Webinars

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Teaching Resources | May 9, 2019 Science Coaches 2019
Please join Adam Boyd, the AACT Program Director, as he outlines the benefits for teachers and coaches in the Science Coaches program. Science Coaches is a joint ACS and AACT educational outreach initiative dedicated to enhancing science skills in students across the United States. The program partners coaches (volunteer chemists) with AACT teacher members in elementary, middle, and high schools. Teachers accepted into the program will have the opportunity to form a valuable relationship with a coach. Come learn about how the program can benefit you.
Teaching Resources | April 9, 2019 Advancing Science Literacy with Lesson Plans that Are Aligned with CCSS and NGSS
Are you asked to incorporate reading and writing into your lessons to support literacy in language arts? We have the right strategies for you!
Teaching Resources, Advanced Chemistry | April 2, 2019 Teaching Like an AP Reader
Have you ever wondered if an AP Reader collects "insider" tips while grading the AP Chemistry Exams? In this webinar, an experienced AP Reader and Table Leader shares tips that she has gathered during years of participation in the annual AP Reading. After scoring thousands of exams, some patterns emerge that help us realize student misconceptions when we least expect them. Dusty Carroll highlights several places throughout the AP Chemistry curriculum where simple changes in teaching focus can help to increase student understanding, leading to higher AP Exam scores.
Teaching Resources | March 28, 2019 Going Organic in High School
Most high school chemistry textbooks have a chapter on organic chemistry tucked away at the end of the book, but this is generally not covered in a first year course. This leads students to believe that organic chemistry is a mysterious realm where the known rules of chemistry don't apply. Suggestions for incorporating more organic chemistry into regular chemistry classes to illustrate concepts will be provided.
Teaching Resources, Advanced Chemistry | March 7, 2019 The Mole of Reaction: Why is it Important and Useful
As we gear up for the 2019 AP Chemistry examination, let us put to rest the confusion and controversy that surrounds the “mole of reaction”. Virtually ignored in many textbooks, the mole of reaction is both a fundamental idea and a useful pedagogical tool. This presentation will examine the rationale behind the mole of reaction, its history on the AP exam, and discuss strategies on how to incorporate this critical concept into your classroom throughout your AP course. The first hour of the webinar will focus on the mole of reaction topic and will be followed by a 30 minute of Q&A focusing on reviewing for the AP Chemistry Exam.
Lab & Safety, Teaching Methods, Teaching Resources | February 27, 2019 Why (not) Inquiry Labs? It's easy!
How do you make a rainbow cylinder? What ratio of hydrogen:oxygen is most explosive? How do we unmix it? What part of the flame is the hottest? These are the questions that drive inquiry-based labs. The standard for labs in many classrooms is still the packet with pre-lab introduction reading, some basic pre-lab questions, a prescribed procedure, pre-formatted data table, banal conclusions questions and probably some exam practice questions to finish it all up. Student thinking, writing, and learning is minimal. If your school or state mandates a minimum number of hands-on lab minutes, these meet the requirement and have little other benefit. Students truly enjoy these cookbook labs about as much as teachers enjoy grading them. So why keep doing labs this way? With a few changes in mindset, both teachers and students can turn almost any cookbook lab into an inquiry learning lab that is rich in writing and thinking. This webinar will provide examples of old cookbook labs, from easy to difficult, that are successfully converted to inquiry labs. An example lab report template based on Google Slides will be shared and some advice on useful grouping strategies will help teachers transition their lab assignments to something closer to inquiry learning that aligns with NGSS and State standards derived from the same.
Teaching Methods, Advanced Chemistry | February 21, 2019 Building a Bridge to AP: How to Boost Your Honors/Chemistry 1 Course to Support Your Goals
A strong honors/chemistry 1 curriculum can be one of the most powerful tools in boosting AP scores. This webinar will focus on ways in which reverse designing the curriculum in honors/Chemistry 1 can emphasize content and lab skills to save time during the crunch of an AP Class. In addition, tips for boosting enrollment and rapport in AP by establishing enthusiasm and expectations will also be discussed.
Teaching Methods, Teaching Resources | February 5, 2019 Implementing the Claim, Evidence, Reasoning (CER) Framework in the Chemistry Classroom
As science teachers, we routinely ask our students to explain their understanding or provide conclusions from the evidence they had gathered. However, we are consistently reminded that the majority of our students do not make the connections in their explanations or conclusions that we had hoped for. Writing quality scientific explanations is a skill and it is up to teachers to help students develop that skill. Fortunately, there is a framework that is gaining momentum among science teachers, which is designed to help teachers specifically target and develop this skill. Claim, Evidence, Reasoning.
