The First Week

The first full week of school is over and we are all, both students and teachers, grateful for the three day Labor Day weekend. Except for the oppressive heat and humidity common to this time of year, things went well.

My first year chemistry students seem interested in the work, especially the new activity I developed on the scientific method. I found a set of empty boxes that once contained greeting cards, placed a D-cell battery in each, and used duct tape to seal them.
Part one of the activity involved determining what was in the box, without opening it of course. The students shook, turned, and listened to the box as they argued with each other about the contents. Each group had to turn in a written report with their observations and hypothesis; the oldest member of the group assigned to be its leader.

In Part two they made a “Cartesian diver” out of an empty plastic bottle, small test tube, and some tap water. Their written report had to include an explanation of how it works. I posted the answer to each “scientific problem” on a new web page I set up for my classes at blogspot.com. I wanted to get them used to looking there for class information so I exploited their natural desire to know what was in the box by not telling them, but letting them know that they could find the information there. I also posted a link to their homework assignments and files of their handouts that could be downloaded if necessary.
Several students who lost the original handouts this week downloaded copies at home. The explanation for the Cartesian diver activity was a U-tube video about how to make one. There is a playlist music box as well, along with links to webelements.com , and homework help web sites. I plan to add more links as the year progresses, building the page into a major resource for my classes.

The A.P. Chemistry class took its “summer homework test” Tuesday and Wednesday. The grades were acceptable, but I had hoped for better. It is obvious to me that some extra review will be necessary. After the summer homework test one student dropped, and I recommended that another two do the same.

One student, a young lady who got a 53% (the worst grade in the class) on the test, sent me the email below:

“im worried about the grade i received on the summer homework test. do you have any suggestions on what i should do?”

My reply was:

“Your grade was significantly lower than the average in the class. I noticed that you had problems on several different topics--especially those that were not covered in Chemistry A. The purpose of the summer homework was to emphasize those skills that are necessary to master before beginning AP Chemistry. For Honors Chemistry students this was review material, but for those who took Chemistry A, about 1/3 of it was new material. Students who took Chemistry A needed to spend extensive time over the summer mastering these necessary skills.

If you did spend extensive time this summer and still did not master the necessary skills I would recommend dropping AP Chemistry now. On the other hand, if you did not study this summer as you should have, you may still be able to get up to speed, but it will take weeks of intensive review and work over and above the normally assigned class work.

Your records indicate you are a very good student who qualified for Honors Chem, and if she had taken Honors Chemistry would have easily mastered the necessary work. But you took Chemistry A instead of Honors, and took a year off between Chemistry A and AP Chem, neither of which is recommended for success in AP Chemistry.

You are the only one who knows your motivation and determination to catch up. I will not press the matter one way or the other, and will support you whether or not you decide to drop. If you decide to stay you will need about 2 hours a week of intensive review that I will gladly help you with. You need to think about these things, maybe discuss it with your parents and/or guidance counselor before you decide.”

Now I will wait to see what happens.

The First Day of Classes

Many schools now begin with a shortened schedule for the first few days. We began on Wednesday, August 20th with an 11:45 dismissal; each class meeting for 25 minutes. On the first day I assign seats and pass out the state test books. I pass around a blank seating chart and tell the students to print their names in the proper space. They are told that it is their first intelligence test of the year; can they get their name in the correct space. The seating charts were returned correctly the first time by all but one class. In my 5th period regular Chemistry class one of the young ladies put her name in the wrong box, resulting in half the room being incorrect. Their second try was successful.

The 1st period AP Chemistry class appears enthusiastic and ready to work, with the exception of one young lady who has already asked if she can drop. I filled out the paper-work for her without trying to talk her out of it, and sent her off to talk to the guidance counselor. I know there will be a few more of them dropping after they take their “summer homework” exam next week.

The Honors Chemistry and regular Chemistry “A” classes I have been assigned are filled with students whose parents or older siblings I have taught; more than half the names being familiar to me. I will ask each one personally if they have such a connection to me when I check their materials in lab next week. We spent the first two early dismissal days going over the class policies and handing out sheets of information. The first full day, Friday, we began the lesson on scientific notation. This is mostly a review topic, it being covered in Algebra I, but I have to teach them how to use their scientific calculators to work with these types of numbers. The Honors Chemistry and Chemistry A classes begin studying the same topics, but differentiate towards the end of chapter 2.

