Moving Quickly!

Honors Chemistry Students,

Many of you have seemed unsettled about the pace of our class these last two weeks. I explained to you all the reason for that pace -- we have a certain amount of material to master in a set amount of time and the only way to achieve that is to move quickly -- but now I want to give you some tips on how to manage that pace.

1) Use your textbook! You need to have read the material before we go over it in class. Take notes on the text; familiarize yourself with examples. Having facility with the content of the textbook will help you complete the problem sets more easily.
2) Review the class notes on-line. If a lecture was particularly confusing to you, then that would be a good time to review the lecture notes on-line. Pinpoint the areas you really don't understand and formulate questions about them. If you can come to me with specific questions (rather than saying, "I don't understand any of it!") I can help you more efficiently. Also, feel free to print the notes off and take your class notes directly on those print-offs.
3) Review your notes with frequency. It is especially important to continually review your old notes when we are working on a long chapter. Chemistry builds upon itself and you need to maintain mastery of previous material.
4) Use all you resources. The textbook is an obvious resource, but so are your peers. Consider putting together a study group. Work on your problem sets together. (Be aware though, that working together is different than copying. When you work together everyone is thinking about the topic and you are all helping each other to understand it better. If you are copying, you are doing nothing to further your understanding and missing the point of a study group entirely.)

If you start using these strategies now, it will help you when you take science classes in college. Believe me, the pace in college classes will be even more accelerated, so now is a good time to start practicing!