Thorns and Roses by Amy Snyder https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc Give me one thing you enjoyed about our class ("Rose") and one thing you would change for next year ("Thorn") Make sure you include your name! en-us 2016-09-27 14:27:45 UTC 2026-02-12 01:22:48 UTC hello@padlet.com Bikal S. https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/357416202 Rose: I LOVED the lecture notes for every unit that you posted on Schoology. Personally, they really helped me because I was able to follow along in class and keep up with the notes there. 

Thorn: One thing I would change for next year is removing the digital breakouts because they often took a long time to figure out while a program such as mastering physics could have been just as effective in learning the material.]]> 2019-05-06 23:32:03 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/357416202 Dyuthi Polavaram https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/357463935 Rose: The one thing that I really like in this class was the way that yo set up this course. Like each and every lecture that we had was so interesting and each new thing we learn there were so many acronyms and things that would help us understand each topic. Starting off this class I didn't really have a stable background in chemistry although the way that you went over each topic whether we knew it or not really helped.

Thorn: The one thing that I didn't really like as everyone else said was the digital breakouts. Although they were interesting there was a huge load of stress along with that because it was based on who turned it in first.]]> 2019-05-07 04:04:46 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/357463935 Michelle H. https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/357702826 Rose: I loved how you recorded some of the lectures. Going home and re-watching them or using them to review for the tests always bumped my grades up more than it would have been without the extra help.  It would be nice if you were to record more lectures for your future students.

Thorn: I agree with Bikal on getting rid of the digital breakouts. I don't think it helped me with grasping the concepts, and it stressed me out more than it helped me most of the time. ]]> 2019-05-07 16:12:04 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/357702826 Eashana A. https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/357715984 ROSE: I really liked the notes outlines, they were easy to follow and summed up the information nicely. They made it easier to retain the information than reading the entire textbook chapters. I also loved it when the outline lectures were recorded and posted online, that was very helpful.

THORN: One thing I was was different about AP Chemistry was that I didn’t like the digital breakouts. Although the puzzles could be fun, more often then not, they made everything confusing and didn’t help me learn as much. I also wish that more of the lectures were recorded and posted online.
]]> 2019-05-07 16:37:11 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/357715984 Sue Shin https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/357819021 Rose: I like how we did a lot of review questions together in class so that we could understand the concepts fully. Answering practice questions collectively took out the stress of having to figure out how to do everything on my own.

Thorn: I agree with everyone else in that the digital breakouts seemed to be a bit tedious. It was really frustrating when we knew the answer to the question but we had to spend so much more time trying to figure out how we have to write the answer for it to count as credit. I personally just didn't think it was a good method of learning because it made us waste time doing things that didn't really aid us in the learning process.

]]> 2019-05-07 20:29:41 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/357819021 Anisha Raju https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/357851850 Rose: I loved how you went through the lecture notes and reviewed problems and questions with the class. The lecture notes covered the key concepts that were covered on the tests and was a much more efficient and easier resource to look through, instead of the textbook, before test days.

Thorn: One thing I didn't like in particular were the digital breakouts. Collectively as a group, we would get stressed about not knowing what the right answer was because they were too specific. I believe these breakouts didn't assist us much in learning a certain unit or concept; this task was overall a bit ineffective in conveying learning material, when something like a video or online lab could have helped us learn better.]]> 2019-05-07 23:21:47 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/357851850 Anjali Patel https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/358129486 Rose: I enjoyed the pre-lecturing that you go over before a specific unit. It helps give an idea of what we will be learning during the experiments. This helps give us a broad idea before we really start working on the unit.

Thorn: I did not like format of the digital breakouts. The actual questions helped me understand the topics better but it was stressful when we had to figure out how to input the answer correctly. 

]]> 2019-05-08 16:24:24 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/358129486 Suzuka Nishino https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/358146341 Rose: I liked all the mnemonics that you shared with us to help learn the formulas and concepts because they were more effective than trying to just memorize. They were very creative and funny, and coupled with the reasoning behind them from the lectures, served well to prepare for the unit tests and especially the AP exam. 

Thorn: I wish that we had more practice problems to do on our own. Although we did problems together as a class, I personally felt that I could use more independent practice over each concept before the unit test.]]> 2019-05-08 16:57:17 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/358146341 Alyssa Aguilar https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/358210797 Rose: I particularly liked the summarized lectures. At first, I found it overwhelming to read the textbook chapters at the beginning of the year, so having an overview of the content in class helped me tie everything together. Although this is an extra point, I also appreciate the variety of activities and learning methods we used throughout the year.

Thorn: I wasn’t very fond of the skills activity we did for the spectroscopy unit during Module 2. At the time, I felt as if I only mastered the content concerning the lab my group did and presented. Although there was a lot of information to cover, it was a bit confusing and ineffective to hear the information presented by different groups of people. 
]]> 2019-05-08 19:01:49 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/358210797 Kunal Verma https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/358263747 Rose: I liked the notes that were made for each chapter because I would not retain as much information as I did if I only had the textbook to read. It was also helpful how we went through the notes step by step.

