Neapod: A Fabulous Tool for the Science Classroom

Hello  again!

I hope you are settling into your school year nicely and you are ready to add some exciting technology into your daily drills!

Currently I work in a 1:1 district - all students have chromebooks.  In the past, I've had to work hard to incorporate a technology component into each chemistry lesson.  However, with Nearpod - it has truly made planning and assessing my classes so much easier.

Most of the time, my students' days start out with a 5-10 question quiz.  Usually these assessments are formative in nature, but after a couple of days reviewing the content, I do convert the grade earned into points.  Nearpod has been an absolutely amazing tool for assessing my students and assessing them often!  When the students enter my classroom I post an access link on the overhead.  The students immediately get their Chromebooks out (or cell phones if they forget their Chromebook) and plug in the code.  I can see how many students are logged on in real time.  Students can record their answers in the form of multiple choice, short answer, or even draw a diagram!  You can even see which questions they are answering incorrectly.  But that's not all - Nearpod can even grade your multiple choice assessments for you, and once everyone has completed the questions, you can share the results with each individual student!  Immediate feedback!  My students love it because it really helps them gauge if they understand the material or not.  I love it because it takes minimal effort to make a quiz and it does the grading for you!

An actual printout of my student's assessment data.  The subsequent pages are not included - but they display the answer choices for each multiple choice question for each student.

I've also been exploring the use of Nearpod for flipping my classroom.  Any Nearpod presentation can be converted into a homework assignment for students to do before they come to class the next day.  It is so easy to create a presentation!  You can directly import any Power Point into Nearpod!  Then to "Nearpod-ize it" I place little check point quizzes throughout the presentation for the students to answer.  It really holds them accountable.  And of course the opposite is true, you could broadcast your Nearpod in real time with your students, instead of assigning it as homework.  I haven't used that feature too much, because I am focusing on flipping my classroom.  Want to see the most recent homework I assigned to my students?

Follow these steps:

1. Go to www.nearpod.com
2. Click "I'm a student"
3. Type in the access code: GOCPV
4. Click the arrows on the left and right to scroll through the presentation.  Feel free to even take my quizzes!  :)

Getting ready to implement NGSS?  The drawing feature can address any model building standards or even arriving to a consensus.  You can anonymously share student models and discuss the inaccuracies in each model.   I recently had the students draw heating curves for water.  We were able to address the components of a good graph and alleviate any misconceptions or inaccuracies.  It was perfect!

Now for some really good news:  You can use Nearpod for FREE!  You have most of the features available in the free version.  I'm telling you though, once you start, you won't be able to stop!  Even your students will keep asking for more!

If you have any questions about how to use Nearpod or suggestions for use, never hesitate to reach out to me.

Happy Teaching!

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Ms. Razz is an enthusiastic chemistry teacher in New Jersey.  She often counts herself to sleep at night using molecules or by reciting Avogadro's number. (For real.) She believes that every student has the power to learn anything, even chemistry.  After all, she remembers this hustle didn't always come easy to her. She's also a Teachers Pay Teachers seller and you can view and purchase her lessons here.

Part III - Fundamental 5 - Recognize and Reinforce and Writing Critically

Welcome back!

This is my final book review post on the Fundamental 5.  If you would like to read the two previous blog posts, please click here for Part 1, and here for Part 2.  So, I've had a little less than three weeks to get to know my classes this year, and I can tell you that the Fundamental 5 has truly transformed me as a teacher.  Today, I will discuss the last two components for implementation in your classrooms.

So often, only the highest achieving students are recognized for their academic successes.  The chapter "Recognize and Reinforce" not only emphasizes the importance of recognizing the journey to success, but also how to keep these positive  behaviors occurring on a regular basis.  The authors of the Fundamental 5 cite research conducted by Marzano on the integral part of recognizing effort and the impact it has on student achievement.  On a more personal note in my classroom, I often emphasize the importance of "grit."  I love this TED talk by Angela Lee Duckworth to help understand the power of grit.

Not only should we praise our students for their efforts, it is important to have the praise be both personal and specific.  For example, just yesterday I was trying to roll a cart full of lab materials out of my classroom and into the hallway.  Two students could see I was struggling to open the door and push the cart at the same time.  One of the students held the door for me.  It was a very kind gesture, and even though I didn't know the student's name, I was sure to turn to him and thank him for holding the door.  Instead of simply just saying "good job,"  or "thanks" I praised the behavior by name (specificity) and looked directly at the student (personalization).  This simple act of acknowledgement not only will promote this positive behavior from occurring again, but his friend that was walking with him would also be more likely to repeat the same behavior in the future.

