iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

I *might* just have purchased a print or two... 🤗

Reposted by Ben Wildeboer

Ben Wildeboer @willyb.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Quick question for my Spanish Physics people (esp. Mexican Spanish): What is the correct vocabulary for speed and velocity en español? Some of our EL teachers were discussing this but none have a physics background, so we want to make sure we're not way off. #iTeachPhysics

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Rebecca Solnit @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Here's the version of it I remember from 10+ years ago:

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Rebecca Solnit @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Time for this classic again.

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Ben Wildeboer @willyb.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

"AI Tutors work great for students who AI Tutors work great for!"

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Ben Wildeboer @willyb.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

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Nolan Hicks @ndhapple.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

“USDOT said the regulation will reduce manufacturers' average cost per vehicle to comply by $1,289 but increase fuel costs by more than $1,600 over the life of the vehicles.” 🤌🤌🤌 www.reuters.com/business/aut...

reuters.com

US finalizes new lower fuel economy standards in boost for gas-powered vehicles

The U.S. Transportation Department on Monday finalized sharply lower vehicle fuel economy standards, President Donald Trump's latest effort to encourage ‌sales of gasoline-powered vehicles and reverse...

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Ben Wildeboer @willyb.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

I just spent 9 days in Iceland this July and it was sunny and warm for at least 7.5 of those days... But also I think Iceland would be amazing even if it only had miserable weather.

Looking across a grassy plain in Iceland toward large flat topped mountains in the distance with an old house in the foreground.

Selfoss waterfall
Water cascades down a wide escarpment into the river below

Icelandic sheep on the side of the road.

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Ben Wildeboer @willyb.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Pivot Interactives appears to be down this morning for us - are other people having similar issues or is this a local problem? #iTeachPhysics

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Ben Wildeboer @willyb.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

The annual "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" lab practical is always a fun one. (Check the PJ day fit at the end. Idea via @meganhg.bsky.social) #iTeachPhysics

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Ben Wildeboer @willyb.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

According to the metrics of this video I'm *extremely* trustworthy, but not quite reaching full brain utilization. (Probably at 50ish)

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Ben Wildeboer @willyb.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

My two brains (oh no...wait...there's only one Brain in the picture...did I mess up this sharable quote chain 🥴)

static.klipy.com

Animaniacs: Pinky And The Brain's Angry Exchange

Alt: Animaniacs: Pinky And The Brain's Angry Exchange

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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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Ben Wildeboer @willyb.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

C'mon. We can all do math. If it's the fifth 3rd bank it's at least Fifteenth Bank Park. Could be way more even, depending on how many 1st and 2nd banks there are.

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Ben Wildeboer @willyb.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Ran across a new account posting a Tumble Buggy constant velocity lab you could buy on TpT. I commented, calling out the account for taking other people's work and selling it and mentioned Ts could find tons of free buggy labs with a quick search. Got blocked in 0.001s. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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Ben Wildeboer @willyb.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Currently Reading @emilytesh.net's The Incandescent and she's either definitely taught middle/high school or had some very good advisors who have. app.thestorygraph.com/books/e6ba34...

app.thestorygraph.com

The Incandescent by Emily Tesh

Naomi Novik's Scholomance meets Plain Bad Heroines in this sapphic dark academia fantasy by insta...

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Ben Wildeboer @willyb.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Not a fan of "Physics Teachers on Instagram" sharing vids of a super common lab saying, "check my TpT for the full activity!" 1) You don't own that activity - other people developed it. You just made a handout. 2) Us physics Ts should be sharing freely and openly w/ each other #iTeachPhysics

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Ben Wildeboer @willyb.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Welp. Maybe we should ban private schools. That'd fix the voucher problem.

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Hillary Monahan @hillarymonahan.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

When people point out that my dogs won't eat my corpse but my cats will, I feel compelled to reply that this is A) resourceful and intelligent B) an ecological favor that teeters on upcycling, truly, and C) I'm dead I didn't need those eyes anyway.

