AP Physics

Uh, Max taught himself physics-

Yeah

... before he did AP Physics, 'cause he didn't take-

Regular physics

... physics before AP Physics.

Ella, Seth said Ella was doing AP-

Macroeconomics

But while this was all happening, I was in AP English in the trailers, disconnected from the PA system, and I was just reading Tess of the Derbervilles while this was all going on.

So the class ends, and then I go to my next class, which turned out to be AP Physics, which I think I actually dropped out of relatively quickly.

And one of the reasons that I took AP Physics was because each year the class went to Great Adventure, Six Flags to Great Adventure, which I believe is in New Jersey.

So I remember going into the class, and I said to my professor, Mr. So-and-so, when do we go – When do we go to great adventure? You know, being like a cheeky, jerky 17 year old.

And he goes like incredibly solemnly, we've already had a great adventure today.

So there's an Apple AP Computer Science course that teaches kids to program in Swift, which is Apple's programming language, and another one from Microsoft, which is like learn to code using Microsoft's Minecraft for Education.

And what's striking about this is, um, you know, like you can imagine that parents would not want, say, Pfizer AP Biology, right? Or Northrop Grumman AP Physics, right? Or ExxonMobil Environmental Science AP.

So it's striking that like the College Board approved the Apple course and Microsoft courses for AP, something it does in no other subject.

Yeah.

Now, if you can take AP classes freshman year, and a lot of schools will let you take, like, AP Human Geo.

Here in Santa Barbara, uh, certain programs will let you take AP Physics, and that's something you really wanna kind of dig in and, and get some tutoring or some help, because that's a very rigorous course.

Um, do that.

By all means, if you're in AP and you can take some AP classes, go ahead.

So then I taught in the private school system in Alberta, started out with just math and then math and physics for about the 10 years, 10, 15 years before I came here.

I've been at the John Cooper School for three years teaching AP physics and this year also teaching some level physics.

Super.

Well, thank you so much for the background.

um and i guess like gives you kind of like the opportunity to go off script and engage with the kids a little bit more um based on how they

respond

Yeah, and when you have that depth of understanding, I learned really early on, especially with AP Physics, that you can't be afraid to tell them that they're wrong when they've answered something in a kind and respectful way.

It doesn't seem to deter them from answering questions, which is great.

You have to understand other people know shit more than you do.

You know what they do when people bring this up in the skeptical forum? I post, um, a pr- a, a physics, AP Physics, you know when you're in high school? Advanced placement physics? I just post one question from that.

I go, "Answer that fucking question." "I, I, I don't, I don't know." I go, "Okay, that's AP Physics, high school.

Until you can, [laughs] until you can at least enter that realm, shut the fuck up about flat Earth.

It's so stupid." It's just, it's just, it doesn't...

... classes, too.

Um, and, and it was AP Physics, right? It was Advanced Placement Physics.

Okay.

And I'm going, "Okay, okay, Advanced Placement Physics." And that was-

... from their mom.

[laughs]

Uh, so it was AP Physics, and the test was impossible.

Mm-hmm.