The final chapter in the Fundamental 5 entitled, "Write Critically" takes us through the importance of writing as an integral part of the classroom culture.  Through writing, students can construct meaning and purpose to the content learned.  Writing critically can occur in a variety of ways including: lists, comparisons, mind maps, exit tickets, etc.  No longer does writing critically simply encompass essay writing.  According to the authors, the critical writing that takes place in your classroom must have the intent of creating abstract thoughts into concrete understandings.  The very act of students writing critically about a concept can quickly transform a typical "chalk and talk" lesson into student-centered learning.  Furthermore, the rigor of the lesson is immediately raised due to student reflection and it allows for a great formative assessment if the writing pieces are collected and reviewed by the teacher.

It is my hope you have truly enjoyed my book review of the Fundamental 5.  In the last three weeks I have been working hard to implement all practices on a daily basis.  Not only have I seen quite an increase in student respect, but it has allowed my students to feel empowered to do well.  It has truly made me think about how to transform my teaching and to make my classroom a fantastic learning environment for all students.  If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it!

Happy teaching!

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Ms. Razz is an enthusiastic chemistry teacher in New Jersey.  She often counts herself to sleep at night using molecules or by reciting Avogadro's number. (For real.) She believes that every student has the power to learn anything, even chemistry.  After all, she remembers this hustle didn't always come easy to her. She's also a Teachers Pay Teachers seller and you can view and purchase her lessons here.

Part II - Fundamental 5 (FSGPT)...

Hi again!

Last time I posted, I spent most of the time talking about one of the fantastic books I read this summer.  Specifically, I described how to implement two very important pieces of the Fundamental 5.  To read the previous blog post, click here.  

Today I will focus my energies on explaining the third component of the Fundamental 5: Frequent, Small-Group, Purposeful Talk about the Learning, or FSGPT.  So, I'll be honest, I am a task master in my classroom. I like to fill my students' brains up with as much knowledge as I possibly can while they are with me.   Since I do check for understanding in a variety of ways and because I like to spend more time explaining the content, it often leaves little time for anything else.  Well, the Fundamental 5 has helped me change my ways.  Teachers should take advantage of this strategy after they have taught an important concept or after 10-15 minutes of direct instruction.  

The strategy goes something like this: A teacher provides a "seed question" related to the instruction.  So for example, a seed question could be, "Compare the criteria used to distinguish a physical change from a chemical change."  Students discuss the answer to this question in groups of 2-4.  It's never a long conversation - 30 seconds to 3 minutes, tops.  This aspect of the Fundamental 5 allows students to focus on the learning as well as bring higher levels of understanding on Bloom's.  Of course, during the discussions the teacher must remain in the "Power Zone" to monitor insights or misunderstandings.

For years, one thing I always talked about with new teachers is how students have a type of "kid speak" that maybe adults are not so in tune with.  Allotting class time for your students to discuss concepts allows for increased learning because a student's peers can serve as a "translator" for a student who maybe does not understand "adult speak" as well.

So this is one practice that I plan to implement a lot more this coming school year.  Recently, my district has purchased a wonderful web application called Nearpod that can help.  My school is 1:1 - every high school student has a Chromebook.  It is my plan to implement this component of the Fundamental 5 by taking control of the students' screens and having them answer questions as a group in real time.  Nearpod allows students to diagram, answer multiple choice questions, and provide short answers to questions.  It even allows me to display student work anonymously on the overhead.  Truly, this is an incredibly engaging tool, and combined with my new knowledge of the Fundamental 5, I know my students will benefit immensely.

Next time I'll be finishing up this book review with the last two components of the Fundamental 5: Recognize and Reinforce and Writing Critically.  Until then... happy teaching!  :)

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Ms. Razz is an enthusiastic chemistry teacher in New Jersey.  She often counts herself to sleep at night using molecules or by reciting Avogadro's number. (For real.) She believes that every student has the power to learn anything, even chemistry.  After all, she remembers this hustle didn't always come easy to her. She's also a Teachers Pay Teachers seller and you can view and purchase her lessons here.

Teacher summers: Rest, Relaxation, and READING

Hello again!

If you have already started your school year, I hope it is going well so far.  If your year hasn't started yet, I hope you are enjoying your last few weeks of freedom.

