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Hello all, I wanted to get some advice from educators who are more skilled in chemistry. I have always had trouble with the topic. In high school I failed, and in my college biology class it was the only unit that I didn't get an A on the test. It just doesn't click with me. I have had tutors and extra help, and I have gotten to the point where I can understand the basics, but I know when I teach, I will need to be able to explain with clarity and answer questions. My question is, what ways can I help improve my knowledge on the subject in a way that I will be able to help my own students. I want to be able to clearly explain the subject to them, because I feel like it was never taught to me in an organized way. Any resources of ideas I could use? Thanks, Lauren Cooke

Hello Lauren, Have you checked out "The Stop Faking It" series of books by William Robertson? I am aware of three Chemistry basics books you may find helpful to get a grasp of the fundamental chemistry basics. My experience has been over time as I've taught a subject, the more my understanding grows. You will make some mistakes, and that's a great way to learn as well Hope this helps! Joni

I would suggest the NSTA scipacks for support. There are not many of them which deal specificially with chemical concepts, but I am not certain what you are seeking specifically either. Can you provide more information and for which grades you teach?

I was a chemistry major who eventually became a chemistry teacher, and I find the scipacks enormously useful. This is because they address student misconceptions which often for the life of me, I cannot figure out why they misunderstand. I do all I can do, but sometimes, they still don't seem to connect with the material. In this instance, I've found this AAAS website, with a study of students' misconceptions across the science curriculum enormously useful. Check the topics tab.

Hi Lauren,

I would second Gisela's recommendation. The Scipacks are really helpful. If you don't want to spend the money, you can also access the same information in the Scipacks by using the Science Objects.

I would also recommend checking out the American Chemical Society's Education site. It was some very helpful resources you can use with your students.

Hi Lauren You have already received a number of outstanding recommendations. I would add to this, that seeing how other teachers put a class together can be very helpful. Experienced teachers have a sense of how to explain complex content and are more aware of what is problematic for students. Today we are fortunate to be able to watch classes on line. GPB has an excellent HS chem class that can be watched on line. Better yet there are clips with real students working with real problems http://www.gpb.org/chemistry-physics/term/chemistry

This may sound archaic although I consider myself quite progressive...read their text and be able to answer the questions for the sections that you cover. I consider myself not enough of a textbook teacher. I'm so progressive the students hardly read the text. I do however believe that reading comprehension is important, so they do read and answer questions from a few, maybe three or four sections of the text. If your are able to read and answer questions from all of the sections that you teach, your confidence will grow. Then, assigning them sections to read and answering their questions about the questions will be easy. When we read, we read together (one student one sentence), keeps them on their toes and paying attention. We answer some questions together, I do some teaching, then, they are on their own (in pairs) for the rest of the questions.

Thank you everyone for the resources and suggestions. I too am struggling with teaching basic chemistry since chemistry was not my favorite nor did I excel at it. Fortunately, we have common core curriculum so I rely heavily on our resident chem teacher for help. Today, I gave a test on the electron-dot-diagram and bonding and I made some impossible combinations of elements that wouldn't be able to bond (oops!). However, most of the students pointed out my error, which in itself is evidence for learning (and I told them so as well).

I think I might be masking the truth, over-protective mommy type by saying, I'm so progressive...Their text is just written very high-level. It took the Curriculum Coordinator's plea for us to have them read more and really by her saying, if you never expose them to that level of reading, they never have a chance to practice or experience it, and I agree. I taught physical sci to 9th graders six times, which is intro to physics 1st quarter then intro to chem second and this is my 3rd time teaching Chemistry to 11 and 12th. I wanted this subject b/c it is one of my passions, my first loves are bio and anatomy and phys. I am the leader of the Chemistry team for curriculum mapping and there are five of us teaching chem. One of our marine bio teachers was just thrown into it this year and is in the same position as Lauren, it's just not her thing, so we all help her out. I think the best advice here is Pamela's about asking for help from experienced teachers.

I also ditto what Gisela recommended. I am a biology major and life science teacher, yet, in the Cycles of Matter and Energy unit, we touch upon atoms and molecules and unless one has a grasp on basic chemistry, It can get quite messy which in turn makes for a room of confused, blank stares. The NSTA scipacks are a super resource. I am currently taking the Physical Science - Chemistry course and find that although the information is quite complex and chock full of detail, it does help to clarify and address misconceptions not only of students but those that I have myself. It does get rid of a ton of anxiety about getting those higher level questions from students since the scipacks offer many interactive and video clips that help to explain the "textbook" definition of words and explanation of concepts. I am an extreme visual learner and without the NSTA scipacks, I would find myself struggling even more than most with the textbooks (I agree with Roxanne's comments on textbook writing). Although it has taken me over a month so far to complete the Chemical Reactions Scipack (though I don't get to visit it every night), I can still remember what I already "learned" and read about through its teachings (TONS of detailed information is provided), imagine that! I have one more section to go and we shall see how I do on the assessment, however, the Scipacks are an extremely great go to resource.