Why Does Chemistry Matter

I want to teach Chemistry from the perspective of the learner and train my students to be the best learners they can be. First, I want to inspire the burning question in my student’s mind “Why does chemistry matter?”. Not understanding why chemistry matters was a small part of why I really struggled with Chemistry, not just in high school but throughout completing my degree and I want to use that struggle to motivate me to always look at things from the learners’ perspective. For this reason, it is important to keep sight of and reflect upon how difficult that information was to learn the first time. Being humble in answering all questions because all questions no matter how small invigorate a student’s desire to learn. When I walk into a classroom

I could tell my students what they will learn by mapping out everything on the syllabus but I see myself drawing the questions out of my students guiding them to new topics that build on the old ones. Thus, helping the students develop intuitive learning and providing them with the feeling of self-directed learning. This type of self-directed learning may mean we jump around in the material especially if my students are anything like me and want to know what all this information is leading up to. It may be necessary at times to give students a taste of what they will be able to do by the end of the semester after they have achieved the subjects learning objectives. My turning point in chemistry and what turned it into an exciting subject that I look forward to teaching was recognizing how relevant it is now and in the future. I look forward to overlaying existing connections in the students minds with chemistry making it relevant to their everyday lives. For instance, one project could be to bring in a label of a food product and drawing out the molecules found on the food label. Creating an association between everyday items and their related chemistry is just one way to help students apply learning objectives. I want to make sure the students understand how their brains learn and teach them how to be good learners. One way I can help students learn is by explaining the

Initiating contact and building relationships with the students and parents is an essential part of my job as a teacher. One way I will make myself accessible and approachable to students and parents is by holding office hours at the high school level that may include an incentive like coffee or a candy bowl available to those who visit. Regardless of parent or student availability outside of school I will make an effort to be reachable through a variety of appropriate means because I believe effective communication and parental support fosters a positive learning environment that is open to questions. Getting to know my students and what their past learning experiences related to my subject area have been will allow me to fill in learning gaps necessary to