Naturally, when summer rolls around teachers establish some high hopes for their summer breaks: Rest, relaxation,  and of course READING. This summer I indulged in quite a few books including:

Your Atomic Self: The Invisible Elements that Connect you to Everything in the Universe
Periodic Tales: A Cultural History of the Elements from Arsenic to Zinc
The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction

I thoroughly enjoyed each of these, but by far, I believe my teaching practices will benefit significantly from the implementation of The Fundamental 5.  While I include many of these practices already, there are definitely some things I hope to incorporate this year.

The whole premise of the book is that high quality lessons have five major components:

1. Frame the Lesson
2. Work in the Power Zone
3. Frequent, Small-Group, Purposeful Talk about the Learning
4. Recognize and Reinforce
5. Write Critically

My plan over the next few blog posts is to discuss my implementation of these five aspects of quality instruction in my classroom.

1. The beginning and the end: "Framing the Lesson"
What knowledge and skills do you want your students to acquire out of your lesson?  How might your students demonstrate they have learned these skills?  Framing the lesson begins with stating the objective of your lesson in student friendly verbiage.  For example, objectives can be posted on power points and student note sheets in a "We will..." statement.

• "We will identify and provide examples for the steps in the scientific method."
• "We will identify matter as pure substances or mixtures."

When ending your lesson, your students will need to demonstrate they have acquired the necessary skills and knowledge.  To do this, the second part of framing the lesson uses a task-based objective in the form of an "I will..." statement.

• "I will create an an experiment using the scientific method."
• "I will complete an exit ticket that classifies matter as pure substances or mixtures."

Notice that the beginning lesson objective is low on Bloom's taxonomy ("identify") but as the lesson progresses to the ending objective moves to higher order skill sets ("create, classify").

Personally, since I teach older students, I prefer to list my objectives under the following heading: "After today you will be able to..."  I just feel it gives my lesson a little more of a young-adult-like feel to it.

2. Where you teach matters: "Work in the Power Zone"
Do you teach from your desk?  Most likely - no.  Why?  Because you know that when you are too far from your students, the less likely they are engaged in your lesson and classroom management issues will arise.  Positioning yourself right in the middle of all the action in your classroom will not only decrease poor student behavior, but will also allow you to instantaneously address misconceptions and increase student performance.  Furthermore, positioning yourself in this manner allows you to take a continual assessment of your students' understanding of the content.  It's a small change, bit it can yield some BIG results.

In my classroom I like to spend time in the center and the two furthest corners of the room.  Students in these areas are often inadvertently overlooked during lecture-based teaching.  During small group guided inquiry, I tend to move about the room from the perimeter to observe student interactions.

Try implementing these easy changes into your lessons and you will certainly be amazed with the outcome!  And if you haven't already done so, pick up The Fundamental 5 and read about #3 in preparation for my next blog post.

Until next time...

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Ms. Razz is an enthusiastic chemistry teacher in New Jersey.  She often counts herself to sleep at night using molecules or by reciting Avogadro's number. (For real.) She believes that every student has the power to learn anything, even chemistry.  After all, she remembers this hustle didn't always come easy to her. She's also a Teachers Pay Teachers seller and you can view and purchase her lessons here.

Super Secondary Science Giveaway! 8/9-8/14

Hello! Today I have some exciting news!

Myself and some of THE TOP secondary science teachers are teaming up for some fun giveaways! Enter mine for a chance to win a $30.00 shopping spree in my Teachers Pay Teachers store. Have you been eyeing up my new set of nuclear chemistry power points? Or how about my First Days of School bundle?

Maybe, the Next Generation Science Standards are on your mind. My design your own experiment is sure to cover the science and engineering practices.

OR MAYBE you're focused on making this year's Mole Day your most memorable one yet!  My mole day celebration bundle is sure to please!  These products and many more could be yours by participating! Click the box below to enter the giveaway. The winner will be chosen at random on Friday, August 14th.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Want to know what my friends are raffling off? Make sure you "blog hop" to enter their giveaways too! Good luck!

An InLinkz Link-up

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Ms. Razz is an enthusiastic chemistry teacher in New Jersey.  She often counts herself to sleep at night using molecules or by reciting Avogadro's number. (For real.) She believes that every student has the power to learn anything, even chemistry.  After all, she remembers this hustle didn't always come easy to her. She's also a Teachers Pay Teachers seller and you can view and purchase her lessons here.