My home room class is all the sophomore students (19) from my 5th period Chemistry A class and two sophomores from the Biology class next door. Since all homerooms are the same year in school I lose my 5th period juniors and get the two sophomores from the mostly freshmen Biology class.

Fifth period is a double period because of lunch. My Chemistry class meets for the first 45 minutes, has a 25 minute lunch, and then returns for 20 minutes of homeroom. I have decided to bring my lunch this year and eat in my room. The administration does not like us to do this, but does little to discourage the practice. It is the only time of the day when I can collect my thoughts in solitude.

Monday we check into lab. I check to make sure that each student has the materials I assigned them to have for class; book sock, binder, scientific calculator, and class notebook. It is their first grade in Chemistry, each item being worth 5 points. We then go over the lab safety rules and point out the location of the fire extinguisher, safety shower, and eye wash station in the lab. They will take the “Lab Safety Quiz” the next day.

Chemistry Boot Camp

As I mentioned in a previous post, I attended a week-long AP seminar in early July. I was one of 7 teachers taking the class. I had gone to AP courses before, once for Chemistry and another time for Calculus, but neither were as intense as the one this summer. Our fascinator described her approach as “total immersion” but I would describe the experience as “Chemistry Boot-Camp.”

The week began with registration on Sunday afternoon, followed by dinner with the other AP teachers and facilitators. All together there were about 30 teachers at the week’s activities from 4 different AP subject areas. After dinner, we went to the classroom across campus and were introduced to the AP fascinator who was to conduct the class for the College Board. We were asked if we had brought the assigned materials, but nobody had because a list was never sent. We then took a test to see what we all knew. The questions were basic Equilibrium Chemistry and I had no trouble with it.

Breakfast was served each morning from 7:00 to 7:45am, with class beginning at 8:00am. The first morning, Monday, I got to the cafeteria early for coffee and something to eat. The food all week was outstanding. The meals were more like a hotel buffet than college cafeteria food, and the conversation during meals with the other teachers were enlightening and useful.

Class began at 8:00am sharp with our tests from the night before being returned. I got 19½ out of 20 possible points. The facilitator took off ½ point because I did not explain one of my answers. The question did not ask for an explanation, but who am I to argue. She said that she was happy because everyone got at least half the points possible. The next two hours each day were taken up by doing problems from old AP exams. Each day at about 10:00am we had a 30 minute break, followed by another hour or so of problems and instruction.

Lunch provided a welcome break from academics for an hour, as well as time to get to know the other teachers in my group. We came from all over the mid-west, some traveling eight hours to get there. I was the only one to teach in a private school, with the exception of the fascinator who retired from a public school system to teach in an all girls Catholic school. We shared a common set of complaints about our schools—the same set of complaints you would hear from any group of teachers.

We meet again at 1:00pm in the lab where we spent the afternoon doing experiments. During the four afternoons we performed 10 experiments, sometimes 3 different labs running at once. We were dismissed at about 3:45 each afternoon. Dinner was served at 5:00pm, but instead of taking a break after lab each afternoon, we usually stayed in the science building working on our lab reports and homework until the cafeteria opened.

After dinner we reported back to class for another two hours of work before being dismissed for the day after 8:00pm. The other subject areas were usually dismissed after dinner to work in their rooms on individual projects. After the evening session I would spend 1-2 hours in my dorm room working on problems. The other subject areas took Thursday evening off and went out to have dinner together at some local restaurant, while we had a sandwich and meet in the study room of the dorm to work on a multiple choice exam we were assigned for the next morning.



Friday was our last day, and we got up early to clear out of our room, pack the car, and eat breakfast. Our class meet at 8:00 and worked until 11:00 when we were finally dismissed for the week. I was exhausted, and welcomed the solitude of the 4 hour drive home.

All-in-all, I got a lot out of the weeks work. I came home with a number of new ideas and activities that should work with my students. The insights I discovered during the week will, hopefully, help improve my student’s scores on the AP exam. But I might have come away with much more if the work had not been so severe. The old saying “a mile wide and an inch deep” comes to mind when I think about the curriculum that week, especially lab. I feel I might have gotten more out of the experience if work had been tempered to enhance depth and understanding. But I would recommend something like this for someone else even if I would have done it differently myself.