I couldn’t help but start off my Kenan Fellows Blog with a reference to my favorite physics joke of all time.  My name is Alexandra Solender and I am a physicist and teacher! I am beyond ecstatic to begin my Kenan Fellows Journey and thought I’d make my first blog post about who I am as a teacher and a person!

I have known I wanted to be a teacher since, well, basically forever.  I can’t remember a time that I didn’t know that’s the direction I was heading.  For the longest time I thought that I was going to be a math teacher…until I got put in a high school physics class against my will and absolutely fell in love with the material.  I know first hand how the content that I teach can be intimidating and discouraging, just from the name alone!  Physics is amazing and it is beyond relevant to any student as long as the teacher helps them find that connection, even if it is just one small thing.  I try and make my classes fun and exciting, all while trying not to take myself too seriously.  Here’s a video I made to help demonstrate resonance:

I show it to my students every semester because I’m being silly and informative at the same time and it catches their interest.  When I was younger I used to be huge into theatre and perfoming so I try and keep that in my life now.  Every day that I teach physics I get to perform for my students; I bring energy to the class and help them find the same excitement that I get from physics.

This past April I got to meet Neil deGrasse Tyson when he came to Elon University (my alma mater).  This was an incredible experience for me.  Dr. Tyson is an amazing astrophysicist, but more importantly, he demonstrates how important it is for us to be invested in science education.  This man is a physicist who is well known by kids who may not even think they like science.  How often do students know the names of current scientists?

Selfie with NdGT

Dr. Tyson and I got the opportunity to talk about how the different science fields need to work together and how important it is to incorporate science into all other disciplines and vice versa.  It was wonderful to see that how I approach science education is the same way that someone I admire approaches science education as well.  He is also a prime example of scientists being real people: he took a selfie with me.  What more could you ask for?

Oh, and the joke that goes along with the punchline (my blog post title) is: What do you get when you cross a sheep with a goat?