Thorn: I wish that we could do more practice problems, maybe with real life applications, like more problems like we did with the Tesla batteries.]]> 2019-05-08 22:17:01 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/358263747 Ananya P https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/358273924 Rose: Unlike almost everyone else on here I really liked the Digital Breakouts. While it’s true that sometimes the right answer wouldn’t work, Mrs. Snyder would always give points back for that. Plus, they were fun and they helped us learn the concepts. I also liked being able to make our own. Additionally, the Buffer Basket was also cool and helpful. Basically, I really liked how Mrs. Snyder made activities fun; it made going to class enjoyable. 

Thorn: One thing that I wish was better was the way in which groups were created. Sometimes we were allowed to create our own groups, which was good. However, often times we had to rely on the sticks for our groups. I didn’t like when I was put with people who slacked off. I like the idea of being able to work with different people, as long as they actually worked, and unfortunately the sticks could not assure that they did. ]]> 2019-05-08 23:18:27 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/358273924 Joanne Chen https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/358501152 Rose: One thing that I enjoyed about AP Chem is that the class was hands-on. For many assignments, we were allowed to interact with other people, places, and items in order to achieve the goal in mind. A couple examples would be the digital breakout that incorporated going to Tesla to ask questions about their products and analyze how it relates to our real world, or the Buffer Basket egg hunt in which the students had to search for eggs over a span of time to successfully complete the assignment. I feel that it would be beneficial for the class and its students if such interactive activities were continued next year because it gives the students an impetus to thoroughly complete the assignments.

Thorn: One thing that I would change about next year is the transparency in which the assignments are graded. For me personally, it was very frustrating to see a grade in the gradebook that was much lower than I expected, especially if I put a LOT of work into it. Although the rubrics are posted in Schoology with the grades on them, I feel that marking exactly what the students missed directly on their submissions in Schoology would be much better as students would then be able to see exactly what they missed and thus what they may not have fully understood about the topic/how they can improve.]]> 2019-05-09 14:40:03 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/358501152 Sierra Yoshida https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/358515582 Rose: My favorite part of every science class are the labs and chemistry was no exception. I really liked that you made a lot of the labs extremely self guided and forced us to figure out problems on our own (and being open to answering questions if it was really needed). I like the self guided labs because I think it accurately reflects labs that we are going to experience in a college setting. Specifically, I liked the electroplating lab. 

Thorn: One thing that I would change is to make in class activities available online in schoology for those that miss class. There were numerous times when I was out of town and couldn't work on activities like the egg hunt and other worksheets that were not uploaded on schoology. A lot of worksheets were on schoology, but not all were.]]> 2019-05-09 15:05:18 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/358515582 Amanda Figueroa https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/358518551 Rose: One thing I enjoyed about the class is how much freedom we have. We were allowed to work in class and collaborate with our classmates in order to learn together. This made me enjoy the class a lot more because there was a much more positive environment, rather than a stiff, strict class culture. I also loved the summarized notes. Both of these things made the class very enjoyable.

Thorn: I did not like the recent egg-basket project, as well as some of the other breakout activities. I was not in class for a good portion of the egg-hunt activity and since the problems were not posted online I was not able to make up the work easily. The other breakout activity I did not enjoy very much was the Tesla activity. It was honestly pretty hard for me to find the time to get out to the Southlake gallery, especially since I pay for my own gas. ]]> 2019-05-09 15:10:39 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/358518551 Sarah Singer https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/358543970 Rose: One thing I really enjoyed and appreciated about the class was the lecture notes we were given with each unit. They made following along the lecture much easier and provided great study materials for the test. Having a PDF of the unit notes was a lot simpler than having to scour multiple educational websites with different information that wouldn't even be relevant or having to spend hours reading over the textbook. 

Thorn: One thing I personally did not like was not being able to see why I got the grade I did. We had multiple assignments, like the digital breakouts or the egg hunts, where I got grades lower than expected but did not know why. A viewing option of the assignments and where points were deducted would have been very useful and appreciated. ]]> 2019-05-09 15:53:57 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/358543970 Nathan Nguyen https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/358693428 Rose: The one thing that I enjoyed about the class was the way in which the information was taught. I really appreciated the lectures that you gave, for they were very formative, yet they were in a way which could be easily followed. Additionally, I loved the lectured notes that you put up with the lecture. The lecture notes helped me follow along, especially if the topic we were covering was complicated.

Thorn: Like Joanne said, something I didn't like was the transparency with the grading. Personally, I can take whatever grade I get, however, I want to know what I did wrong so that I can do better next time. Often times with the grades I got, especially with the labs, I'd get grades that'd be below what I thought I would get, and I'd get frustrated. I know if we have questions we can always come in before or after school to see you, but many times that wasn't something I could do, so I'd end up having to keep my grade and be distraught. I think that if you could find a way to leave more feedback, whether that be directly on the submitted assignment or comments, it'd be really helpful for the students coming next year.]]> 2019-05-09 22:54:08 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/358693428 Cole Krautkramer https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/358720800 Rose: I just want to start off by saying that even though there were many days filled with long hours of work and late night study sessions, AP Chemistry has by far been one of the greatest classes that I have ever taken! Mrs. Snyder, your kind spirit and encouraging attitude as a teacher have not only helped me to grow as a student in the class but as an individual in the real world. For me, there have been a lot of amazing things that have happened this year that will stay as memories for years to be. From the seniors giving up and the juniors having to carry the class to eating pink carrots and having heart-to-heart discussions about life, every day in your class this year has been super fun and something I have always looked forward to. More specific to the class, the lecture notes for every unit were a god send and helped me SO MUCH when Vedin, Karen, and Andrew were talking about chemistry things things at super mega scientist level and I needed the kindergarten version lol!