Lab & Safety, Teaching Resources | January 30, 2019 Chemistry Experiments with Familiar, Inexpensive, and Easily Obtained Materials
Conducting experiments with materials that can be obtained at local grocery and retail stores provide a variety of advantages to chemistry teachers. By using commonly found items in experiments and demonstrations, teachers provide students with familiar and natural connections to investigations in chemistry. Such materials are generally convenient to obtain, allowing teachers to acquire supplies only a few days (and in some cases a few hours) prior to conducting lessons. In this presentation, several experiments and demonstrations that illustrate the chemistry of common materials will be explored.
Teaching Resources | January 16, 2019 The Disappearing Spoon With Sam Kean
Why did Gandhi hate iodine? Why did the Japanese kill Godzilla with missiles made of cadmium? How did radium nearly ruin Marie Curie’s reputation? And why did tellurium lead to the most bizarre gold rush in history? The Periodic Table is one of our crowning scientific achievements, but it’s also a treasure trove of passion, adventure, betrayal, and obsession. The Disappearing Spoon delves into every single element on the table and explains each one's role in science, money, mythology, war, the arts, medicine, alchemy, and other areas of human history, from the Big Bang through the end of time. Please join us as we kick off the International Year of the Periodic Table with a special presentation from Sam Kean, author of The Disappearing Spoon, Caesar’s Last Breath, The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons, and The Violinist’s Thumb.
Teaching Methods | January 9, 2019 Chemistry is for Everyone: Accommodations and Modifications for Success in Chemistry
Using a variety of strategies and techniques, chemistry teachers can help ensure that Special Education students can be fully integrated into the class and access the curriculum even if students have weak math skills or learning challenges.
Teaching Methods, Teaching Resources | November 7, 2018 Phenomodeling: Providing Scaffolding for Phenomena-based Modeling
Learn how to provide scaffolding for your students to create models and construct explanations of phenomena using fool-proof strategies. Ideal for any teacher new to using phenomena in the classroom.
Teaching Resources | November 1, 2018 The Faraday Holiday Lecture, Chemical Demonstrations and Alumni Outreach
Keeping in touch with former students, many of whom can be an asset to your program, can always be challenging. Teaching at a magnet school, where the majority of our students are not based in the neighborhood where the school is located, can be even more challenging. Learn how a British tradition that dates to the early 1800’s helped to shape one of the year’s most anticipated events at our school. Learn how we encourage our current study body to interact with alumni through a yearly chemical demonstration event.
Teaching Resources | October 24, 2018 Making “Space” for Astronomy Connections in Chemistry Class
Does the wonder of space engage your students? Would they be surprised to find all of the ways chemistry applies to the study of our solar system and beyond? Join Michael Romano, a fellow chemistry teacher who just completed an Einstein Fellowship at NASA, as he shares numerous ideas for bringing space topics into your chemistry lessons to celebrate "National Chemistry Week 2018: Chemistry is Out of This World."
Teaching Methods, Teaching Resources | October 17, 2018 Using NGSS Practices to Explore Chemistry Concepts: Phenomenon, Modeling, and Arguing from Evidence
Are you looking for phenomenon to engage your students in chemistry? Join Jessica C. Levine and Emilie Mosko, middle school physical science teachers, to see how existing chemistry curriculum can be easily modified towards an NGSS storyline. Presenters will highlight their lesson design of a groovy phenomenon to engage students in chemistry concepts such as density, heat transfer, particle motion, and phases of matter--The Lava Lamp.
Lab & Safety, Teaching Resources | October 9, 2018 A Teacher's Toolbox for Lab Safety
Join Jenny Bishoff to learn how you can use AACT resources to create a safer chemistry lab environment.
Teaching Methods | October 4, 2018 Scaffolding Stoichiometry for Struggling Students
Say goodbye to flowcharts and diagrams that ultimately confuse students or leave them unable to perform molar conversions on their own. Instead, we will use a novel strategy that incorporates fingers and hands that allows them to kinesthetically embody stoichiometry calculations. Even your lowest math students will be successful! Appropriate for any introductory high school chemistry course.