"Happy New Year!"

Today's blog post is about these three little words.  To most, these words are used at the stroke of midnight on January 1st.  Heck, even my own students look at the title on their bellwork the first few days of school and question, "Happy new year?"  As if to say I got the date wrong or something.  For myself and my colleagues of course, it means the start of a new school year.

I really think these two times of year have so much in common.  Think about it.  There is such a sense of renewal for me when I meet my new little chemists each September.  I'm simply a ball of excitement and nerves as I walk into my classroom and anticipate the upcoming year.  Not only that, but my resolutions are always the same: "Eat lunch every day," "go to the bathroom during your prep," and "exercise at least three times a week."  And of course, you can't forget about the science teacher related resolutions: "I will do at least one guided inquiry activity per week," "incorporate more engineering activities," oh, and the good old: "I'll never take longer than a week to grade lab reports."  Like the resolutions I make in January, it's not so easy sticking to these but I do the best I can.  Depending on what is going on in my personal/professional life at the time can really dictate how well I hold up my end of the bargain.

I really loved this article that Edutopia published:  Excellent Habits of an Excellent Educator.  If you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend reading it now.  In short, the article asks you to examine your habits and reflect on things that you can improve upon both in and out of the classroom.

It is my hope that as you begin your new school year, you are filled with much of the same excitement, anticipation, and dedication to not only your students, but to yourself.

Happy new year!

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Ms. Razz is an enthusiastic chemistry teacher in New Jersey.  She often counts herself to sleep at night using molecules or by reciting Avogadro's number. (For real.) She believes that every student has the power to learn anything, even chemistry.  After all, she remembers this hustle didn't always come easy to her. She's also a Teachers Pay Teachers seller and you can view and purchase her lessons here.

It's that time again...

...the Teachers Pay Teachers back to school sale is here! I have been hard at work all summer adding even more creative, professionally done, and engaging lessons to my store. So while you fill your days with sun and fun, I've been hard at work posting many of those products I've had a few requests for.


Take at look at the newest addition to my store: Nuclear Chemistry Lesson Plan Bundle  (Click on the picture for more details!)

I've organized the lessons into 45-minute intervals for easier teacher-prep and student understanding.  Bellwork, power points, student note sheets, exit tickets, a quiz, and test are ALL included.  Help your students differentiate between nuclear and chemical reactions, balance nuclear reactions, study transmutations, and relate the uses of radiation to every day life with this AWESOME lesson plan bundle!

Or how about some help implementing the NGSS?  Try my Design Your Own Experiment Lab using Magic Capsules! (Click on the picture for more details!)

Students will pick from three variables to study.  The activities is highly organized with sections for students to record their hypothesis, experimental variables, data tables, procedures, and conclusion.  You'll love it because it's a cinch to grade!  Perfect for reviewing experimental design in high school or reinforcing experimental variables in middle school.  My students had a blast with this experiment last year and I know yours will too!

Maybe you don't teach chemistry, but need some help with classroom management?  My First Days of School BUNDLE is sure to please!  (Click on the picture for more details!)

Perfect for anyone who is looking to tidy up their transitions in between activities, ideas for rules, policies, and procedures, or any new teacher who really has no idea where to start with their classroom management plan.  Many of my policies are adopted from Wong's book, The First Days of School.  If you haven't read it yet, I HIGHLY recommend you pick it up asap and read through the sections on classroom management.  But hey, if you really don't have time to read the book, this bundle will at least summarize how to start you school year off on the right foot!

No matter what you're looking for, I firmly believe my store has something for everyone.  Best wishes on a wonderful back to school season and sale!

Happy Teaching!

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Ms. Razz is an enthusiastic chemistry teacher in New Jersey.  She often counts herself to sleep at night using molecules or by reciting Avogadro's number. (For real.) She believes that every student has the power to learn anything, even chemistry.  After all, she remembers this hustle didn't always come easy to her. She's also a Teachers Pay Teachers seller and you can view and purchase her lessons here.

Teachers Pay Teachers Milestone Achievement!

Hello all!

2014 was an exciting year for me: I got married, bought my first home, moved to a new school, and reached a TpT Milestone! You can see my milestone intro here.

I knew that I was approaching my milestone mark, but was unsure if I would make it in 2014.  To celebrate, I am offering 20% off my entire stock of TpT lessons from January 4th-7th.  So if that lesson plan bundle is still in your cart or on your wishlist, now is great time to purchase!

