Is teaching high school physics a "waste" of a PhD? I'll talk about that, and argue---invoking a novel, dimensionless quantification of teacher satisfaction, invented just for occasions like this---that secondary instruction may be more rewarding than teaching physics at other levels. I will discuss the pros and cons of my profession with utter honesty, and warn prospective teachers of the one potentially fatal---and possibly surprising---consideration against the field.
Bio: I hold an AB from Harvard and an MS and PhD from the University of Illinois, all in Physics. I've been teaching at University Laboratory High School in Urbana---it's the quasi-Gothic building northwest of MRL---since 1997.
View Dr. Carrubba's seminar slides.
