This spring many summer workshops and conferences were abruptly canceled and abandoned leaving my colleagues and me upset that we wouldn’t have a chance to meet or reunite to share our new ideas. With the sudden change to online instruction, we had so many new ideas to share, and so many questions we needed help on. Luckily, AACT has organized eight virtual symposia using the basic format of Biennial Conference on Chemical Education symposia to provide professional development for chemistry teachers this summer! Each presentation is only 20 minutes in length including a brief opportunity for participants to ask questions. You can see snapshots of ideas and obtain valuable contact information from teachers across the country to help bring your chemical instruction to the next level.
The first symposium titled, “Simulations to Enhance Chemical Instruction” starts July 7th from 1:00-4:30 EST. The list of presenters includes classroom teachers demonstrating their use of PhET simulations and lessons, Sunflower Learning, ChemCollective, and more! The symposium will also include representatives form Bitwixt Software Systems to demonstrate 3D particle models and MEL Science demonstrating Immersive Technologies. I will be presenting a titration simulation with student generated data.
The second symposium titled, “Teaching AP Chemistry Virtually” occurs on July 14th from 12:00-4:15 EST. This symposium was organized by Alice Putti and includes AP Chemistry teachers from across the country sharing ideas such as using Flipgrid, ChemCollective, POGIL, Pivot Interactives, Pear Deck, Formative, Edpuzzle, WeMove, etc. I am excited to present in this series about my AP Free Response Question Review Project.
The third symposium titled, “At-home Activities and Resources for Teaching Chemistry Online” was organized by our very own, Deanna Cullen, and occurs on July 16th at 12:00pm EST. An impressive collection of award winning teachers and ChemEd X contributors including, but not limited to, Melissa Hemling, Lauren Stewart, Josh Kenney, Tom Kuntzleman, Chad Husting, and myself, are presenting ideas to specifically address distance learning or hybrid learning environments.
Additional symposia are organized through the end of July including “Chemical Literacy Through Differentiation” with major topics such as finding and evaluating information scores, using and creating science comic books, teaching diverse learners, and implementing the chemistry triad; “Supporting All Students in the Teaching and Learning of Chemistry” including a focus on strategies for English learners and special education students and sharing ways to improve student understanding via digital learning; “Integrating Green Chemistry and Sustainability into Chemistry Education” which will highlight the incorporation of green chemistry and sustainability principles throughout the chemistry curriculum as well as through co-curricular activities such as clubs, organizations and service-learning opportunities; “Chemistry Games” which will use games to teach chemical concepts, covering a gamut of topics from Lewis dots to NMR; and “Inventing Green Through Education” where you will have a chance to hear from students and educators on why it’s important to create a sustainable future and tackle the world’s biggest societal challenges through chemical science and invention.
You can register now for any of the symposia for FREE! Feel free to come and go during the symposia as you are not committed to stay the entire session. All topics and dates are linked below. AACT is also looking for K-12 teachers of chemistry who have a strong interest in a relevant topic, or a particular area of expertise, to host more webinars for the 2020-2021 school year. If you are interested contact AACTwebinars@acs.org.
July 7, 2020 beginning at 1:00 EST Simulations to Enhance Chemical Instruction
July 14, 2020 beginning at 12:00 EST Teaching AP Chemistry Virtually
July 16, 2020 beginning at 12:00 EST At-Home Activities and Resources for Teaching Chemistry Online
July 20, 2020 beginning at 12:00 EST Chemical Literacy Through Differentiation
July 22, 2020 beginning at 12:00 EST Supporting All Students in the Teaching and Learning of Chemistry
July 28, 2020 beginning at 12:00 EST Integrating Green Chemistry and Sustainability into Chemistry Education
July 30, 2020 beginning at 1:00 EST Chemistry Games
August 4, 2020 beginning at 12:00 EST Inventing Green through Education
August 6, 2020 beginning at 12:00 EST Classroom Resources for K-12 Teachers of Chemistry from the American Chemical Society