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The Onion @theonion.com · 16/09/2026

Gas Station Price Sign Using Scientific Notation

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Kingfisher & Wombat @tkingfisher.com · 15/09/2026

Behold! Yet another book available for preorder! This one has an aroace protagonist, many oddities, and a Very Good Goat. Also kind of my tribute to McKinley’s Spindle’s End, which you should read while you’re waiting.

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Ben Wildeboer @willyb.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

In Bay City, MI the Saginaw River is the obvious answer, but Culver Creek in Monitor Township is the little crick we'd XC ski on, hide in the culvert under the railroad tracks, and try to dam up with sticks in the spring.

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Ben Wildeboer @willyb.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

I don't really understand why the USA - a country obsessed with the military and independence - never pushed hard for heat pumps, EVs, etc. just so the swings of fossil fuel powered heat and transportation wouldn't be beholden to foreign political snafus and war.

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Ben Wildeboer @willyb.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Someone just watched Despicable Me 2 for the first time...

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Ben Wildeboer @willyb.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Pretty dead on - though Devil's Night probably nailed it down all by itself. The 1st Halloween after moving to CT from being raised in MI I told my students to stay safe this Devil's Night & the confusion in the room was palpable...& I was confused bc I didn't realize it wasn't a thing outside MI!

A MyDialect showing I talk most like someone from Michigan.

Graphic saying:
What gave you away:

What do you call the night before
Halloween?
devil's night

crayon
[æ] as in "man" (1 syllable, "cran")

What is your generic term for a sweetened carbonated beverage?
pop

What do you call the thing from which you might drink water in a school?
drinking fountain

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Ben Wildeboer @willyb.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Wild that I was in NYC with a little pocket map, split up from the main group and just said, "OK, we'll meet you at this corner in 6 hours..." and that kinda worked. (I mean, sure, we waited at that corner for an hour wondering if the other group had all died or....but...)

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Ben Wildeboer @willyb.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

So...we're picking up our new electric car tomorrow...

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Ben Wildeboer @willyb.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

...“teacher evaluation” is a hopeless business. [...] A teacher’s major contribution may pop out anonymously in the life of some ex-student’s grandchild. A teacher, finally, has nothing to go on but faith, a student nothing to offer in return but testimony." Wendell Berry was a real one.

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Ben Wildeboer @willyb.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

"Rats and roaches live by competition under the law of supply and demand; it is the privilege of human beings to live under the laws of justice and mercy."

A screenshot of text:
Rats and roaches live by competition under the law of supply and demand; it is the privilege of human beings to live under the laws of justice and mercy.
What Are People For?
Wendell Berry

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Reposted by Ben Wildeboer

Bree Barnett Dreyfuss @barnettdreyfuss.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

🎢🧪I recently visited a local new physics teacher's room and she inherited a LOT of stuff. It made me reflect on when I moved into physics classrooms and had to sort through other people's equipment. It can be daunting so I wrote this guide: breebarnettdreyfuss.blogspot.com/2026/08/phys...

breebarnettdreyfuss.blogspot.com

Physics Teacher Inheritance

Stuff for teaching Physics lasts a long time. We don't have as many consumable materials as Chemistry and Biology; probably only Geology tea...

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Ben Wildeboer @willyb.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

It's the second year I've used the Graph Matching with Carts activity (via @emmaphys.bsky.social, I think?). Made some minor tweaks - changed the "describe what to do" to "draw a pic of how to make it happen." #ITeachPhysics

Screenshot of a handout for the Activity:

Activity | Graph Matching With Carts
Using the Cart and Fan Cart provided, re-create the position vs. time graph given for each question below.
Then provide a written description of the motion, a velocity vs. time graph, and an acceleration vs. time graph.
Motion 1
Description of motion:
(Don't use the word "acceleration" - use speeds up or slows down.)
Draw a little diagram showing how to match this with a art on a shallow ramp. (Include the ramp, motion detector, thi art, and whether you pushed the cart or just let it go.
Draw a little diagram showing how to match this with a FAN CART on a flat track. (Include the ramp, motion detector, the ran cart, the direction the fan is pushing, and whether you pushed the cart

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Ben Wildeboer @willyb.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Geography is going to be so easy! "That's Lake America, connected to America Lake by America River, which drains into the America Seaway and into America Ocean."

