crazyfordlr Posted June 6, 2022 Share Posted June 6, 2022 (edited) What would you say are the key concepts that a student needs to understand to be successful in HS Geometry and/or Chem? I'm working with a friend's dd for 8 weeks. She has brain damage and the neuropsych recommended that she not take Geo. However, she really wants to do it and her private school is willing to support her with a tutor during the school year. My friend has asked me to do something similar for Chemistry. I will be "front-loading" her this summer so that she isn't walking in completely blind. TIA!!! Edited June 6, 2022 by crazyfordlr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucy the Valiant Posted June 7, 2022 Share Posted June 7, 2022 I've done this a couple of times with students in somewhat similar positions, and we were able to gain access to the book AND the syllabus for the class, which was extremely helpful. So to build confidence and "grease the wheels," we went ahead and worked on the first 2-3 weeks of material straight out, and then I hit what seemed like the biggest concepts in the syllabus for the first 2 months of the teacher's regular syllabus. It worked out okay, and that's what I'd do again in similar circumstances. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted June 7, 2022 Share Posted June 7, 2022 (edited) I would focus on a thorough math review. Many student struggle with chemistry because they lack an understanding of fractions and proportions - which is what stoichiometry is all about. Students find stoichoimetry difficult because they try to pattern-match the problems because they don't understand what they are actually doing. Edited June 7, 2022 by regentrude 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyfordlr Posted June 7, 2022 Author Share Posted June 7, 2022 Thanks for the replies! I should have access to the textbooks, but not the syllabus. I agree that I should focus of the math of chem. I think in Geometry I'm going to make sure she understands the basic language/vocab and formulas. I won't get into proofs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smfmommy Posted June 8, 2022 Share Posted June 8, 2022 Ratios. That seems to be the math that makes Chemistry hard if you don't really understand them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dicentra Posted June 8, 2022 Share Posted June 8, 2022 I'll agree with regentrude and smfmommy that math skills are going to be super important for chemistry. The most important skill is going to be reading and deciphering word problems and figuring out how to use the information given in the correct way. Definitely make sure that basic algebra skills are in place (manipulating algebraic formulae, fractions, ratios, solving for a single variable) but also work with her on word problems so that she learns a good method for approaching word problems (you may want to read this article: https://www.ldonline.org/ld-topics/teaching-instruction/understanding-word-problems-mathematics). When I teach students how to approach word problems in chemistry, I have them work the problems backwards using steps like this: 1. What am I being asked to find in the end? 2. What formulas/equations do I know that could be used to calculate the amount I need to find in the end? 3. Am I given the other amounts needed to do the calculation using the formula I've chosen? 4. If not, am I given amounts of other things that allow me to use another formula to calculate the intermediate amount that will allow me to calculate the end amount? *You may need to repeat step 4 multiple times depending on how many intermediate amounts need to be calculated. I know - looks kind of confusing written out. Trust me - it's much simpler when it's modeled by the teacher. 🙂 It does really work, though, as a method to approach word problems. I know you didn't ask anything about this so forgive me if I'm over-stepping here but will the focus be on her being successful in gaining the credits or just on her learning the material that she can and having fun with the courses? I would advocate strongly for the second scenario. I've worked one-on-one with a few students with brain injuries and traditional high school chemistry is really, really difficult for them. The theory in chemistry can be very abstract and the math, while not difficult, is almost all based on reading and deciphering word problems. All of that means that a student needs to have moved into the formal operational stage of thinking in order to be successful. (See here for a definition of formal operational thinking: https://www.simplypsychology.org/formal-operational.html ) Individuals with brain injuries may never reach that stage of development. And it's so difficult for the students to come to terms with that particularly if they were formerly good students who enjoyed and did well at school-type things before the injury. One of the students I worked with was formerly a straight-A student before his injury (which happened when he was 16) and he was so angry and frustrated that his previous plan for high school (he was planning on going into engineering) wasn't going to be feasible for him anymore based on his specific brain injury. It was heartbreaking - he needed to mourn the loss of the things he could no longer do academically but we also talked a lot about the things that he could still do. There are different ways of approaching high school chemistry from a teaching standpoint and I definitely approach the same topics quite differently if I'm teaching remedial chemistry or if I'm teaching advanced honors chem. I hope the focus will be on her learning what she can and just enjoying the wonder that is chemistry. 🙂 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyfordlr Posted June 9, 2022 Author Share Posted June 9, 2022 Dicentra, thanks for your thoughtful response, and you didn't overstep at all! Especially with Chem we are going to focus on learning how to enjoy the process. Her mom has supplied us with a chemistry set just to explore and create experiences/experments. However, she will be taking these classes for full credit. They are not electives or exploratory. Also, it's not like once she starts school she's completely on her own. She attends a private school that meets her where she's at and helps her get where she needs to go. She has a personal tutor on campus provided by the school and accommodations/IEP. She must get approval before enrolling in classes, so her advisor would not allow her to enroll in a class she didn't think she could tackle. Her brain injury occurred as an infant. So while this was tragic, she doesn't know life to be any different. I've helped her with Algebraic concepts in the past, and we were successful. That's why her mom reached out to me for this summer. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dicentra Posted June 10, 2022 Share Posted June 10, 2022 18 hours ago, crazyfordlr said: Dicentra, thanks for your thoughtful response, and you didn't overstep at all! Especially with Chem we are going to focus on learning how to enjoy the process. Her mom has supplied us with a chemistry set just to explore and create experiences/experments. However, she will be taking these classes for full credit. They are not electives or exploratory. Also, it's not like once she starts school she's completely on her own. She attends a private school that meets her where she's at and helps her get where she needs to go. She has a personal tutor on campus provided by the school and accommodations/IEP. She must get approval before enrolling in classes, so her advisor would not allow her to enroll in a class she didn't think she could tackle. Her brain injury occurred as an infant. So while this was tragic, she doesn't know life to be any different. I've helped her with Algebraic concepts in the past, and we were successful. That's why her mom reached out to me for this summer. That's wonderful that she has so much support through her school! I'm coming from a public school teaching background and the support for the students I taught with brain injuries was... me. 🙂 I'm so glad that she'll have the support she needs and I hope that, beginning with your exploration, she learns to love the amazing world of chemistry. If you and she run across any chemistry topics where you're interested in wanting more info or in asking deeper questions, you're more than welcome to reach out to me through a PM here on the boards. I love to encourage a love of chemistry! 🙂 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyfordlr Posted November 10, 2022 Author Share Posted November 10, 2022 I just wanted to give a brief update: Summer went well and my student (and her parents) were pleased with what we accomplished. I just stuck with the basics of geometry - vocabulary, triangles, circles, angles, postulates, theorems, and basic proofs. For chemistry we learned about the periodic table, states of matter, atoms, protons, neutrons, electrons, mixtures, and solutions. We did a few basic experiments and I found a chart showing what chemical compositions were used to create different colored fireworks. Mom sent me a copy of her mid-semester report card. A's in both classes! Teachers commented how engaged and knowledgeable she was, making her a class leader! Thanks for all your support helping me support my student! 7 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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