Faculty Focus: Joe Lyons

A. My father and mother were teachers, and my sister is a teacher, so teaching runs in the family, but I got here on a different path. I was a Naval Officer and served in the Navy for 24 years. My daughter was attending an all-girls school in Hawaii very similar to GPS. After I retired from the Navy, I happened to be at her school in the middle of the day, and the high school principal and I were chatting. When she found out I was retired, she asked me what I studied in college, and when I told her physics, she told me to apply because they had an opening. I was fortunate to be selected for the position and have been teaching physics to high school girls ever since.

A. Make learning fun! I strive to make the physics classroom a fun place to be so that students look forward to entering the door. I believe that if they come into the classroom with a positive mindset they are going to be open to learning.

A. Two things come to mind. First I have really enjoyed working with my colleagues. We have an exceptionally talented faculty at GPS who truly care about their students. They are great teachers, but they have also been extremely welcoming and helpful to me as I joined the team.  Secondly, teaching at an all-girls school is very rewarding because we get to see the girls be their best. Single-sex education has the benefit of avoiding some of the distractions and gender stereotyping that would be seen in a coed school, allowing girls to develop to their fullest. I have really enjoyed playing a small part in their development.

A. I tell my students at the beginning of the year that physics is fun because we get to draw cartoons and play with toys. But the true beauty of physics is how it explains the world around you. Everybody has learned some physics just by the virtue of living. For instance, if you want to throw a ball to a friend, you have calculated the physics in your brain of the force and angle needed to get it there to oppose the force of gravity and air resistance, without even having studied it in class. So the thing I really like about teaching physics is seeing the students’ “a-ha moment” when we study the specifics of how something works and they then see the connection to the real world.

A. First off, it is more fun than just sitting at a desk doing problems. It doesn’t feel like learning when you are doing activities. When students have the opportunity to learn by doing, they are more likely to enjoy the learning and to retain the knowledge they have learned. Also, tactile learning stimulates more of the senses as they learn. If more of the brain areas are engaged, this leads to a deeper understanding of the subject matter.

A. Where do rainbows come from? Why is the sky blue? Why do objects slow to a stop? Why do things fall when you drop them? All of these questions can be answered by studying physics. Studying physics is enlightening because it explains how the world around us works. It helps develop critical thinking and strengthens problem-solving skills that you can use in any aspect of your life, not just physics.

A. Being interested in what my students are doing outside of my class helps me to better connect with them in class. Because when they know you see them not just as physics students, but as real people, they respect that and will try to perform better in class.

A. As a teacher, I am looking forward to another year of developing positive relationships with my students and seeing their successes. But I’m not only a teacher. I’m also a parent. My youngest is a senior at the US Naval Academy and graduates this May. I am really looking forward to that proud moment.

A. The teachers I remember are the ones who cared about me as a person, not just a student, and the ones who made learning fun. I hope that when my former students remember me, they think of the fun they had in class and know that I cared for them as people, not just students.