Teaching Resources, Advanced Chemistry | September 25, 2018 Designing Effective Multiple-Choice Items for Chemistry
As teachers begin the school year, planning often involves a focus on assessment. Multiple-choice questions are commonly used on chemistry tests, despite the fact that many teachers have never been trained in how to write them. AP chemistry teachers face the challenge of finding multiple-choice items that are similar in style and format to those that appear on the AP exam. The theme of this webinar is the process of writing items that emphasize conceptual understanding and higher-order cognitive skills. Co-presenters Michael Farabaugh and Linda Cummings have experience as both AP readers and item writers for the AP exam. They will not only discuss techniques for improving the quality of existing questions but also provide suggestions for how to get started when writing your own. Although this webinar will be beneficial for teachers of AP chemistry, it is intended for any teacher who wants to learn more about the construction of multiple-choice items. Participants will have the option to submit two original multiple-choice questions after they register. Some of these questions will be used as examples during the webinar. Come join us for a presentation that promises to be (A) informative (B) valuable (C) relevant (D) all of the above!
Teaching Resources | September 12, 2018 AACT Resources and Website Open House – September 2018
Have you ever wondered about the benefits of being a member of the AACT? Discover how AACT membership can enhance your experience in the chemistry classroom. Join AACT President, Sherri Rukes, Past-President, Jenelle Ball, and President-Elect, Heather Weck, as they guide participants on a virtual tour the AACT website. All resources will be unlocked during the webinar so that attendees can follow along with the presenters and see all of the valuable classroom materials available to AACT members. This webinar will be particularly valuable to teachers who are considering becoming a member of AACT or members who might not be familiar with all of the classroom resources that are available on teachchemistry.org. It’s also a chance for current members to learn about the additions and updates that we’ve made to our website and member benefits.
Teaching Resources, Advanced Chemistry | September 6, 2018 Lessons Learned from the 2018 AP Chemistry Exam
During this webinar, Paul Bonvallet, Chief Reader, will outline the logistics and scoring process for the 2018 AP Chemistry exam and discuss practices for consistent, fair, and accurate grading of the free-response section. The presentation will then review in detail all the free-response questions from the 2018 AP Chemistry Exam and highlight the most common student misconceptions revealed during the scoring of the test papers. The presenter will suggest several teaching strategies to address these common misconceptions in the classroom and in the teaching laboratory. The webinar will include information on the application process for becoming an AP Chemistry Reader.
Teaching Resources | August 23, 2018 Leadership and STEM Learning with the Einstein Fellowship 2018
The Albert Einstein Fellowship brings K-12 STEM educators together from across the country to tap into their experiences to shape and lead the conversation around STEM at a national level. During this webinar, Einstein Fellows and alumni will share the unique experiences they have been granted with fellow educators, discuss what they’ve learned about teacher leadership, and provide some insight into a day in the life of an Einstein Fellow.
Teaching Resources | May 8, 2018 ChemCom: Not Your Typical Chemistry Textbook
Most chemistry books focus on chemistry and on occasion relate it to students’ real lives. ChemCom teaches chemistry through the lens of real life. During this webinar, learn about how ChemCom embraces modeling, NGSS, and hands-on activities to make chemistry relevant and exciting to students. To familiarize yourself with the text before the webinar, visit www.acs.org/chemcom. There, you can also request a review copy. Published in 2012, Chemistry in the Community is still as relevant as ever.
Teaching Resources | May 2, 2018 Science Coaches - 2018
Please join Jackie Meyer, the Science Coaches Associate, as she outlines the benefits for teachers and coaches in the two Science Coaches programs, One-on-One and Teams.
Teaching Methods, Advanced Chemistry | April 24, 2018 AP Chemistry – A Review Plan
When one teaches AP Chemistry to sophomores in one year with no previous chemistry course, and at breakneck speed with no breathing room between August and April, review becomes a crucial part of the process. Ask one of my kids what they know about PES in the first week of April and the answer is usually, "What's PES?". As such, one month of review is a vital component in my course. Join Adrian Dingle for a breakdown of what he does to bring his AP students up to speed in the month before the AP exam.
Teaching Methods, Teaching Resources | April 17, 2018 Modeling Instruction: Pedagogy and Practice
Hear Erica Posthuma-Adams and Ryan Bruick talk about incorporating modeling instruction into the high school chemistry classroom.

Upcoming Webinars

May 9, 2019 | Science Coaches 2019