iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Megan HG @meganhg.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

My colleague Rich made this Balanced Forces Lab interactive with Claude and I thought it could be interesting to my #iTeachPhysics 🎢 peeps: claude.ai/artifact/7od... He's not active on Bluesky, so I'll pass along any feedback.

Screenshot that reads Balanced Forces Lab, which is linked in the skeet. On the right in the image is a cartoon-style diagram of a stick figure pushing a box while a second figure says "Zero net force and it keeps going?"

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Megan HG @meganhg.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

I've been gone too long, but for good reason: fitting CASTLE into the opening weeks of 9th grade Physics. Students stumbled on this Q at the start of CASTLE Unit 2 (just as I was introducing the capacitor): why do the lights dim when there's a capacitor in the circuit? #iTeachPhysics 🎢

youtube.com

Why do the lights dim slowly with a capacitor in the circuit?

YouTube video by Megan Hayes-Golding

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Megan HG @meganhg.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

I used 3 design principles to improve workflow for students in our LMS. The result is clean, helps students focus, and (I hope) is no harder to maintain than last year's iteration. What do you like or dislike about this look? Got any advice for me, Bluesky?

kalamitykat.com

A Few of My LMS Design Principles

Thanks to a school policy change, I've been thinking about Canvas course design that prioritizes student learning. The post is most likely of interest to high school and college instructors.

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Megan HG @meganhg.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

My pedagogy matured during the golden age of blogging. I'm incredibly thankful to @rhettallain.bsky.social for being central to that work. Congratulations on your Richtmyer Memorial Lecture Award! #AAPTWM26 "Everything is a real-world physics problem: for large values of real." --Rhett Allain

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Megan HG @meganhg.bsky.social · 19/01/2026

Jim Perry and I just finished presenting “Live Action Problems” at #AAPTWM26. We both very much appreciate the community for being incredibly welcoming to us as first time presenters. #ITeachPhysics Examples and a framework for writing your own are at kalamitykat.com/2026/01/19/l....

Two first-time physics teaching conference presenters. Jim Perry on left and Megan Hayes-Golding on right. The slide behind them reads "Live Action Problems".

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Megan HG @meganhg.bsky.social · 19/12/2025

Happy Hanukkah from our family to yours!

Anna of Arrendale conjures the Hanukkah flames

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Megan HG @meganhg.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

Man, I love teaching fluids. #ITeachPhysics This pic led to a great discussion that included "why does this problem seem to be trying to get you to draw the wrong conclusion?"

A glass apparatus filled with blue fluid. On the left appears to be a test tube, next to it a thin spiral, then a vertical tube with two wide spots shaped like spheres, and finally an angled thin tube. All four are connected by a common tube across the bottom.

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Reposted by Megan HG

Madame Decadent Sneezy-Bottom @darklyadapted.bsky.social · 19/11/2025

It’s so cold today that there are teenagers wearing coats.

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Megan HG @meganhg.bsky.social · 14/11/2025

My seven-year-old is writing a book #ITeachMath ♾️

Photo of a hand drawn book cover, whose title reads “The book of sine meenings.”

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Megan HG @meganhg.bsky.social · 14/11/2025

Reading 1.000 g/m^3 as 1000 g/m^3 has got to be the most annoying mistake these international students have made this week. Q: How do you differentiate 1.000 as 1 vs 1000? American school with international students. Sure, they should know the density of water, but I'm thinking more abstractly. 🎢

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Megan HG @meganhg.bsky.social · 23/10/2025

I found your cardboard boat project, @mrsgphysics.bsky.social in the AMTA projects folder. Am considering a similar one. One big question, tho: were you satisfied with the ratio of physicsing to general project fun? Everyone -- I'd love to hear how I can improve that ratio on projects.

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Megan HG @meganhg.bsky.social · 20/10/2025

Nothing quite like this message the day grades are due, eh @mathmansam.bsky.social?

Screenshot that reads "Canvas is experiencing issues due to an ongoing AWS incident. We are working on recovering as soon as possible."

