How to go down the rabbit hole but not waste time
We are teachers. We like to know that we know stuff. Kids think that we know stuff. If you wear your lab coat out of the room,...
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Brennan Koch
Nov 82 min read
Make a buffer, test a buffer lab
Sometimes the simplest ideas actually work. Shocking, I know. Having just taught about the idea of buffers, I felt like the students...
Brennan Koch
Oct 252 min read
A simple way to teach the inverse relation of wavelength and frequency in photons.
There are many ways to teach the inverse relationship between wavelength and frequency of photons. Videos. Slinkies. But I think this...
Brennan Koch
Oct 183 min read
Teach electron configuration with Battleship!
The electron configuration unit can get a little dry. Electron configuration is a tough unit for highly connected labs. Try using this...
Brennan Koch
Oct 44 min read
How dog training can help you become a better chemistry teacher
I was listening to a bird hunting podcast about how to train your bird dog, and I realized that they might as well have been talking...
Brennan Koch
Sep 274 min read
Use chemistry tests for growth, not punishment
Tests used to be punitive. I wielded them like a weapon, seeking out those who were underprepared and chopping them down like the...
Brennan Koch
Sep 204 min read
Introduce equilibrium with less mess and less headache.
The first time hearing about equilibrium can be confusing for students. That’s why there are so many ways to introduce it. Many are...
Brennan Koch
Sep 134 min read
Assess more. Grade less.
You should assess more. You should grade less. Those two statements seem mutually exclusive, but they aren’t. The longer that I teach,...
Brennan Koch
Sep 63 min read
Start teaching dimensional analysis with a puzzle instead of math.
Wish me luck. I start dimensional analysis today. For some (like many of us), it just makes sense. And for others (like many, many of...
Brennan Koch
Aug 233 min read
A better way to use the exploding gummy bear demo.
Don’t you hate it when you see a cool demo, but have no place for it? That is the way I felt about the exploding gummy bear demo. It’s...
Brennan Koch
Aug 163 min read
Use this demo to get students asking "How?"
This could be the most important question for students to be asking in chemistry; “How?” At almost every level of chem, one of the...
Brennan Koch
Jul 34 min read
What to do with AP Chem test scores (or any test score!)
It’s almost time. AP scores come out very soon. For some of us, it feels like Christmas slowly approaching. For others of us, it feels...
Brennan Koch
May 34 min read
Teach the gas laws using the disposable water bottle lid launching demo
If you have taught as long as I have, you have lived through at least two really annoying disposable water bottle fads. Bottle...
Brennan Koch
Apr 124 min read
Late to the Party: Tips for Doing the Blue Glitter Intermolecular Force Demo for the First Time
I was late to the party. Like really late. I just did the blue glitter intermolecular force demo for the first time. I know, it’s the...
Brennan Koch
Apr 51 min read
AP Chemistry Unit 9: How to Remember Which Electrode is the Anode and Cathode
It's crunch time for AP chemistry. Many of us are teaching unit 9 right now. Here is a visual reminder for them which electrode is the...
Brennan Koch
Mar 293 min read
5 Simple steps to draw Lewis dot structures without puzzle pieces
I have to admit something. I don’t like using puzzle pieces for molecular compounds. There I said it. It’s cute for methane and...
Brennan Koch
Mar 155 min read
6 tips for being wrong the right way in the chemistry classroom
I can remember it like it was yesterday. I was in fourth grade competing in a Quiz Bowl with my other science nerd friends. The...
Brennan Koch
Mar 84 min read
Apply limiting reagent calculations with Jet Boat Races
While the applications of limiting reagent calculations might feel obvious to you and I, they aren’t to the students. Often, the...
Brennan Koch
Mar 14 min read
Use the Alka Seltzer lab for limiting reagent
There are a million different versions of the stoichiometry Alka Seltzer lab out there. And maybe I’m just a contrarian, but I have...
Brennan Koch
Feb 234 min read
Use the Stability First method for predicting chemical equations
There is an answer in chemistry to almost every “why” question. To become more stable. Why does nitrogen make a diatomic element? To...
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