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Well... The first live tutorial class for CVC Honors Chem was...


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A bit of a crazy mess. :biggrin:  My headphone mic (which worked fine last week when I tested it NUMEROUS times) decided not to work today until I switched browsers.  So we did eventually get some audio going.  The students all learned to use text chat and draw on the whiteboard and we did work some problems, albeit rather quickly.

This is why I don't rely on the live classes to accomplish the teaching part of the course.  I don't trust live technology. :wink:

And I love the students I've met so far in my courses!  Looking forward to meeting the rest!

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I've often joked (kind of but not really) to my college students that when teaching was done with chalk and chalkboard, there really was nothing that could crash or not work.  Even if you dropped the chalk and it broke, class could still just continue right on. :biggrin:

I'm glad your boy loved the class, @Roadrunner, as scrambled as it was!

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Well, our life has been a crazy mess and dd didn't look over the week's assignments until today.  I haven't ordered the lab stuff yet bc I know I have an entire AP chem set somewhere in the garage in a box that we haven't unpacked yet and I don't want to spend $200 when I know we probably only need a fraction of what is in the kit you suggested.  I didn't expect there to be a lab this week (and this week arrived about 2 weeks too early for me!!) Sure enough, there is a lab.  And I still haven't found the box. (I can't promise my bad attitude won't rub off on dd b/c I have made some rather bad attitude comments about the missing box. ?

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5 minutes ago, 8FillTheHeart said:

Well, our life has been a crazy mess and dd didn't look over the week's assignments until today.  I haven't ordered the lab stuff yet bc I know I have an entire AP chem set somewhere in the garage in a box that we haven't unpacked yet and I don't want to spend $200 when I know we probably only need a fraction of what is in the kit you suggested.  I didn't expect there to be a lab this week (and this week arrived about 2 weeks too early for me!!) Sure enough, there is a lab.  And I still haven't found the box. (I can't promise my bad attitude won't rub off on dd b/c I have made some rather bad attitude comments about the missing box. ?

The first lab can be done without the kit, 8, so you don't need to put out an APB for the box just yet. ?  If you have the AP lab kit, then you'd only need to get the lab manual for the Standard Kit 2nd edition and you'd probably be set.  And, because I know things can get stuck in shipping and the beginning of the year is crazy, I posted the procedure for the lab that's due this week.  You should have until Week 4 before you need to find that box or order the lab manual from QSL. ?

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5 minutes ago, 8FillTheHeart said:

Well, our life has been a crazy mess and dd didn't look over the week's assignments until today.  I haven't ordered the lab stuff yet bc I know I have an entire AP chem set somewhere in the garage in a box that we haven't unpacked yet and I don't want to spend $200 when I know we probably only need a fraction of what is in the kit you suggested.  I didn't expect there to be a lab this week (and this week arrived about 2 weeks too early for me!!) Sure enough, there is a lab.  And I still haven't found the box. (I can't promise my bad attitude won't rub off on dd b/c I have made some rather bad attitude comments about the missing box. ?

 

The labs horrify us here. I have a clumsy, clumsy kid whose mother never got anything right in her own labs in college. I remember perfect test scores in my Chem class and 8AM labs where nothing worked out as I was promised it would.

I have a lab kit sitting on top of the bookshelf. I don’t want to touch it, and I am scared to let my kid touch it. ? This is going to be one entertaining year. 

 

Oh, I have fun memories of physics lab where I was always in charge of worse components. You should have seen me after Jetta’s Galileo lab. I was completely soaked in water, and I think my boy did a little extra of that lab just for entertainment. At least nothing had a potential to blow up in physics. 

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27 minutes ago, Roadrunner said:

 

The labs horrify us here. I have a clumsy, clumsy kid whose mother never got anything right in her own labs in college. I remember perfect test scores in my Chem class and 8AM labs where nothing worked out as I was promised it would.

I have a lab kit sitting on top of the bookshelf. I don’t want to touch it, and I am scared to let my kid touch it. ? This is going to be one entertaining year. 

 

Oh, I have fun memories of physics lab where I was always in charge of worse components. You should have seen me after Jetta’s Galileo lab. I was completely soaked in water, and I think my boy did a little extra of that lab just for entertainment. At least nothing had a potential to blow up in physics. 

The entire reason I signed Dd up for this class is bc I detest chemistry. And I dislike chemistry labs even more. There is absolutely NOTHING I dread more about homeschooling than high school chemistry....and that is not even close to being an exaggeration. How I managed to marry a chemE and homeschool a kid who thought pursuing chemE was a great idea, I have no clue. Chemistry labs are akin to torture from my perspective! So I can completely commiserate with you!

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43 minutes ago, Roadrunner said:

 

The labs horrify us here. I have a clumsy, clumsy kid whose mother never got anything right in her own labs in college. I remember perfect test scores in my Chem class and 8AM labs where nothing worked out as I was promised it would.

I have a lab kit sitting on top of the bookshelf. I don’t want to touch it, and I am scared to let my kid touch it. ? This is going to be one entertaining year. 