Thorn: For a lot of people, I feel like one of the biggest thorns overall has been the breakouts that we did this year, and to me, though I understood their purpose and truly enjoyed the first few that we did in class, we it got to certain ones, especially the one over spectrophotometry, I found them to be extremely unfair and unnecessarily grade oriented. People were literally shoving their ways to get to your desk first to do morse code and the group who did the math did not even share certain values for others to do it correctly, so of course they got the 100. No matter that side tangent, for me personally, I feel like the biggest thorn of this year was the fact that  nearly EVERY SINGLE senior and even a good chunk of juniors (except Sydeny and Varenya shoutout to my homies) gave up so easily. Because of that, when it came to the final lab we just turned in, the titration curve lab, and the creative DIY digital breakout lab, juniors were doing 10 times the work of anyone else, and so it got to be taxing on the kids who truly care about school and want to put their best foot forward in every single assignment. The sad part is, I don't think senioritis is ever going to go away so...]]> 2019-05-10 01:24:30 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/358720800 Sandhya Srinivasa https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/358728957 Rose: One of my favorite things about your class was the lecture notes you posted. After learning a concept I tend to stop paying attention (blame it on senioritis) so the lecture/module notes really helped me understand the material on my own time. I also like the flexibility that you provide the students. You gave us things ahead of time knowing that we have other work as well and I really appreciated it. The labs were frustrating sometimes, but I know that in the future I will be thankful!

Thorn: As others have said, the digital breakouts were more stressful than helpful. Although I liked how we would know if our answer was right immediately, figuring out what you wanted as the answer was frustrating sometimes. ]]> 2019-05-10 02:09:24 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/358728957 Sydney Ovaise https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/358850016

]]> 2019-05-10 12:51:27 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/358850016 Tharani Muthukumar https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/358913500 Rose: I really felt like this class was really flexible in terms of teaching, from in class lectures almost “prefacing” the material, and then learning it over the course of a couple of weeks through worksheets, classroom activities, and labs that locked down application. I also enjoyed how collaborative this class was, and loved getting to know my classmates. Overall, you made the class super interesting and engaging, and one that I looked forward to even during sleepy mornings after zero hour :)
Thorn: I think that some of the breakouts we did impeded my ability to focus on the content we were supposed to learn, since I found myself being more stressed about why the code I kept typing in wasn’t working rather than thinking about whether my answer was correct. Also, though I really enjoyed going to Tesla with my friends and seeing how electrochemistry, it was kind of hard to find a time to go, especially since it was so far away and I can’t drive. Overall, I think that the one thing I would want to change about the class is grading, since sometimes people got grades lower than they expected on smaller assignments, and they weren’t sure why. I know that on labs and larger grades we can come after or before school to meet with you, which was really nice, but I think talking about what you’re looking for on those smaller assignments too would help us concentrate our attention to those areas.
]]> 2019-05-10 15:08:57 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/358913500 Jingchun Quan https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/358914458 Rose: I like how the notes are always posted on schoology, which allowed us to follow along and take our own notes as you lectured. It was also very helpful when you worked out practice problems on the board showing us step by step, color coded solutions or when you gave us some pre-lab information that helped us before starting a lab. I also like how you give us a lot of notice before making an assignment/lab due, that gave busy students more flexibility in figuring out our schedules.

Thorn: I think you often tried to give us very unique assignments and projects you created to be "different" and help us learn in more than one way. While I understand that this was done with the intention to help us learn better, as a student, I do not feel that these "special" projects were more beneficial than the normal worksheets we do in class and in other classes. For example, the breakouts, egg hunts, and going to Tesla didn't teach me as much chemistry, but instead took up a lot of time and caused a lot of confusion. For next year, I also think that it will be beneficial to blend in lecture dates and work dates. Instead of spending a whole 90 minutes lecturing (I have to admit, I usually get lost about 20 min in) then the next 2 days with less structured "free time" to work on worksheets or self-guided labs, we can lecture for the first half and then practice what we have just learned.]]> 2019-05-10 15:10:58 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/358914458 Simrun Saini https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359121694 Rose: One aspect of this class I specifically appreciated were the recorded lecture notes. I found it extremely beneficial to be able to watch the lectures on my own time and follow the concepts at my own pace and I did significantly better on units in which the lectures were recorded and posted on Schoology. I think students would appreciate it if all lectures were recorded next year, since it is not always easy to come to tutorials to ask questions and if an individual misses a class day, it is useful to have easy access to the lecture online. 

Thorn: As many have already stated before me, an aspect of this class that soon became tedious were the many unconventional assignments. While I genuinely appreciate the creativity and effort that was expended to create these original activities, I found myself struggling to adequately learn the concepts of the unit because I was more concerned with making sure my codes were correct and oftentimes the technological issues made these activities even more frustrating. I believe the number of digital breakouts and activities like the egg-hunt should be limited in favor of more traditional worksheets and especially AP practice problems in order for the students next year to be able to spend more time learning the concepts rather than concerning themselves with the unnecessary concerns that come with having to complete digital breakouts.
]]> 2019-05-11 16:09:21 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359121694 Swaraaj Bhattacharya https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359124406 Rose: Within the class itself, there's a wealth of information that one needs to learn in order to have a solid foundation that they can build on. I really appreciate how the information I needed was very accessible. The comprehensive notes that were complied on schoology as well as the worksheets and lectures were all really pivotal and helped me grasp concepts like equilibrium, where I found myself struggling from time to time and trying to wrap my head conceptually around the "chemistry behind the math". I feel as if the classroom was set up in a way that promoted discussion, making it easy to ask for help. I really like this open aspect of the classroom as it makes the education seem a lot more personalized and flexible, being tailored to each student. If i had to chose one thing in particular, I like the lecture notes, those smacked and I learned soooo much.