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Megan HG @meganhg.bsky.social · 19/10/2025

When the globe is removed, will the scale reading, go up, down, or stay the same? Great test of Newton’s 3rd. #ITeachPhysics #teach180 days 34 & 37 This was part of the balanced forces lab practical on Tues. We revisited it on Fri for families-visit-class day.

Photo of a desk toy, resting on a laboratory scale, in front of a whiteboard. The desk toy is a magnetically levitating globe held inside of a C shaped holder. On the whiteboard is a physics interaction diagram and a poll showing students’ votes for their prediction.

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Megan HG @meganhg.bsky.social · 17/10/2025

Teachers: You don't have to teach this tool.

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Megan HG @meganhg.bsky.social · 14/10/2025

#ITeachPhysics After too many hours of troubleshooting, I give you The Monkey and the Zookeeper...with a Twist: our monkey has a parachute. The zookeeper needs to deliver a banana to feed the monkey on the fall.

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Megan HG @meganhg.bsky.social · 05/10/2025

#ITeachPhysics, do you use interaction diagrams (aka system schema) to help students identify interaction pairs? They've never sat well with me because students mistakenly try to apply directional meaning. I give you my modification: the Interaction List. How else are we formalizing ID'ing forces?

Table titled "Objects Interaction with Box A". First row says "Earth" and "F_g". Second row reads "Box B" and "F_N, F_A, and F_f".

A drawing of a finger pushing Box B across a surface. Stacked atop box B is Box A. Beside the diagram is the label "constant velocity" pointing to the right.

A force diagram for box A. Four forces point out from the box: F_N points up, F_g points down, F_A points right, and F_f points left. The vertical forces are balanced as are the horizontal forces.

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Megan HG @meganhg.bsky.social · 26/09/2025

Doing the hover puck lab, I finally hit upon language that improves student outcomes, "as smoothly as possible." I still need to work on directions for making a sharp left turn because I want them to see that they need to hit at ~45° to the direction of travel. #teach180 day 22 #iTeachPhysics

1. Maintain the hover puck at a constant velocity.
2. Speed up the hover puck *as smoothly as possible*.
3. Slow down a moving hover puck *as smoothly as possible*.
4. Move the hover puck from one line to another line and back *as smoothly as possible*, without overshooting either one.
5. With a moving hover puck, make a sharp left turn.

A photo of the soccer hover puck. It's a toy that's about 8" in diameter and hovers just above the ground when the fan is switched on.

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Megan HG @meganhg.bsky.social · 08/09/2025

#ITeachPhysics Strict no phones policy makes video analysis tricky. Except, I have a dozen or more old Androids from FTC robotics I hope to repurpose. Today, I got video off of one of those phones! This is great because my alternative was the inferior camera on a class set of iPads.

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Megan HG @meganhg.bsky.social · 30/08/2025

Aug 27 was year 22, day 1. Intro classes for Physics 1 (9th gr), Physics 2 (new course), and accelerated Precalc. Physics 2 opened class by trying to time releasing a marble down a track to hit an X on a rotating disk. #teach180 #iTeachPhysics

Photo of a classroom with a teacher (me) watching a student release a marble down a ramp, toward a rotating disk. Three other students stand in the background.

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Megan HG @meganhg.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

Teaching a new course this year that stretches my content knowledge and pedagogical expertise. I’m honored for the opportunity and nervous about the many opportunities to have either exposed. This is my 22nd year teaching; it’s been a decade since I felt this raw. Tell me something to help?

An adult with arms outstretched is pictured beside a massive lily pad, one that measures maybe 5 feet across.

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Megan HG @meganhg.bsky.social · 04/08/2025

The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman may be the design bible for human computer interaction but teachers can take an important lesson from it on errors. Norman says there are 2 types of error, how & when they happen, and how to prevent them. 1/

Cover of the book _The Design of Everyday Things_ with a sticky note that says
MISTAKES ARE ERRORS IN
GOAL SETTING (HIGHER ORDER).
SLIPS HAPPEN IN EXECUTION OF A PLAN (LOWER ORDER).
THEY HAPPEN MORE TO
EXPERTS THAN NOVCES.
MEMORY LAPSES HAPPEN ANYWHERE!

