(In addition to the words prepared by Hubisz below, John Hubisz is the Past President of the AAPT, Editor of the Recent Report on Middle School Texts, a former TS AAPT President and recipient of the Robert N. Little Award.)
I started young and had the distinct advantage of knowing just what the students were doing in the laboratory and classroom. I coupled that with my own distinct approach to studying and have stuck with it ever since. My department head was very supportive of my rather unconventional approach and held off opposing forces from within and without the department. From the opening day of class students know what is expected of them. They rebel, but I usually win. They want lectures - I give them mini-lectures. They want to know what will be on the exam - I show them how to determine what is really important to learn. They do not want any material that is not in the book - I require outside reading and projects. They want me to pick their outside topics - I require that they be creative, with my help. I present a core of material wrapped around a theme and try to get them to expand their own horizons by having them do the same around a different theme.