I wish you all the best for a happy, healthy, and wonderfully educational New Year.

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Ms. Razz is an enthusiastic chemistry teacher in New Jersey.  She often counts herself to sleep at night using molecules or by reciting Avogadro's number. (For real.) She believes that every student has the power to learn anything, even chemistry.  After all, she remembers this hustle didn't always come easy to her. She's also a Teachers Pay Teachers seller and you can view and purchase her lessons here.

New adventures with Wordle...

Hi followers,

Just spent some time playing with Wordle and wanted to share the Wordle that was made using this blog:

Trying to think how I can incorporate this into my classes this year. Anyone have some ideas to share?

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Ms. Razz is an enthusiastic chemistry teacher in New Jersey.  She often counts herself to sleep at night using molecules or by reciting Avogadro's number. (For real.) She believes that every student has the power to learn anything, even chemistry.  After all, she remembers this hustle didn't always come easy to her. She's also a Teachers Pay Teachers seller and you can view and purchase her lessons here.

Guess what?!

It's that time again!  The Teachers Pay Teachers back to school sale is on!  Amazing how it seems July has just flown by, and here we are prepping for the infamous TpT sale.  I am excited, and I know you are too!

This is the perfect time to stock up on all those must-haves to kick off your school year with ease.  I'm offering 20% all of my items!  Over the last year I have added so many more lessons including my newly designed Advanced Placement Chemistry Course resources.  As a matter of fact, I just posted a HUGE bundle of Power Points (19 to be exact!) that include all the content that you need to teach your course according to the College Board guidelines.

Since I've had my TpT store up and running, this has been my most popular item: The First Days of School - Start your year off right!  Which doesn't come as much of a surprise because it's applicable to all areas of science.  It's an amazing bundle of resources that helps you to establish quality routines, procedures, and expectations for your students with ease.  But I can't take all the credit, Harry Wong, was a huge inspiration for this bundle.  In fact, many of the procedures I adopted were taken from his book: The First Days of School.  If there's one book that you read this summer - it has to be that one.  I plan on reading through it in the next few weeks as I prepare to meet me new little chemists.

What things do you do to prepare for a new and exciting school year?  (Besides making hundreds of trips to the copy machine!)

Thanks for reading,

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Ms. Razz is an enthusiastic chemistry teacher in New Jersey.  She often counts herself to sleep at night using molecules or by reciting Avogadro's number. (For real.) She believes that every student has the power to learn anything, even chemistry.  After all, she remembers this hustle didn't always come easy to her. She's also a Teachers Pay Teachers seller and you can view and purchase her lessons here.

Fake it until you make it...

... or at least don't let your nerves get the best of you.

Finally, summer vacation has arrived!  And I cannot think of another year of teaching that this time of rest and relaxation is more needed.  As I mentioned in some of my previous posts, I spent most of my free time (everyone in the educational world knows "free time" for a teacher really just means time not spent with their students) slaving away prepping materials for my new Advanced Placement Chemistry course.  I have spent innumerable hours planning, developing, and creating course materials to use over this past year.  I truly do not know how I did it, nor how my students can insist that I did it WELL for that matter.  As I reflect on this past year as a new AP chemistry teacher here are some things I learned:

1. It's always easier to get easier.  When teaching an advanced placement curriculum, it seems like many teachers go into their classrooms like gangbusters and drive the rigor up to such a high, almost unattainable level.  "I mean it is Advanced Placement after all!"  True, and it should be rigorous - AP courses are elective courses.  Your students are there to learn valuable course material where their understanding will be assessed by the College Board at the end of the course.  So, why not turn up the heat a little bit, then back off as the year progresses?  It takes time to become adjusted to this type of course work, and students need to know your expectations right out of the gate.
2. It's OK if you don't know the answer.  You may take it pretty hard the first time a student asks you a question that you aren't sure of the answer.  This is not a sign of weakness - it's a sign that you are human.  Often I find myself guessing at the answer, but then telling the students we can "google it" if we have enough time at the end of the lesson, or tell them that I will get back to them tomorrow about it.  Students often associate teachers being the "all knowing."  And this is of course not true.  It is not possible to know everything. In fact chemists in particular, spend years studying one tiny intricate part of their content area.  It is unrealistic to expect perfection.  Plus, I think your students will appreciate your honesty and will often interpret it as being more approachable in the long run.
3. AP students are self-sufficient.  Don't have enough time to cover all necessary material in a chapter?  Make it known from the beginning of your course that your textbook is meant to be read, studied, and outlined.  That way if you don't have quite enough time to cover the material in class the students can pick up where you left off.  Further, I spend at least two days in class where the students work on problems in the chapter.  This is prime time for students to read over the material you didn't cover, and ask questions about what they don't understand.  Remember, these are AP students, they're in your class for a reason.  It's expected they have good work ethic and will make it known if they need assistance.