Cover of the book _The Design of Everyday Things_ with a sticky note that has a hierarchy drawn showing two types of errors, slips and mistakes.

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Megan HG @meganhg.bsky.social · 14/07/2025

Grrr, my least favorite verb! Friends don't let friends use a more complicated word when a simpler one will do. I can't think of a case where "utilize" gives more detail than "use."

A cropped screen shot of an alphabetical list of active verbs. The word "Utilized" is highlighted.

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Megan HG @meganhg.bsky.social · 14/07/2025

I appreciated @emmaphys.bsky.social interview on Science Modeling Talks because it was great hearing a fellow Physics Firster talking about why we lean more on graphs and diagrams over equations. #ITeachPhysics

open.spotify.com

Episode 70 - Dr. Emma Mitchell - "How Modeling Works in My Classroom"

Science Modeling Talks · Episode

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Megan HG @meganhg.bsky.social · 11/07/2025

Terrible news from Harvard. As schools increasingly shut down their inclusion offices, where are our students finding much-needed support? Replacing institutional support with individual support is a system that's designed to fail.

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Megan HG @meganhg.bsky.social · 11/07/2025

The photo I’m sending to Bluesky for verification.

Movie poster for M3gan, a horror movie about a killer robot. Picture shows a young woman seated in 3/4 view, wearing a pale pink dress over a striped long sleeve shirt. Her hands are folded and she’s gazing off into the distance.

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Megan HG @meganhg.bsky.social · 10/07/2025

@malmeida.bsky.social, @jedediyah.com, and other #ITeachMath and #ITeachPhysics crossovers: I spent last year getting math students to respect the = by using ≈ when approximating. This coming year, I'll have some of those students in physics. Do I need to continue the charade?

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Megan HG @meganhg.bsky.social · 09/07/2025

When your Insta Bio reads "exploring gravity", like Bastien Dausse's, you're bound to get lots of #ITeachPhysics followers. www.instagram.com/p/C5yaXofM-P...

Bastien Dausse's device that allows the dancer to appear to defy gravity. The mechanism is curved, like the Nike swoosh, resting on the lowest point. The short end is loaded with weights and the longer end is attached to the dancer's waist. When the dancer pushes up, the device rocks on the low point, lifting them up to a meter off the ground and letting them fall softly back to Earth.

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Reposted by Megan HG

Bookshop.org @bookshop.org · 08/07/2025

You are cordially invited to our Anti-Prime Sale, where every purchase will financially support bookstores, NOT billionaires 🥳

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Megan HG @meganhg.bsky.social · 02/07/2025

Starting off uniform circular motion with the whirling stopper is classic but the data can be inconsistent. How might I make the central force more uniform without spending hundreds on dedicated apparatus? #ITeachPhysics

The whirling stopper physics lab apparatus. Picture shows a hand holding a plastic tube through which a string runs. The top end of the string is attached to a rubber stopper, spinning in a plane parallel to the floor. Running down from the stopper through the tube and out the bottom is a laboratory hanging mass

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Megan HG @meganhg.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

Back from a week of Experiential Ed work with teachers from across N America. We explored the Kolb Cycle together, as experienced teachers new to ExEd. #ITeachPhysics

The Kolb Cycle diagram: a green circle with four boxes connected by arrows. First is Concrete Experience, next is Reflective Observation, then Abstract Conceptualization, and finally Active Experimentation.

A group photo of 11 people in front of a valley with the Rocky Mountains on the right edge of the frame.

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Megan HG @meganhg.bsky.social · 19/06/2025

In other words, there is no truth in a machine that assembles strings

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Megan HG @meganhg.bsky.social · 10/06/2025

@jedediyah.com and @mathmansam.bsky.social hey y’all should know each other as 1) data science teachers and 2) as cool people.

