About Me

My name is Joe Cossette and I currently teach 9th Grade Physical Science and 11th and 12th Grade IB Physics at Minnetonka High School in Minnetonka, Minnesota.

I am a former engineer (Seagate Technology) with degrees from the University of Minnesota and Iowa State University (Go Cyclones!).  When I’m not teaching, grading, or preparing lessons, I enjoy spending time with my wife and two kids (3 and 5 years old), singing with the Journeymen Chorus, and finding ways to get outdoors and explore the Twin Cities by foot, bike, ice skate, and cross country ski.

I am passionate about teaching and science. This website is a space for me to share this passion through ideas and resources that I have designed in an effort to get students as excited about science as I am. :) 

Honestly, I'm more than a little surprised that so many people have found this little corner of the internet. It brings me so much joy to see how these ideas of spread around the world and I'm excited to keep sharing!

Organizations

A large part of who I am professionally is because of the amazing organizations that I have had an opportunity to work with

Knowles Teacher Initiative

I was extremely fortunate to have been selected as a Fellow in the Knowles Teacher Initiative. The foundation supports cohorts of early career math and science teachers over five years of teaching in an effort to increase retention of STEM educators. The community of passionate, talented, and driven teachers continually pushes me to reflect and grow in my teaching. Now, as a "senior fellow" I stay involved as an instructor for the  Knowles Academy  program, offering professional development for teachers around the world.

Perimeter Institute

I had the opportunity to attend the EinsteinPlus workshop at the Perimeter Institute (Waterloo, Ontario) as a participant back in 2019 and it was easily one of the best weeks of professional development that I've ever experienced. As part of this international cohort of physics teachers, I was introduced to new content and methods of how to incorporate modern physics topics in high school. In 2023 I had the opportunity to return as a facilitator for this same workshop and I continue to be amazed with the high level of resources and pedagogy presented by the Perimeter Institute. 

IB Exchange

In addition to posting many resources for IB Physics SL here on this website, I have also been contributing sets of resources to the International Baccalaureate program as they build out their collection of teacher built resources in the IB Exchange. These resources are often more complete sets that follow a week or two of material covering individual topics.

STEP UP Physics

STEP UP Physics is an amazing community of physics teachers, researchers, and professional societies that works to create and share resources that help inspire young women to pursue physics in college. I was part of the "Advocate" class of 2021-22 school year and continue to use and share the lessons developed by this program.