<p>who even needs to sleep man </p>
<p>“sleep”</p>
<p>hahgay.com</p>
<p>Wow there’s more sophomores on here than I thought</p>
<p>For those of you who’ve known me through CC for a while, recall that I constantly stated that most of the teachers at my school are horrible and incompetent. I figured out how to illustrate that for you guys so you’ll understand exactly what I mean.</p>
<p>There’s a chemistry teacher here (I actually take issue with calling her a teacher, but for the sake of nomenclature, she’ll be referred to as a teacher in the loosest sense of the word) who actually tells her classes that there are only two scientists in the world who can work with hydrofluoric acid. That’s right. According to this woman, there are only TWO scientists in the world with the qualifications to work with HF. Oh, and on an exam she gave in the earlier part of the class, one of the questions was “Compare the masses of these subatomic particles.” A friend of mine listed the numerical masses of electrons, protons, and neutrons; the teacher counted it as wrong. Why? The correct answer was, “electrons have no mass, protons have more mass, and neutrons have most mass.” My friend tried to argue that “negligible mass” does not mean “no mass,” but the “teacher” wouldn’t hear it. </p>
<p>@TeamRocketGrunt - Your chem teacher comes from a very special level of Satan’s kingdom. The worst thing a teacher of mine has done was assign a huge project that they then didn’t grade, but this is a very special level of idiocy.</p>
<p>Popping my head in here. I’ve been on spring break and just trying to relax after a week of death and disappointment last week. </p>
<p>@TeamRocketGrunt: I can’t even express how grateful I am that my chem teacher is actually competent. AND nice too. She totally accepted my lab notebook like 3 days late, no problems. But I mean, yours just sounds TERRIBLE in ever sense of the word. Goodness. </p>
<p>@observeraffect, @almondjoy7: she considers herself a “chemist.” She has also stated that 1*10^5 is not the same as 10^5. </p>
<p>My ap chem teacher isn’t very good but yours just sounds stupid. She should probably be doing volcano experiments with 5th graders. </p>
<p>@TeamRocketGrunt - I’m curious about what her degree is in. It’s clearly not a math or science degree (I pray).</p>
<p>Has anybody heard about the AP US History redesign? Do you guys think it is going to get easier or harder</p>
<p>What’s with all this AP redesigning going on? First bio, then chem, and now USH?</p>
<p>@observeraffect: I think it’s something like education.</p>
<p>I’ve been contemplating switching one of my original ap classes for next year with AP Env then take AP chem senior year but I know the class itself is hard and the AP chem teachers at my school have a history of being a little…well lost. I don’t know what the right word is. Don’t get me wrong though, they’re known for being good in other subjects. It’s just a tough subject in general especially if you’re going to take it at that level. I’m also not sure if I like chem that much to take AP. I’m just really liking the class now that we’ve settled in more and would like to explore chemistry more while challenging myself. Eh. Idk </p>
<p>I like my chem teacherand the way he teaches a lot. some people think that he isn’t a good teacher. </p>
<p>Is this to much?
Trig
Stats
Ap gov
Comm lit 3H
Physics 2
Chem 2
Macroeconomics
French IV
Independent study Gym </p>
<p>I was wondering if anyone knew of a way for me to really understand Chemistry? I’m taking honors Chem right now and I really honestly have not understood anything since the first unit on matter. I’m not strong at conceptual thinking (things like geometry and chemistry), but I really would like to do well. My teacher is one of those types that is too smart to teach and thinks everyone understands things the way she does. I’ve tried asking her for help, but it doesn’t really work out. The textbook that we have doesn’t follow our curriculum and we never use it, so I can’t use that. I really do want to do well, but I got a 59% on the last unit test, and it’s because I didn’t understand the past units, which made it hard to understand this one. I’m thinking about getting the Barron’s book because the one for World History seems to be really good, but I’m not in AP so I’m not sure how much will go over my head.</p>
<p>@Bardinators
You could use Khan Academy
There’s this Brightstorm channel on Youtube that has a lot of videos for Math and Science, too.</p>
<p>@bardinators
Supporting Animefan1998’s suggestion of Khan Academy. </p>
<p>Chem is one of those classes that is really difficult to get if you can’t conceptually understand the stuff. I know a huge number of kids that excelled tremendously in Biology but simply couldn’t get it together to do well in chem. My advice is to do some background reading/watching videos on the material. The latter will be especially helpful if you’re having trouble understanding stuff on a conceptual level but can do all the calculations and whatnot fine. </p>
<p>I have the exact opposite problem. I have no trouble conceptualizing everything, but the calculations are what get me.</p>
<p>Yeah that’s usually the problem with me too. I’m doing great in honors bio and I’m planning to major in bioengineering/med, but I have huge problems with understanding concepts that require calculations without spending a little time on my own trying to understand. I hope this won’t be much of a problem because I’m going into AP chem next year… Still excited though oo kill em</p>
<p>@bardinators When I was in chem last year, I watched a youtube channel called Ben’s Chem Videos. I liked them better than Khan Academy bc I thought that KA videos tended to be really long, while with BCV I could just watch a few 5-10 minute videos on what I needed to know. I also liked the presentation better.
Besides that, rewriting my notes in a sort of “review book” tone helped me. It forced me to really understand stuff.
Also, are there any other chem teachers at your school? Maybe you can ask one for help and say that you don’t really understand the way your teacher teaches. Most will be happy to help! You can also see if your school has chem tutoring or if you have an older friend who can help you out. Also, maybe your parents can get you a tutor. Being tutored by an older student helped me.
Good luck!</p>
<p>@Bardinators - Welcome to my life. 
My teachers are great people, they just absolutely suck at teaching (and I also can’t concentrate in class). So I’ve basically had to self-study at home since 9th grade.</p>
<p>I have the Barron’s book and it’s good, but only if you understand the material on a basic level and you’re looking for an in-depth review. I just bought the REA SAT II chemistry review book, too, and it’s a lot easier to understand (pretty much written in colloquial diction). I’m skimming through that to understand it, then going into the Barron’s book and learning it on a deeper level when I have time; so far, it’s working pretty great. I guess it’s kind of tedious, but I’m pretty stupid and I actually understand everything this way. Videos never really worked for me because I need time to process the information; with books, I can read at my own pace and bookmark/go back to sections that I don’t feel like I have down pat.</p>
<p>Alternatively, if you’re not willing to spend 5+ hours at the bookstore or $30, Sparknotes actually has great study guides for all the sciences (SAT II level) that are super easy to read with a few practice questions at the end of each section. They aren’t very in-depth and won’t be sufficient for AP chem, but it’ll definitely help you understand the things you’re learning in honors chem.</p>