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Megan HG @meganhg.bsky.social · 01/06/2025

A 9th grader made my day when they appreciated that I *didn't* answer their questions: "You even would take our question and write it on the board and have the class try to solve it as a whole rather than just giving an answer which is better than just giving an answer." #iTeachPhysics

A classroom desk that includes a DC power supply with wires connected to bulbs and a switch, all resting atop a large circuit schematic drawn on a whiteboard.

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Megan HG @meganhg.bsky.social · 23/05/2025

Last day of class, and my big reveal on the contents of their Mystery Boxes. Here’s the task: kalamitykat.com/2023/06/06/s... #iTeachPhysics

A cardboard box with one flap held open and a circuit schematic drawn on the inside. A top of the box are three lightbulbs and two switch switches.

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Megan HG @meganhg.bsky.social · 16/05/2025

It was my absolute honor to be recognized twice this week by the MA Dept. of Elementary and Secondary Ed for being selected as a PAEMST state finalist. First, two reps came to my school faculty meeting to share w/my colleagues and next they held a swanky dinner for award winning teachers. 1/2

A group photo of about 30 adults on a staircase.

Two adults standing on a stage, smiling. On the left is a tall Black man and on the right is a much shorter person holding a plaque.

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Megan HG @meganhg.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

When you believe “confusion is the sweat of learning” by @rhettallain.bsky.social, something cool happens in your brain — you come to see confusion (like workout sweat) as a point of pride, not shame.

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Megan HG @meganhg.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

Today I realized slime is a non-Newtonian substance. #ITeachPhysics

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Megan HG @meganhg.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

I think I accidentally called a male colleague sweetie: "Thanks for the invitation. Unfortunately, we can’t attend this awesome event. Most of my team will be taking AP exams that week, boo!"

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Megan HG @meganhg.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

Creating a Physics 2 course w/colleagues for next year. Algebra-based, for 11th & 12th grades, second to a physics first (9th grade), interested in modeling (capital M- modeling & computational) and experimentation. Got anything I could build on? Prefer not from scratch. #ITeachPhysics 🎢

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Megan HG @meganhg.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

OK Go continues to add to this STEM teacher's video vault. This time with mirrors and robots. #ITeachPhysics 🎢 #ITeachMath ♾️ #OMGRobots

youtube.com

OK Go - Love (Official Video)

YouTube video by OK Go

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Megan HG @meganhg.bsky.social · 20/04/2025

Spring is finally doing her thing here in Western MA. (Video shows a flag in the foreground and an old New England church in the background. Sky is crisp blue. Green trees between the two.)

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Megan HG @meganhg.bsky.social · 18/04/2025

Light a bulb with a battery and just one wire. I prefaced the challenge saying it’s tough but everyone always gets it, so they should work alone for the biggest aha moment. G, in the middle, moved away from his group! #iTeachPhysics 🎢

A classroom with tall lab tables. Most students are working in pairs or triples and at the center of the photo is one working independently.

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AAPTHQ @aapthq.bsky.social · 15/04/2025

Register for the AAPT High School Physics Teacher Camp happening on Aug. 3rd! This is a great opportunity for high school physics teachers to discuss topics such as inquiry labs, standards-based grading, equity, and other important issues. ow.ly/V0jp50VpHfV #ITeachPhysics

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Megan HG @meganhg.bsky.social · 11/04/2025

Chag Pesach sameach to all who celebrate. The holiday begins at sundown Saturday and continues for 7 or 8 days, depending on your tradition.

Photo of a Jewish seder plate containing a roasted egg, parsley, lettuce, charoset, horseradish, and a shankbone.

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Reposted by Megan HG

Elizabeth Warren @warren.senate.gov · 03/04/2025

Public schools change students’ lives every single day, but Donald Trump is trying to dismantle our public education system. I asked, and you shared. Here are a few stories about America’s incredible public school teachers.

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Megan HG @meganhg.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

Meet the Variable Velocity Tumble Buggy, ready for *even more* adventures in your physics classroom thanks to a DC motor controller. How to do this super simple mod: kalamitykat.com/2025/04/01/v... #iTeachPhysics #modphys

Tumble buggy with a DC motor controller installed "under the hood"

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