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Annalee Newitz @annaleen.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Now it can be told! The sequel to AUTOMATIC NOODLE is coming next fall ... get ready for NOODLE UNION! (Also note that my editor Stephanie Stein has a way with dad jokes.)

This is a clip from Publisher's Weekly, for "book deals the week of Aug. 24, 2026." It reads: "Stephanie Stein at Tordotcom picked up world English and German rights to Annalee Newitz’s Noodle Union from Laurie Fox at Linda Chester Literary Agency. The book is a sequel to the 2025 cozy science fiction novella Automatic Noodle, set in the near future, “about a labor movement gaining steam in the pneumatic delivery tubes surrounding a robot-run noodle restaurant,” per the publisher. A fall 2027 publication is scheduled."

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DGM @notredale.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Here is the full chart with labeled axes. It is comparing homework scores to test scores. Below-average and average scorers for homework and exams appear at about the same frequency regardless of AI usage. The high homework scorers using AI, however, are not replicating that success at test time.

Figure All. Homework and Exam Scores
120+
Mean Exam Score by Homework Score
100-
62 Minutes
Exam Score
80-
43 Minutes
60 -
40-
T
80
90
100
110
Generative Al
- No Generative Al
120
130
Homework Score
Note: The figure plots the smoothed mean and its 95% confidence intervals, by homework score, separately for students who have adopted generative Al and those who have not. The data also shows the average homework completion time for Al students with homework scores of 70 and 90. The data is at the student-month level and the sample summary statistics are shown in Panel A of Table 1.

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Steuard Jensen @steuard.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

I'm going to share this with all my students! 🎢 Horizontal axis=student homework average, vertical=exam average (both scaled so 100=avg among non-AI students). The relationship is linear for students not using AI. AI can get higher HW scores, but you don't learn. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

papers.ssrn.com

The Generative AI Learning Penalty: Evidence from Chinese Secondary Education

Using 30 months of panel data on 26,811 Chinese students in grades 7-12, we study how generative AI affects homework productivity and learning. The data combine

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Ben Wildeboer @willyb.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

How it started; how it's going: Meter stick edition. #ITeachPhysics

A ratty cardboard shipping tube as my meter stick holder.

A 4" purple PVC pipe bolted to the wall as my new meter stick holder.

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Ben Wildeboer @willyb.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Are you telling me they've never ever seen a badly behaved driver?

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Ben Wildeboer @willyb.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

That panic the day before my first day back at school when I realize I have no idea where I put my school keys in June.

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Ben Wildeboer @willyb.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

You know it's back to school on Monday when I start picking out my clothes for the week on Sunday. (I was resistant to this when my wife suggested it, but honestly it makes my life so much easier. Picking out clothes at 5am in the dark doesn't always turn out great)

A picture of a laundry basket with several outfits picked out.

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Ben Wildeboer @willyb.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

I teach in a science lab built 64 years ago and last renovated over 39 years ago. I have graffiti on my tables from the late 80s/early 90s and my district had to lay off perfectly great teachers due to budgetary issues last year. But yeah. Let's do this instead.

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Jon Becker @jonbecker.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

"You’ll also see that Unbound Academy’s 2025-26 assessment scores underperformed not just its predicted targets above, but also the Arizona state averages and even the original baseline performance of its target population." I laughed. I shouldn't have...

danmeyer.substack.com

Does the Alpha School Model Work for Regular Kids?

Here is some new evidence.

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Ben Wildeboer @willyb.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

This is generally good advice that I mostly agree with, but I find the juxtaposition of this funny: "Here's how I read 50+ books a year: Read really short books! Read kids books!"

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Ben Wildeboer @willyb.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

FARTBAT! (fielder accidentally rewards the batter a tater)

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see schrader @seeschrader.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Public School

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Ben Wildeboer @willyb.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

That don't look right. (But hope he makes a billionty dollars in FA)

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