Year: 2019 — Province: British Columbia
Certificate of Achievement Recipient
Physics, science, math, grades 9–12
Pitt Meadows Secondary School, Pitt Meadows, British Columbia
"Mr. Dueck is an exceptional educator. He is innovative in his teaching practices, always willing to go the extra mile for a student, and has improved the lives of every student that walks through his door. His impact on students lasts a lifetime."
— Former student
Kelvin Dueck's interest in engaging his students in science and math knows few bounds. Once, he went so far as to jump out of a plane, on a dare from a student, while teaching a physics lesson about free fall. This legendary performance is available on YouTube.
Teaching approach
With his motto, "Mistakes are expected, respected, inspected and corrected," Kelvin helps students learn how to learn. Rather than encouraging students to call on mindlessly memorized mindless equations to solve problems, he teaches them how to derive the physics involved for themselves.
STEM in the classroom
- Adopted tablets as early as 2004 and has made the most use of them ever since: digitized his lessons and posted them online as downloadable PDFs; posts homework answer keys, extra practice questions, video clips and more; now screen-casts his lessons, uploading them to YouTube.
- Makes physics fun and relevant: sets challenges based on a concept in physics, such as ripping a phone book in half; lets students try out physics toys, such as a hovercraft; coaxes students try out the classroom bed of nails to prompt discussion of force, area and pressure.
- Uses online simulations in class to demonstrate concepts and let students test them in engaging, interactive ways, such as learning about electrical fields by trying to guide a charged hockey puck through an onscreen maze.
Outstanding achievements
- Subject of a short 2011 film by Microsoft on how he uses OneNote to help students succeed.
- Regarded as an educational leader in the school district: created and presents professional development session called "Newton's Laws for Elementary Teachers"; delivered another session on how to incorporate energy conservation into the new Science 10 curriculum.
- Introduced district to a wide-variety of technologies to help teachers, including a superior marks calculation and reporting program, a tablet that allow teachers to write on the screen with a stylus, and digital textbooks.
- Leads the district's science curriculum committee: shares resources and teaching strategies, mentors new physics and math teachers, suggests equipment in which the district can invest, and achieves cost savings.
Get in touch!
Pitt Meadows Secondary School
19438 116B Ave
Pitt Meadows BC V3Y 1G1
604-465-7141
PMSS_Reception@sd42.ca
https://pmss.sd42.ca/, https://www.pittmath.com/
Twitter: @PittSecondary