Thorn: In relation to many other classes, there was no specific aspect of AP Chem that I loathed in particular. However, I do think that some of the assignments being more unconventional was a bit frustrating at times. Naturally no student wants the classroom to be worksheet-quiz-review-test straightforward and while I love group work as much as the next person, I just felt as assignments like the breakouts became a bit tedious and even cuttroat when the grade would be based off the order in which you finished in. I feel like that promotes solely obtaining the answer versus actually learning the process behind discovering the answer. That being said, I like the concept of doing things differently as well, especially using technology. Personally I would have preferred to have a choice- one could either do the conventional approach with a worksheet/packet or maybe a digital counterpart that involves critical thinking and problem solving. Ultimately, these unconventional assignments were not that bad though, and they at times even made class more fun and open to discussion, an aspect that I think is integral to any healthy classroom.]]> 2019-05-11 16:41:48 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359124406 Karen Lu https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359125389 Rose: Throughout the year, my favorite thing within AP Chemistry has consistently been the lecture notes we always go through in the beginning of the unit. By taking the time to go through the information we need to know right from the start, we have a solid foundation to slowly build upon as we progress through the unit. It's also a great way to ask questions since the entire class is able to learn from what you don't understand personally. It also gives us an opportunity to clear things up from Mrs. Snyder right from the start, so we're not applying information in an incorrect way. 

Thorn: I wish we were given more conventional review/worksheets throughout each unit to prepare for the upcoming test. While the innovative assignments were engaging and made us creatively think about the topic, the task would transform from learning about chemistry to trying to make the most aesthetically pleasing breakout, or guessing synonyms of a word over and over again. With more standard forms of review questions, I feel like I would have been able to grasp each topic more efficiently and deeper. ]]> 2019-05-11 16:52:49 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359125389 Jahnavi Pathan https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359126792 Rose: I really loved how all the notes and resources were posted on Schoology for our own personal viewing as well as how you recorded some of the lectures. I also liked how when we had questions you would work them out thoroughly on the white board and explain and review past concepts we didn't quite understand as well as the immense amount of time we had in class to finish assignments so that we didn't have homework.

Thorn: I think the digital breakout assignment, although helpful when you created them, didn't really help us learn the material as many were more focused on the creativity of the scenario rather than the actual breakout. ]]> 2019-05-11 17:08:34 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359126792 Diptendu Maity dxm6665 https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359129504 Rose: Something that I loved about AP Chem this year is the lectures given by Mrs. Snyder. I tend to learn the best when a teacher is explaining the concept to me. Unfortunately that is something most teachers do not do. Hence, I appreciate Mrs. Snyder for taking the time to do so. AP Chem is such a hard class to understand conceptually that I feel like its important for someone to teach you how it works.

Thorn: I feel like practice is the best way to master science concepts. Throughout the year, I feel like we didn't receive that many conventional worksheets and practice problems. Most of our homework consisted of finishing labs and studying for tests. I completely acknowledge the fact that I could have taken the time to do additional practice problems that I found online on my own time. Although, I feel like I would be more incentivized to do so if they were given to me as assignments. 

 ]]> 2019-05-11 17:43:13 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359129504 Ashwin Purohit https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359143193 Rose: Something that I certainly found useful when learning AP Chemistry was the 1 or 2 homework pages that kept allowed me to fully absorb the material that was covered by Mrs. Snyder in class. While the class lectures are very beneficial, the homework pages allow me to completely absorb the material and figure out anything I previously thought was ambiguous. 

Thorn: I strongly feel that the digital breakout assignments didn't teach me much because I was too busy stressing over them. I didn't learn the material too well during these breakouts, especially when we were tasked with creating our own breakout because Google Forms was not cooperating well. ]]> 2019-05-11 20:48:29 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359143193 Hiren Premkumar https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359143594 Rose: One of the things I really appreciated from this past school year were the lecture notes. These notes made lectures more engaging as they were easy to follow and very detailed. Many times I feel behind in lectures for others classes since I get distracted sometimes and this caused me to lose interest in the lecture as I had no idea what was going on. The textbook was just generally difficult for me to read as it was so long and boring, so these notes were great for helping me learn the information outside of class aswell. I also enjoyed many of the labs that we did this year as I felt they reinforced concepts that we learned in class very well.

Thorn: I really did enjoy this class this school year, but if there was something I wish we did more of, it was worksheets/practice problems. I remember in my sophomore chemistry class with Mr.Houghton, we did a lot of these worksheets after lectures to help reinforce what we learned in class and had a "mol buck" system to keep track of all of the worksheets and to make sure all of the students did the problems. With enough "mol bucks", you'd be able to earn a reward such as chance to retake a past quiz or candy. I feel like some sort of system like this where students feel motivated to complete these worksheets for some sort of reward would enhance the class to even greater heights.]]> 2019-05-11 20:54:40 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359143594 Spraha Pandey https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359144592 Rose : I loved the lecture notes you had on schoology. They were so organized and easy to follow. I really liked how I could put it into notability and highlight and write around the notes so I didnt have to write everything on paper during lectures. Reading the textbook chapters were kind of overwhelming and hard to follow at times so it was nice that the schoology lecture notes were easy to follow with everything we needed on it . 