 

Oh, I have fun memories of physics lab where I was always in charge of worse components. You should have seen me after Jetta’s Galileo lab. I was completely soaked in water, and I think my boy did a little extra of that lab just for entertainment. At least nothing had a potential to blow up in physics. 

 

10 minutes ago, 8FillTheHeart said:

The entire reason I signed Dd up for this class is bc I detest chemistry. And I dislike chemistry labs even more. There is absolutely NOTHING I dread more about homeschooling than high school chemistry....and that is not even close to being an exaggeration. How I managed to marry a chemE and homeschool a kid who thought pursuing chemE was a great idea, I have no clue. Chemistry labs are akin to torture from my perspective! So I can completely commiserate with you!

 

@Roadrunner - I promise that there is little to nothing that can blow up in the QSL kits! :biggrin:

@8FillTheHeart - I think we've had this discussion before.  How you feel about chemistry is how I feel about teaching writing and literature. :tongue: If I had more kids coming up through my homeschool, we could have had an awesome trade - your expertise for mine and vice versa. :smile:

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18 minutes ago, Dicentra said:

... How you feel about chemistry is how I feel about teaching writing and literature. :tongue: If I had more kids coming up through my homeschool, we could have had an awesome trade - your expertise for mine and vice versa. :smile:


Oh no! I would LOVE to have had your DD in my Lit & Comp co-op classes! We have so much fun discussing! And I would have loved to have had DSs do Chemistry with you! SO excited for you that you are setting out on this adventure to share your passion with this community! (:D

Edited by Lori D.
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Such an organized class! We really like the weekly checklist and the weekly schedule. It's especially useful for younger students who are transitioning to more intense classes and learning to see how important it is to manage their time. You put a lot of effort into the recorded lectures, and I can see how it adds more to the daily readings.

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1 hour ago, Lori D. said:


Oh no! I would LOVE to have had your DD in my Lit & Comp co-op classes! We have so much fun discussing! And I would have loved to have had DSs do Chemistry with you! SO excited for you that you are setting out on this adventure to share your passion with this community! (:D

So many fun and incredible people willing to teach English!!  All you folks who have the ability to teach writing and an abiding love of teaching literature astound and amaze me.  I stand in awe. :smile:

When dd was in Grade 2 or 3, we read "Jabberwocky".  When we finished, she said to me, "That was weird, mummy.  What does it mean?"  I said to her, "I don't know, peanut.  Let's do math and science." :biggrin:

Luckily, dd had three wonderful years of English instruction with Christine Proctor and Brigid Thompson of Blue Tent Classes.  Which was fantastic.  Because if she had had only me, we'd probably still be on "Jabberwocky". :laugh:

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1 hour ago, crazyforlatin said:

Such an organized class! We really like the weekly checklist and the weekly schedule. It's especially useful for younger students who are transitioning to more intense classes and learning to see how important it is to manage their time. You put a lot of effort into the recorded lectures, and I can see how it adds more to the daily readings.

Planning and organizing is my hobby. It probably isn't the most mentally healthy hobby but it makes me happy. :biggrin:

That was my purpose in organizing the work the way I did - so that students had a little freedom and flexibility in planning their work... But not too much. :smile:  Planning their own time within a two week block is manageable for most high school students and isn't overwhelming.  And it's a gentle way of leading them towards semester-long or year-long course management which they'll need to do at university or college.  It also means that there shouldn't be one of those "How can you have done NOTHING for four months?!?" moments in December. :laugh:

I'm glad you like the recorded lectures.  They seemed to be the most efficient way of guiding the students through the material and are definitely meant to pair up with the textbook readings.

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Jumping in to say how excited my son is about this class. He's a tech kid and totally gets that things like yesterday happen. I will say he's the kid who once he's done the required lab parts wants to go farther and see what he can "break".  Should be an interesting year.

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12 hours ago, 8FillTheHeart said:

The entire reason I signed Dd up for this class is bc I detest chemistry. And I dislike chemistry labs even more. There is absolutely NOTHING I dread more about homeschooling than high school chemistry....and that is not even close to being an exaggeration. How I managed to marry a chemE and homeschool a kid who thought pursuing chemE was a great idea, I have no clue. Chemistry labs are akin to torture from my perspective! So I can completely commiserate with you!

 This is how I feel about homeschool biology. Fortunately, none of the colleges that dd#1 has even contemplated applying to requires biology. :cool:

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13 hours ago, Roadrunner said:

 

The labs horrify us here. I have a clumsy, clumsy kid whose mother never got anything right in her own labs in college. I remember perfect test scores in my Chem class and 8AM labs where nothing worked out as I was promised it would.

I have a lab kit sitting on top of the bookshelf. I don’t want to touch it, and I am scared to let my kid touch it. ? This is going to be one entertaining year. 

 

Oh, I have fun memories of physics lab where I was always in charge of worse components. You should have seen me after Jetta’s Galileo lab. I was completely soaked in water, and I think my boy did a little extra of that lab just for entertainment. At least nothing had a potential to blow up in physics. 

