@jcgbigler.bsky.social
high school physics (& chemistry) teacher, violist (& violinist), morris dancer/musician, JAFF author, engineer, polymath-in-training, nerd-at-large
I recorded this acceleration profile of a plane taking off using Phyphox. Green is left-right, blue is forward-backward, and yellow is up-down. Overall acceleration is shown in white.
The point where the traces separate, ~45s, is liftoff, when acceleration shufted from forward to up. #ITeachPhysics
The point where the traces separate, ~45s, is liftoff, when acceleration shufted from forward to up. #ITeachPhysics
July 14, 2025 at 2:08 AM
I recorded this acceleration profile of a plane taking off using Phyphox. Green is left-right, blue is forward-backward, and yellow is up-down. Overall acceleration is shown in white.
The point where the traces separate, ~45s, is liftoff, when acceleration shufted from forward to up. #ITeachPhysics
The point where the traces separate, ~45s, is liftoff, when acceleration shufted from forward to up. #ITeachPhysics
I never know what my students are going to surprise me with. Today one of my high school seniors brought in a baby European starling (now about 5 weeks old) that she has been taking of. Today’s impulse lesson is now about reducing the force of impact when teaching it to fly. #iTeachPhysics #EduSky
May 23, 2025 at 3:46 PM
I never know what my students are going to surprise me with. Today one of my high school seniors brought in a baby European starling (now about 5 weeks old) that she has been taking of. Today’s impulse lesson is now about reducing the force of impact when teaching it to fly. #iTeachPhysics #EduSky
Today before I left school, I brought up paper and refilled the copiers. A colleague thanked me. I replied, “I want to work in a place where people just do these things.” She asked, "What if you're the only one?" I said, "At least there will be one of us."
What do people do in your personal utopia?
What do people do in your personal utopia?
April 5, 2025 at 2:41 AM
Today before I left school, I brought up paper and refilled the copiers. A colleague thanked me. I replied, “I want to work in a place where people just do these things.” She asked, "What if you're the only one?" I said, "At least there will be one of us."
What do people do in your personal utopia?
What do people do in your personal utopia?
Today’s addendum to my classroom rules: “50¢ fine if you attempt to measure current in parallel insetad of series and blow a fuse in the multimeter.” #ITeachPhysics
March 21, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Today’s addendum to my classroom rules: “50¢ fine if you attempt to measure current in parallel insetad of series and blow a fuse in the multimeter.” #ITeachPhysics
Today I did the “floating table” demo. At one point I asked, “If the table is holding up the buckets and the buckets are holding up the table, does that mean you could pick yourself up by your own pants?”
One student tried it, and gave himself a wedgie in front of the entire class. #ITeachPhysics
One student tried it, and gave himself a wedgie in front of the entire class. #ITeachPhysics
February 26, 2025 at 10:13 PM
Today I did the “floating table” demo. At one point I asked, “If the table is holding up the buckets and the buckets are holding up the table, does that mean you could pick yourself up by your own pants?”
One student tried it, and gave himself a wedgie in front of the entire class. #ITeachPhysics
One student tried it, and gave himself a wedgie in front of the entire class. #ITeachPhysics
Life advice: Half-ass the things that don’t matter. This frees you up to ass-and-a-half the ones that do.
February 5, 2025 at 10:50 PM
Life advice: Half-ass the things that don’t matter. This frees you up to ass-and-a-half the ones that do.
Human Free-Body Diagram apparatus: students can become the “dot” in the middle of a free-body diagram, seeing and feeling the effects of tension, the normal force and the gravitational force. #ITeachPhysics
January 26, 2025 at 6:10 PM
Human Free-Body Diagram apparatus: students can become the “dot” in the middle of a free-body diagram, seeing and feeling the effects of tension, the normal force and the gravitational force. #ITeachPhysics
Here are some snippets of conversations with some of my students a couple of days ago.
![Snippets of conversations with some of my students over the course of today:
E: OK, so what do you really think I want?
Me: I think you need to occasionally be the center of attention. I have no problem with that—it's why I give you a little bit of positive attention during each class. Everyone needs that sometimes.
T: Ugh. I don't want to deal with my stepfather right now. He's so critical.
Me: [mentions an earlier conversation with this student]. Don't forget that you're not the version of you that exists in his head. It's important to not internalize things that aren't true. (Yes, that's easy for me to say, but hard to do. But it's worth the effort.)
W: [discussing the college recommendation that I'm going to write for the student] It's not like I'm any different from any other student.
Me: You're in the top ten in your grade. When I ask what sets you apart from other students, I mean the average student, not the other nine of the top ten. Remember that colleges adjust for bragging, not humility. My recommendation is going to say that you're awesome, that you'll be successful in their college, and that I know you well enough that they can trust me when I say so. I just need some details to help me support that last part
M: [telling me that they almost had a breakdown about getting their lab report in on time]
Me: I think the meta issue is that I'm one of the few adults who unconditionally believes in you, and you're terrified that I'll be disappointed in you if you turn it in a day late. If turning it in late will help your mental health, I'll be proud of you for spending 2 points out of 100 to prioritize your mental health over an artificial deadline. Trust me, there's no way I would be disappointed if you got a 98 instead of a 100.
Before you ask, yes I do also find time to teach them physics.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:qgrheikn3e2e75e5vjlozw3i/bafkreibioq5a4nug7fh26hshgmmvxcu5cy7wbtbnefpn32owrllrcruf5q@jpeg)
December 21, 2024 at 4:36 PM
Here are some snippets of conversations with some of my students a couple of days ago.