Thorn : Although I liked the amount of creative activities we did in the class, I did not like the digital breakouts as much. Me and my group would be more focused on trying to get things to fit together and work with the codes instead of actually learning and practicing the unit we were studying. It would also be great if we had more practice worksheets. Not a whole lot, but just enough so that we have enough practice because I would find myself watching a lot of videos and looking up online how to solve some problems. ]]> 2019-05-11 21:09:22 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359144592 Ridha Syed https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359145983 Rose:
I really appreciated the in-class lectures with embedded examples for us to work through. You never rushed us through any topic and made sure we felt comfortable with each step before moving on. That’s what I liked most, your patience and dedication to ensuring we truly understood what we were learning.
 
Thorn:
Like some others have mentioned, I feel like it would have been much more beneficial to our learning if we had more worksheets and practice with the material, with more feedback on where we were lacking. Getting a low grade on an assignment has never bothered me the slightest, but what has is the lack of guidance and insight as to what specifically I need to improve on.
]]> 2019-05-11 21:31:44 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359145983 Aakash Paidesetty https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359147299 Rose: I really enjoyed the in class lectures, the notes posted on schoology, and the labs that we performed in class. The lectures always had a nice pace to them, fast enough to keep me interested and slow enough for me to truly understand everything that was being taught to us. The notes that you posted to schoology were extremely helpful to glance over before lectures to get a general idea and also the example problems that the notes had were models of how I would learn to solve the problems myself for the test. The labs overall were a great way to connect what we were being taught in class to an actual demonstration that allowed us to visualize what was actually happening. 

Thorn: The breakouts. In theory they seemed like a great idea and I had lots of fun doing them (for the most part) but I dont really think that they were really helping me understand the concepts as most of the time was spent figuring out how to put the answer in or what problem to solve in the first place.

]]> 2019-05-11 21:55:11 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359147299 Rama Nuvvula acn6112 https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359149605 Rose: I loved the lectures that we had in class. Not only were they extremely informative, but also engaging. I feel that the lectures that we had could've been broken down and done over a span of time instead of focusing on everything on one day. This way, we could've understood and undergone spaced learning

Thorn: I feel like we did so many hands on information and labs that we didn't get the benefit of doing activities that related to the AP exam, like more practice worksheets that we can go over in class or something of that nature.]]> 2019-05-11 22:37:05 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359149605 Brett Deng bid4357 https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359149932 Rose: Over the course of my year in AP chemistry, I really learned to appreciate the excellent notes and resources on schoology that allowed for us to follow the curriculum at our own comfortable pace, which was especially helpful for the more difficult units such as thermodynamic and acids/bases.

Thorn: That being said, however, I feel as if restudying the material on our own time would not have been as necessary had the content  for each module been split and taught over multiple days, as opposed to being taught the whole unit all on the first day of the new unit. Even for the most diligent of students, I feel like that much information in one sitting is just too mentally exhausting for us to process and understand. Thus, I genuinely feel that having a module taught over separate days will engage the class more, and promote less reviewing of the same material at home (which is good considering most of us are seniors who don't care much for school 2nd semester).]]> 2019-05-11 22:43:17 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359149932 axb0914 https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359150189 2019-05-11 22:49:20 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359150189 Bhavik Reddy https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359150246 Rose: I think the best part of this class has to be the amount of time we spent on labs and actually doing what was being taught in class. This was especially true for the Buffer Unit where I felt like I wouldn’t have been able to master it without having done the titrations. Listening to a lecture is one thing, but being able to actually apply it made it much easier to learn it. 

Thorn: Though I definitely think it has some potential, I would probably reduce the emphasis on the breakouts. Even though I felt like the questions themselves were good practice, it always seemed that it was even more challenging to try and type it into the google form correctly. I felt I was wasting valuable time doing this which I could be using to do more practice. ]]> 2019-05-11 22:50:18 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359150246 Nikheil Patel https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359150457 Rose: 
There were many things about this class. that I personally enjoyed this year. For example, all of the notes and lectures were engaging and they were extremely detailed which allowed us to comprehend the information better than the textbook would have. Also, many of the topics we learned were at a reasonable pace and they were not rushed through, this allowed us to better ourselves for the exams and the lab reports. 

Thorn: The Digital breakout should have been a good study tool to practice problems, but the majority of the time we spent was figuring out how to our answer in the breakout and which problems we needed to solve in the correct order. These problems made the digital breakout very confusing, ]]> 2019-05-11 22:54:05 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359150457 Lara Nakisli https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359156907 Rose: I liked that all the notes were in one place and readily available. We could just go over the notes and annotate which was nice.

