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Re: AAPT meeting



David,


I would suggest that you do get involved with the first timers group. I
remember my first two meetings, and it was difficult to meet up with
peers with similar interests. (Thank goodness for the TYC21 community!)
This was particularly true when we met at a convention type facillity.
Usually summer meetings are on a campus, and the dorm living makes
things easier in terms of making teaching connections.

If you are arriving early for the workshops, I am sure you will become
involved very quickly and wont have any difficulty finding things to wet
your appetite. Still as for the first timers group, I would reccommend
you should give this program a try. This program is a relatively new
endeavor of AAPT, and I am told it went particularly well last winter.

As for me personally, when I was new to AAPT I found the workshops to be
the most beneficial. Like you I had several projects specifically in
mind. Still I found many sessions to attend, far too many to go to, and
far more than I had expected. I am sure you will find this true as well.

I understand your concern about staying over so as to maximize your time
and resources. Since you have several workshops that you are planning
on attending, I would suggest that you look at the announcer, and email
the leaders of the workshops you are planning on attending for their
suggestions. They will likely know how many sessions and which sessions
that relate to your interests. Another bet would be to look at the
sessions sponsored by the HS committee, and pre HS ed committee.
Looking at the announcer, I see 4 sessions sponsored by the HS committee
on monday, two tuesday, and one wednesday. The Pre HS ed committee has
two sesions on monday. If these are your areas of interst then a monday
stay might be in order.....

Finally, there are many committees that organize sessions for a broad
audience and I am sure you will find something of interest in those
sessions as well.

I hope this helped your planning somewhat.

Look forward to meeting you in Rochester (Check the TYC resource room),



Bill Waggoner
Metropolitan Community College
PO 3777
Omaha NE 68103 - 0777
W 402 738 4752
W 1 800 228 9553
H 402 553 2574
bwaggoner@metropo.mccneb.edu


-----Original Message-----
From: David Strasburger-fac [mailto:David_Strasburger-fac@NOBLES.EDU]
Sent: Monday, June 18, 2001 8:11 AM
To: PHYS-L@lists.nau.edu
Subject: AAPT meeting


Greetings -

Are there PHYS-L subscribers who have been to AAPT meetings in the past
and can make suggestions to one who has never attended this event?

I plan to go to the meeting for the first time this summer. I am making
the trip to Rochester in order to attend several workshops being taught
in
the weekend before the meeting gets into full swing. I'd like to make
travel plans now so I can get a cheaper ticket, but try as I might I
can't
squeeze a lot of meaning out of the Announcer or the AAPT web site.
It's
hard to tell how interesting the sessions are likely to be, or how much
this is just a schmooze-fest. If I plan to skip town on Monday am I
likely to be kicking myself over something I'll miss in the coming week?
Are there particular must-see elements to this event?

AAPT has a 'first-timers' program and says they will give guidance to
novices, but I suspect that the guidance will come from people who are
already pretty rah-rah about big professional meetings. Ordinarily I
have
pretty low expectations for conferences. I'm making this trip to get
practical, technical advice relating to two curricular projects I have
already in the works. I like to meet colleagues, but I like it better
when they are local. It's rare that I go to big teachers' meeting and
rarer still that I come away inspired, but it _has_ happened....

David Strasburger
Physics Teacher/Science Department Technology Coordinator
Noble & Greenough School