Stop teaching Conservation of Mass before completing chemical reactions.
This is the year for trying things in a new order. Some of them have worked to remove some common errors. I always used to teach...
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Brennan Koch
Feb 24 min read
How to use a limiting reagent reaction to introduce writing chemical equations.
I’m doing an experiment. With my students. I introduced the concept of limiting reagent before they even know how to balance...
Brennan Koch
Jan 264 min read
Stop teaching swap and drop for ionic formulas in chemistry.
I feel like I’m at an addiction meeting. My name is Brennan Koch, and I don’t use the swap and drop method to write formulas for ionic...
Brennan Koch
Jan 205 min read
How to help students understand London Dispersion Force.
London Dispersion Forces (LDF) can be a little tricky to understand, especially for first year chemistry students. I started using this...
Brennan Koch
Jan 125 min read
Help students predict the products of chemical reactions using Hallmark Christmas movies.
Predicting the outcomes of chemical reactions is not only key to chemistry, but also a skill that some kids view as impossible. How are...
Brennan Koch
Jan 54 min read
10 Things to do and to avoid on the first day back from Christmas break
Christmas break is almost over. This inevitable day has been breathing down your neck for a while now. And now, your mind has to shift...
Brennan Koch
Dec 24, 20236 min read
The best gift to give your chemistry students at Christmas.
Scan teacher social media and you will see all sorts of gifts that teachers give to their students. Silver plated ornaments, copper...
Brennan Koch
Dec 15, 20234 min read
Stop grading labs. Use a lab practical test instead.
Can you picture the giant stack of lab reports that you still haven’t graded? Maybe they have a digital notebook and you haven’t clicked...
Brennan Koch
Dec 8, 20233 min read
Introduce VSEPR theory and molecular geometries with marshmallows.
Sometimes simple wins. This is one of those times. Try using marshmallows to introduce VSEPR theory and have the kids use inquiry to...
Brennan Koch
Dec 1, 20233 min read
Teach buffers more efficiently using this unexpected concept.
Buffers can be challenging. Over the years, I have found that kids tend to get stuck in understanding buffers more than they should. This...
Brennan Koch
Nov 24, 20235 min read
Teach empirical formulas with rockets!
We all have them, favorite labs. You know the one that you can’t wait to do again next year. The Rocket Lab is that one for me. I will...
Brennan Koch
Nov 10, 20236 min read
Meet your chemistry students where they are. Push them from there.
Have you had an experience like this? You just gave an articulate, succinct and accurate description of a chemical process. You chose...
Brennan Koch
Nov 3, 20234 min read
5 Strategies to help kids talk more. About chemistry.
Your classroom might just be too quiet. The longer I have taught chemistry, the louder my room has gotten. And not because I’m losing...
Brennan Koch
Oct 27, 20234 min read
Using manipulatives and games to teach periodic trends.
How many different ways have you introduced periodic trends? It’s been many for me. This year may have been the best. It balanced...
Brennan Koch
Oct 19, 20234 min read
Mole Day: to celebrate or not to celebrate?
To celebrate Mole Day or not to celebrate, that is the question. If you go online right now you can make yourself feel pretty bad...
Brennan Koch
Oct 13, 20233 min read
Teach Le Chatelier's Principle of Equilibrium in a new way.
Le Chatelier’s Principle is easy. To you. But for whatever reason, it can take kids a while to see how perturbations to a system in...
Brennan Koch
Oct 6, 20237 min read
8 Keys to better parent-teacher conferences.
Here we go. Parent teacher conference time. For some of us, our blood pressure shoots sky high, we develop a twitch, and our eyes begin...
Brennan Koch
Sep 29, 20234 min read
Embrace your inner redneck. Teach chemistry better.
We should all embrace the redneck side of teaching. Simple. Functional. Unconventional. Odd. Even us hoity-toity chemistry teachers...
Brennan Koch
Sep 22, 20234 min read
Are you spending too much time on lab reports?
Are your lab reports too big? Probably. Over the past few years, I have taken a hard look at my lab reports from AP chemistry down to...
Brennan Koch
Sep 15, 20235 min read
How to use flame tests in a better unit.
I’ve been using the flame test lab in the wrong unit. Have you? For years, I’ve always used the flame test lab in my grade-level...
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