Thorn: I was never able to make connections. When we learned one unit and then started another I didn't really understand how everything fit together(big picture) and this made me confused on labs. I think it would be nice if somehow there was some "chronological" sense to the material, kinda like math. Maybe that's not possible because of how chemistry is but it was just my observation.]]> 2019-05-12 00:40:23 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359156907 David Trakhtengerts https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359157627 Rose:
One thing that I really enjoyed in AP Chemistry were the lab days. Both the "cookbook" and "guided inquiry” labs were just a great experience in the real applications of chemistry. I love labs in general but the atmosphere in the classroom during lab days was my favorite. In the beginning everyone is always so confused and maybe joking around a little but then we realize that we really understand it and it's not that hard. We see that the lectures and the notes are being personified in what we are doing and when that point hits, it’s non stop work and amazement from there. 

Thorn:
There is only one thing that I would change about this past year and that was the preparation for the AP Chemistry test. I feel like more time to do practice tests in class would have been very beneficial as a review and a preparation for the test. Even though everyone hated those I really believe that going through the answers after and explaining the concepts would have been a great help. Obviously it’s hard to fit in all the lectures and labs and still leave enough time to review but maybe just a few more class days of practice questions and frqs I feel would be a great change for the next year. 
]]> 2019-05-12 00:51:28 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359157627 Albert Lu https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359158109 Rose:
One thing I liked was how the lecture notes for each test was always posted on schoology for us to follow along and if we missed class sometimes you recorded the lecture so we could watch later. The notes were easy to follow along and this way I never had to touch the textbook.

Thorn:
I felt the digital breakouts were sometimes annoying and we spent most of the time trying to type in the correct answers into the google form instead of doing the problems themselves.]]> 2019-05-12 00:59:09 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359158109 Hanbit Kang https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359160801 Rose: One thing that I liked was your personality and your heart for caring about your students. I think this is evident by all these other roses. Thank you for thinking about us and always trying to better us and prepare us for the AP tests and college life. I believe this is a character that is needed in every teacher and that itself makes the class enjoyable.

Thorn: I really don't have any thorns. The digital breakdown technical difficulties were minor. If I am being serious, I think having the lecture notes be more organized and colored would make it easier for us to read and see which parts we need to focus on. I know it was very nice and helpful, but it would be even better if it was neat. I tried to get to the Horton Hears a Who concept in the acid and base notes, but it was hard just trying to get there.]]> 2019-05-12 01:42:13 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359160801 Peyton Williams https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359161444 Rose:
I loved how the notes were organized and easily available. I also liked how you lectured over the notes. This made the material organized and easy to find. It also helped me understand which topics were the most important to the unit. 

Thorn:
I didn’t like the digital breakouts as much as the other activities because I was more stressed about figuring out the exact code than focusing on learning the content. I think that worksheets would be more beneficial because then students can focus more on the process and not the answer.]]> 2019-05-12 01:53:52 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359161444 Anusha Mittal https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359162739 Rose: I really liked the way that we took notes in class. Having a document that we could build off of and add to, rather than having to write down everyone on a board or what was being said. Having a foundation for notes helped me figure out what I knew and what I needed to review. I also liked having the videos of a few lectures because it helped me add to my notes and make sure that I had written everything down correctly. 

Thorn: While I enjoyed the practices that were found on the digital breakouts, I didn't really like the format of them. The lock forms made me more frustrated and stressed because I was not getting the right answer. I feel that I was learning less because I was so much more stressed with finishing the form.]]> 2019-05-12 02:13:12 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359162739 Shrey Patel https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359163674 Thorn: One thing I disliked during my time in AP chem was the lack of dedicated practice problems for each unit. Sometimes homework is good because it would allow students to better develop there skills in the unit, therefore including homework practice problems that would be later explained in class would definitely have honed my skills in chemistry.

Rose: The best part about AP chem this year was the fact that you had amazing in depth knowledge of each unit and were able to explain each unit in different ways so that people who learn differently could understand the topic. This really helped me understand the confusing topics this year as instead of just referring me to the textbook you actually took the time to explain the content.]]> 2019-05-12 02:28:53 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359163674 Varenya Shrikant https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359166324 Rose: I loved that the notes were so organized and always available at the beginning of the unit. I liked that they were detailed and also contained example problems that we would go over during lectures; it made learning the material easier and didn't require having to spend hours reading the textbook as the notes were already compete and condensed.

Thorn: It was easy to get lost during lectures. It felt like if you zoned out for even 10 seconds, you would miss crucial information and be unable to make connections necessary to understand the entire unit. Sometimes I felt that we were going too fast and were glossing over certain steps or concepts.]]> 2019-05-12 03:08:41 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359166324 Shivam Sood https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359166803 Rose:
Even though most people did not like the digital breakouts, I for some reason did. I really enjoyed the fact that it was a self learning project, you could choose to work with friends, you could explore different possibilities and guess and check, and sometimes we even took the learning outside of the classroom (when we had to go to a Tesla gallery) and Rey to figure stuff out in the real world.

Thorn:
I wish there was more practice problems and worksheets for each lesson, sometimes I felt a little rushed in the sense that we did something brand-new on Monday and buy Wednesday we were already developing on that new idea instead of really strengthening it. That for me made it hard to put the dots together and most of the times I had to go back and self study previous units almost as if I had never learned them. I really enjoyed the class and I feel like my thorn is a problem due to block periods, but that was the only problem I had all year.]]> 2019-05-12 03:16:46 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359166803 Seungmin Chun https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359171047 Rose:
One thing that I liked about AP Chemistry was how we effectively memorized concepts using abbreviated words such as oil rig, an ox, red cat, pink carrot, and more. It really helped me during the exams as I was able to recall the concepts that I learned months ago with ease.

