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Tag Archives: anecdotes
Science Works and I’m Still Married!
Today I did a quick & simple demo of the activity series of metals. I had a solution of copper chloride. Metals that are more active than the copper ions in solution (such as aluminum) react, displacing the copper ions … Continue reading
A Compliment
Every teacher has at least one kid who needs the teacher’s attention for every minute of every class. Often, those are kids I really enjoy having in class, as long as they have a sense of where the line is … Continue reading
Student-Written Recommendation
When I found out that I wasn’t going to be teaching in Peabody next year, one of my favorite students (yeah, I know, we’re not supposed to have favorites) asked if there was anything she could do. Knowing that this … Continue reading
Measuring Up
I got a nice comment from one of the students in my organic chem class yesterday. She had visited Boston College and looked over several of the problem sets & answers for their intro organic chem class. She made a … Continue reading
Peel & Eat Kleenex: I Double Dog Dare You!
I’ve been buying Kleenex Anti-Viral tissues for my classroom lately. I have no data on whether they make a difference, but given how well diseases travel through schools, I figured it couldn’t hurt. For the record, the active ingredients in … Continue reading
Watching the Light Bulbs Turn On
Like many teachers, I live for those moments when I can watch a light bulb go on in one of my students’ heads. When it happens, even once, it can make my entire day. My organic chemistry class has been … Continue reading
Administering a Hard Lesson
One of my students turned in a science fair project that turned out to be his sister’s project from last year. I find it amazing that he thought he could get away with it. His sister’s project won second prize … Continue reading
Posted in Administrivia, Anecdotes, Challenges & Frustrations
Tagged administrivia, anecdotes, challenges
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“Worms…Eww!”
My school holds its science fair every year in March. Two of the kids in my organic chem class are doing a study on the effects of zinc on earthworms. (The motivation for the project is that one of the … Continue reading
Academic Integrity
I gave my honors chemistry II students a lab practicum for their mid-term exam on Friday. I divided them into of three students per group (assigned randomly) and gave the groups two problems to solve and write up (in a … Continue reading
Posted in Administrivia, Anecdotes, Challenges & Frustrations
Tagged administrivia, anecdotes, challenges
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Please Stop Trying to Be Nice
Today was my first formal observation of the year. (For the vast majority of you out there who aren’t schoolteachers, non-tenured teachers typically get formally observed three times a year. Write-ups of those observations become part of the teacher’s permanent … Continue reading