(e)Xperience ChemEd X through the ideas and opinions of its community members.
Xperience is where contributed, but not reviewed, ChemEd X resources such as blogs and opinion pieces are found. Here you can find blogs in which our contributors express their personal empiricism and polls in which you the community can provide your opinions.
This week I talked with Alice Putti who teaches Chemistry and AP Chem in West Michigan. Below are her answers to our inquiry questions:
Q1: How do you define inquiry? or What does inquiry look like to you?
This year one my goals is to use this space to talk specifically with various teachers about how they use inquiry in their chemistry classrooms. My four questions are:
I recently spoke with a chemist from industry that said that if she admits to being a chemist, it is a serious conversation ender. I can relate! I know many of you can to. My colleague, Greg Rushton, shared a similar sentiment in an article introducing himself to the JCE community.
As I maneuver through the school year, a certain rhythm develops. The start of the year brings the excitement of new classes and new students. I'm often trying new things in the fall as I've reflected on the previous year's teaching over the summer.
As this is my first blog post, I’d like to introduce myself to the ChemEdX community. I currently teach Chemistry I, Introduction to Organic and Biochemistry, and AP Chemistry at The University High School of Indiana. I use the Chemistry Modeling Curriculum in my classroom
ACS is offering an upcoming webinar highlighting safety called "Tales, Investigations, and Lessons Learned". The role of the US Chemical Safety Board will be defined. Root cause investigations of chemical accidents will be reviewed. Tips on how to prevent chemical accidents will be reviewed.
The Journal of Chemical Education is providing open access to the January 2014 issue. If you don't already have a subscriptiion, this is an excellent opportunity to check out what they have to offer. The new American Association of Chemistry Teachers (AACT) is highlighted in several articles within the January issue.
By way of introducing myself, I'd like to respond to Deanna Cullen's blog post about social media here on ChemEd X with some ideas of my own. The reason I'm here is that Deanna found me through following one of the chemistry-related Twitter chats and invited me to join ChemEd X as a contributor. I currently teach IBDP Chemistry at the American International School of Bucharest. Since my early days as a teacher, I have utilized technology throughout my instruction. I also incorporate some ideas from the modeling chemistry movement to help my students understand chemistry at the particle level. I'm hoping to share some ideas that will inspire you to try new things, and I'm also expecting to learn a lot from all of you that interact with us here at ChemEd X.
As I follow the conversations about the most recent chemistry classroom accident in Manhattan (see my previous blog post), I see that many agree that we need to advocate for adequate required safety training of our present and pre-service teachers. A good starting point is to pursue training on our own.
When it is cold outside...why not blow bubbles?