Thorn:
One thing that I believe could be better about the class would be to spend more time on learning the material. There were days when I felt like the note taking days were overwhelming due to the large amount of content we would learn in a class period. Doing more practices relating to each topics or having more retrieval practices would be a great improvement.]]> 2019-05-12 04:29:43 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359171047 Teresa Chin https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359171273 Rose: Something that I really appreciated about the class were the "Snyder-isms" that we learned along with our lectures. These acronyms were especially useful in the weeks leading up to the AP exam.

Thorn: An aspect to our class that I struggled with was focusing throughout the lecture days. Often times I would feel as though I understood a topic zone out and miss a large chunk of important information. Though I appreciated the notes being posted to Schoology, I think going slower could also be more beneficial for students.]]> 2019-05-12 04:34:26 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359171273 Aki Koditipalli axk6245 https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359221007 Rose:
I really liked the course notes as they helped me go back and see things from another view if I missed something. I also liked some of the major labs, like the Hand warmer Lab because we could connect all the stuff in the unit, which helped me understand a lot of the unit. 

Thorn: 
I would've liked more practice problems given to us for test and AP Exam preparation. I think a big factor for doing well on the tests was going through past FRQ's on the unit and working them out myself. I think that type of practice would help students put things together as FRQ's usually involve different types of questions tied together. You started to do this later in the year but I think maybe making a folder of related FRQ's for practice would helpful. ]]> 2019-05-12 15:46:08 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359221007 Mahita Maddukuri https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359225904
Rose: I really liked the unit notes because they allowed us to study everything that could potentially be on the test, especially if we did not understand something during the lecture days or if we missed a class. I also really liked labs such as the lemonade buffer lab and handwarmer lab because they helped me connect different topics that we learned in class and see the concepts applied to the real world. 

Thorn: The most difficult parts of this class for me personally were the lecture days, because I had a difficult time staying focused. It was very common for me to zone out for 30 seconds, and then look at the board, only to realize that I had no idea what we were doing. After that point, it was very hard to get caught up again, and I usually did not understand the rest of the lesson. I don't think going slower would have helped me, because we already went pretty slow, but maybe if we had a worksheet/notes sheet to follow along with, that was then checked at the end of class for a completion grade, it would have forced me to pay attention even on the days that I struggled to. ]]> 2019-05-12 16:24:59 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359225904 Samir Thota https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359227369 Thorn: One part of the class that I felt that we did not spend enough time on was preparation for the test and the AP exam. I wish there were materials related to practice problems that would have been helpful for the test or different FRQs. Some of the activities helped us learn the information but not in the format that we would be asked on the tests.

Rose: I learned the most from going over the notes that were there for each unit. There were ways to understand each of the confusing topics with phrases. There were also a few practice problems that helped for the test.]]> 2019-05-12 16:36:55 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359227369 Priya Patel https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359227515 Rose: One thing that I really liked about our class was how interactive we got to be with other students especially with the labs. I liked the lectures and class discussions along with coming up with mnemonics to help us memorize and understand the concept effectively. (ex: oil rig, pink carrot). The content was taught in a way that every student with different learning abilities were able to understand and get a good grasp on what is being taught. 

Thorn: One thing that could be changed is definitely giving more practice problems. With practice problems after learning each new content, I feel like it would give each student a better grasp on what is being expected to skill for the AP exam or just in general for the unit. (ex: stoichiometry). ]]> 2019-05-12 16:38:13 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359227515 Anisha Bagaria https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359229289 Rose: I loved the various mnemonic devices that we had. It really helped me on the AP exams such as OIL RIG and AN OX and RED CAT. I also liked doing fun seasonal things like the scavenger hunt and random acts of kindness.  Also, I felt like I looked forward to coming to chemistry most days because it was a fun class to be in.
Thorn: I felt pretty lost on lecture days sometimes. I do wish there were fill in notes or something that would help me remember and keep pace with the lectures I probably could have paid more attention or tried to prepare for the material before the lecture though. I also wish that we had more assignments on basic understanding of the topic instead of going straight into labs and tests that required advanced understanding. Also, entropy and enthalpy and Gibbs free energy was a topic I felt like we didn't spend enough time on in class and it was a major portion of the AP exam. ]]> 2019-05-12 16:53:57 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359229289 Yoonjung Cho yxc6116 https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359231374 Rose:
I really liked how the notes and lectures were set up. The lecture went over the notes and the notes were always readily available. The lectures themselves were also set up in a way that was entertaining and the retrieval practices actually helped drag some stuff from first year chem back. The snyderisms really did help me on the AP exam, too.

Thorn:
Sometimes the lectures could feel a bit fast paced and sometimes I didn't understand something in the middle and ended up missing a good percentage of the concept. While this is also true in other classes, I can usually figure it out on my own in those classes through assignments by just practicing and working my way through. While the absence of homework packets was welcome, I feel like it actually would've helped me on the long run with more difficult concepts that need practice outside of group activities and labs.]]> 2019-05-12 17:14:33 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359231374 Sabarish Ramakrishnan sxr9557 https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359232148 Rose: 
Something that I really enjoyed and benefitted from during my year of AP Chem was how the retrieval practices was implemented and used. These practices helped me understand the concepts much better rather than just learning it once and being done with it. These retrieval practices that Mrs.Snyder used helped me the most during the redox reaction problems. Since we practiced how to preform these problems so frequently, my understanding increased significantly. 

