Parents, Guardians and Students,

We’ll be spending quite a bit of time together this year so I thought it would be a good idea to introduce myself and tell you a little about my teaching philosophy. I come to this high school by way of a career in industry as a product and services director at AT&T and IBM. Last year I took early retirement from AT&T and began teaching CP and Honors Physics at Westhill and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

During my career I have had the privilege of developing and collaborating with scientists and engineers from AT&T/Bell Labs and IBM’s Watson Labs to build various next generation communications and IT capabilities. In recent years we succeeded in pioneering and launching a new class of communications services over Internet Protocol (IP) that included voice (VoIP), video and messaging (email and IM) and fiber optic network services.

On a more personal level, I live in Fairfield County with my wife in our (usually) empty nest; my kids are relatively recent high school grads and have successfully transitioned onto the college scene. I enjoy jogging, bicycling, sailing, bridge, chess and snow skiing. I’m a director of the New England Regional Ski for Light organization and serve a guide to visually impaired skiers and cyclists.

The course in Physics that we have begun will be a unique challenge. Physics requires a combination of high level conceptual thinking and the ability to apply past coursework in algebra, geometry and trigonometry to real, physical problems. We’ll need to go beyond learning facts, definitions and equations in order to apply physical principals to real, concrete situations. We’ll also be doing labs and projects where we do independant research, present findings, conduct and observe experiments, develop and analyze data and develop hypotheses and theories about the underlying laws of nature.

One of the most important qualities that the course demands is persistence; mistakes and errors are normal and expected. It’s critical, especially for those students who are accustomed to learning things quickly, that they don’t get discouraged if physics does not come easily. Persistence and effort is critically important to your success in life.

The investment in diligence, personal stretching, time and energy that is needed to succeed in this course will be very significant. There will, however, be a great payoff for the effort. Students will have a greatly expanded understanding of the physical world and they will also be taking a major step forward in acquiring the thinking skills and discipline needed to be successful in college and in particular, a career in science and engineering..

As a transition course to the college level it’s important that you take personal ownership of your learning experience in physics and collaborate closely with your fellow students in labs, projects and study groups. I would like you to think of me as both a teacher and coach; I will make myself freely available to you. For students considering careers in the sciences and engineering I would be happy to provide guidance about potential career and educational choices.

I am privileged to be your teacher and you have my personal commitment to help you through the tough spots and make this learning experience positive and enjoyable. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at the school.

Sincerely,

Mr. Aibinder