 

Labs are from Satan.

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On 8/21/2018 at 8:17 AM, mom1720 said:

Jumping in to say how excited my son is about this class. He's a tech kid and totally gets that things like yesterday happen. I will say he's the kid who once he's done the required lab parts wants to go farther and see what he can "break".  Should be an interesting year.

? Glad he understood the tech issues!  I was typing "AAAAAARRRRGGGHHHH!!!" into the textchat at one point, I think. :laugh:

There shouldn't be too much trouble he can get into with the QSL lab kit :biggrin: but if he wants to go off and try things that are outside the scope of the course lab program, tell him to email me first and I'll do a safety run-down with him and any "project" he'd like to try!

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4 hours ago, RootAnn said:

 This is how I feel about homeschool biology. Fortunately, none of the colleges that dd#1 has even contemplated applying to requires biology. :cool:

That's because biology labs are gross and yucky. :biggrin:  Chemistry labs are waaaaaaaaaay better and more fun!

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2 hours ago, Lori D. said:

Hope you still have room in your regular Chem class and can take a late-joiner -- last night I sent the link to your website to someone in my homeschool group who was specifically looking for a good online Chemistry class! (:D

Thanks, Lori!  In Reg Chem, I can still fit someone in. ?  Since we've already started, though, the sooner they contact me and get registered, the better!

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2 minutes ago, Roadrunner said:

How many labs is the honors class doing this year? ?

Somewhere around 25 labs but I'm still playing around with the final number. ?  I want the students to have a good lab experience, particularly with analyzing data, but I don't want them overwhelmed, either.

If it's any consolation, the first lab doesn't even involve any chemicals.  And there is no lab for Chapter 2!  But there will be two labs for Chapter 3 beginning in Week 4 so you can start mentally preparing for that now. :wink::tongue:

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10 hours ago, SeaConquest said:

Connie,

After Honors Chem, would a student be prepared to DE in a college course that uses the Oxtoby text?

https://www.amazon.com/Principles-Modern-Chemistry-David-Oxtoby/dp/1305079116/ref=dp_ob_title_bk

Hi Monique,

As long as the student is strong in math, he/she should be ready for a course using that text after having taken an Honors Chem course.  If you're talking about my Honors Chem in particular ? , I do think the student would be ready - again, assuming a strong math background, as well.  Modern Chem (quantum chem) is almost more about math and physics than it is about traditional lab-based chemistry.

Hope that helps!

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31 minutes ago, Dicentra said:

Hi Monique,

As long as the student is strong in math, he/she should be ready for a course using that text after having taken an Honors Chem course.  If you're talking about my Honors Chem in particular ? , I do think the student would be ready - again, assuming a strong math background, as well.  Modern Chem (quantum chem) is almost more about math and physics than it is about traditional lab-based chemistry.

Hope that helps!

 

Thanks, Connie. They use this text for the honors chem sequence at my local Univ of Ca, and I wondered if it would be doable after your honors chem class, so thank you for the information. Do you need to have completed Calc/Calc-based physics before attempting this text? The student is strong in math generally. I appreciate your input and expertise.

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3 minutes ago, SeaConquest said:

 

Thanks, Connie. They use this text for the honors chem sequence at my local Univ of Ca, and I wondered if it would be doable after your honors chem class, so thank you for the information. Do you need to have completed Calc/Calc-based physics before attempting this text? The student is strong in math generally. I appreciate your input and expertise.

It would depend on how much of the text they actually do. ?  Is this for a first year chem course?  It seems heavy on the quantum theory for that.

The only place that Calc is going to come into play is in Chapters 4, 5, & 6.  If the course works through those chapters in their entirety, then I would recommend the student have a Calc course beforehand.  If only the theory and not the math will be covered in those chapters, then a Calc course first isn't going to be as important.

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6 minutes ago, Dicentra said:

It would depend on how much of the text they actually do. ?  Is this for a first year chem course?  It seems heavy on the quantum theory for that.

The only place that Calc is going to come into play is in Chapters 4, 5, & 6.  If the course works through those chapters in their entirety, then I would recommend the student have a Calc course beforehand.  If only the theory and not the math will be covered in those chapters, then a Calc course first isn't going to be as important.

 

It is a year-long sequence (Chem 6A-C), so I imagine that they would cover all the material. It looks like first semester Calc is a co-req.

https://www.ucsd.edu/catalog/courses/CHEM.html

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23 minutes ago, SeaConquest said:

 

It is a year-long sequence (Chem 6A-C), so I imagine that they would cover all the material. It looks like first semester Calc is a co-req.

https://www.ucsd.edu/catalog/courses/CHEM.html

That would make sense.  It also recommends physics be taken beforehand.  That makes sense, too.  My course would give the student a solid, rigorous grounding in traditional lab-based chem and we do go through some quantum theory but not any of the math.  I didn't figure that was necessary at the high school level. ?  None the less, if your student is strong in math, they should be fine.

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