Of course there are others, but I'll save that for a future blog post.  I very much wish you a restful and relaxing summer vacation.  You deserve it, teach!

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Ms. Razz is an enthusiastic chemistry teacher in New Jersey.  She often counts herself to sleep at night using molecules or by reciting Avogadro's number. (For real.) She believes that every student has the power to learn anything, even chemistry.  After all, she remembers this hustle didn't always come easy to her. She's also a Teachers Pay Teachers seller and you can view and purchase her lessons here.

Too Many Snow Days, Too Little Time!

I don't know about you, but I haven't had a full week of school since our winter break in December! Amazing, I know.  But no matter how many days we have off  - the AP Chemistry Exam will still be on May 5, 2014.  What's a AP chemistry teacher to do?

As a first year AP chem teacher, the days off have aided me in getting some much needed work done - after all, I click through approximately 25-30 power point slides in a 40-minute class period.  That's enough work to make even the strongest of the strong break out in hives.  Ahhh, AP chemistry, not only do you scare students and teachers alike, but you can make a teacher break out in a sweat before her class starts and skip lunch on a daily basis.  Good times.  

I look forward to next year when most of my time will be spent learning how to teach the content instead of being one day ahead of my students.

So what topic are you covering now?  Right now we're on Acid-Base Equilibria.  I just finished my power points that I'll be using for this unit.  Amazing what a snow day off from school can help a teacher accomplish!

I hope you are staying warm, slip and slide-free, and keep pushing through the AP content even despite this horrible weather we're having in the north east.

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Ms. Razz is an enthusiastic chemistry teacher in New Jersey.  She often counts herself to sleep at night using molecules or by reciting Avogadro's number. (For real.) She believes that every student has the power to learn anything, even chemistry.  After all, she remembers this hustle didn't always come easy to her. She's also a Teachers Pay Teachers seller and you can view and purchase her lessons here.

One semester down, 1 more to go....

Hi all.

Thanks so much for reading.  Here I am again, another snow storm has reared its ugly head, and I'm finally able to have some downtime.  I've spent the last semester teaching three sections of honors chemistry, one section of academic chemistry, and one AP chemistry.  Oh, and yeah, during all that, I got married.  So I would think that one could understand why I haven't updated my blog more recently than September.  I've barely had any time to post any of my newest creations on my Teachers Pay Teachers site.  Thankfully though, I'm still posting.  In fact I've posted a bunch of my newest creations for advanced placement chemistry.

PPT: Introduction to Chemistry - AP
PPT: History of Atomic Structure, Naming and Formula Writing - AP
PPT: Review of Stoichiometry - AP
PPT: Solution Stoichiometry and Chemical Reactions - AP
PPT: Atomic Structure and Chemical Periodicity - AP
PPT: Gases - AP
PPT: Themochemistry - AP

It seems right now that I am the Power Point Queen in that class.  I'm still working on branching out of my comfort zone, but it can be tough, since this is the first time I've ever taught as this level and the timing is of concern with me.  I always feel pressed for time, and a strong drive to assess my students often due to this time constraint.  Even though the college board has taken out some topics due to their revised curriculum, I still find the curriculum very overwhelming and I can only imagine how my students must feel.  The other AP chem teacher assures me it's normal to feel like this, but I don't care so much about me - it's more about my students and if they're really able to get the most out the content in the time constraints we are given.  I guess we'll know in May when they take their exam.  Fingers crossed that I did something right this year.

So, how are your classes going?  Any words of encouragement as I set off to teach some of the hardest topics in all of chemistry: acid-base equilibria?  Let me know!

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Ms. Razz is an enthusiastic chemistry teacher in New Jersey.  She often counts herself to sleep at night using molecules or by reciting Avogadro's number. (For real.) She believes that every student has the power to learn anything, even chemistry.  After all, she remembers this hustle didn't always come easy to her. She's also a Teachers Pay Teachers seller and you can view and purchase her lessons here.