Being a first year teacher, and like all teachers, not having nearly enough time, I often scope out other teacher’s materials on-line to modify or use in my classroom. This sometimes leads to interesting results. Today, for instance, I have a great practice set for Lewis Dot structures, but it doesn’t match well with the method I taught them from a different teacher.
I was trying to remember how I learned Lewis structures. I know I did; I know there must be a time when I did not understand why carbon wants to make four bonds, or didn’t have the octet rule buried somewhere in my brain. I just can’t really remember.
This is another reason I like to look at other teacher’s materials. They have years of experience and have tested their methods and systems. I find a lot of good stuff. It just doesn’t always fit together well.
The moral of this story is that I need to do all the practice I assign using the method I am going to teach.
And I will do that. When I have all my materials together in advance, and my daughter starts napping again, and when my homeroom students work so that I can get some work done.
In other words, when pigs fly. At any rate, not until after my students have tested it all for.