Thorn: Something that I did not enjoy or something that I felt did not help me were the breakouts. I felt that at one point, the breakouts were more about the grade and "winning" rather than about learning the content and understanding everything. Although they were very entertaining and fun, I feel that there could have been a better way to execute them as to where the students had a better opportunity to absorb the content more. ]]> 2019-05-12 17:22:20 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359232148 Aadarsh Srivatsav ars3914 https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359239167 Thorn: One thing I didn't like about AP Chemistry was how we often didn't have enough practice with the material for most of the year and barely had any homework. More practice through homework problems could have helped me more in preparation for the tests and the AP Exam. Even though we did have lots of lectures and activities for many of the units, I feel like they didn't help me as much in preparing for tests. We also didn't have much practice with FRQ problems on the AP test for most of the year until 2nd semester a few weeks before the exam.

Rose: Some things that I really liked about AP Chemistry were how we had lots of lectures many days over the units that really helped because Mrs. Snyder was really engaging when she was teaching and mostly wanted to make sure the class understood the material before going on. I also really liked how Mrs. Snyder gave us "Snyderisms" and ways to remember each of the concepts as these really helped me in preparing for tests through the year. Even many of the activities and labs through most of the year were very fun and entertaining and really made me look forward to coming to chemistry everyday.]]> 2019-05-12 18:25:21 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359239167 Afrida Rahman https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359240837 Rose: Onet thing that I really enjoyed from this year are the ways that we remember certain chemical formulas (ex: Pink Carrot). They really helped me study for the tests and the AP Exam.  Something else I really enjoyed was the notes that you had available during your lectures. They helped to condense the information on the textbook, and were easy to look at when reviewing for the test. 

Thorn: I hope that with next years class that you include more practice FRQs. The only time we did frqs were during a test and I feel like that wasn't enough practice, especially for those who want to take the AP exam. Also, sometimes the lectures became to fast (which is understandable because of the amount of content you need to teach in one class period) . I would recommend that the lectures be slowed down just a tad so there is enough time for everyone to take notes and understand the content. ]]> 2019-05-12 18:39:16 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359240837 Chaitanya Eranki https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359246685 Rose: One of the things I liked most about AP Chemistry this year were the study guides that were very detailed and helpful in underlining what exactly was going on in the unit. While they were long, they did have a lot of practice problems and explanation about how to exactly approach the practice problems to prepare for any test. 

Thorn: One of the things I didn’t like about AP Chemistry was not getting a detailed explanation of what was actually happening at the molecular level. While we were explained the formulas and math behind the chemistry, we didn’t get a good understanding of the actual chemistry and why things were happening the way they were. For next year, I think you should take more time in explaining why things happen the way they do and place less emphasis on actually solving problems. 
]]> 2019-05-12 19:28:06 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359246685 Joni Goh https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359255958 Rose: One thing that I really liked about your class was your lectures. You made sure that the notes and what you were teaching in class were relevant and easy to follow, which really allowed us to better understand the concepts. In addition, you were very understanding and allowed us extra time on material that was more challenging, giving us the opportunity for extra tutoring and practice before major tests or labs.

Thorn: One thorn is that some of the assignments or materials we were given for homework or classwork didn't really help me understand the concepts. For example, the breakouts, while fun and interactive, didn't really help me understand how to do some of the problems in that specific unit or understand the overall concepts you were trying to teach us.]]> 2019-05-12 20:44:38 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359255958 Haroon Abdulkadir https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359256926 Rose: I really enjoyed the labs and the practical activities that we did in class because; if I didn’t entirely get a topic and we do a lab on it, the hands on experience helps me make more sense of it because I get to see how it’s done and along the path understand why we do certain things, it also makes it easier to remember since we can associate it to something practical. Plus doing labs and write-ups helps with the FRQ questions that ask us to write a lab procedure.

Thorn: Even though it was helpful not having much mandatory practice packets, I feel like it would've been helpful to have more of those because then I would’ve given practice more priority than I did through this year.

Overall though, APChem and the APexam were not as bad as the classes from last year said they were.]]> 2019-05-12 20:52:30 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359256926 Andrew Tao https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359258098 Rose: One thing that I really liked about the class was predicting results of labs before doing them and then testing to see if our predictions were right; these kind of labs made me really feel like I could have a stronger understanding of the content, and really helped me feel more confident in my ability to do the problems.

Thorn: One issue that I had was that, while they were somewhat fun, many of the more "unconventional" grades really felt like they were only there for the grade and that the chemistry felt secondary. For example, I feel like the multiple classes that spent solely making breakout forms or drawing sketch notes were wasted, and I started to feel like the time spent could've been better spent by simply doing practice problems as a class. Additionally, the pressure of being graded (very heavily) on something that didn't really feel like chemistry became really stressful, and it started to feel like the grades came more from things unrelated to the curriculum (like the daily nice stuff tweets, digital breakouts, and sketch notes).]]> 2019-05-12 21:03:54 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359258098 Lexi Rivera https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359258702 Rose: I really liked the lectures and how accessible the notes were on schoology throughout the whole year. I appreciate you breaking down every topic, so everyone could understand and easily follow. Also, if we all did bad on an assignment or a test you would go back and reteach it to us. You were very willing to teach and help students individually and take as much time as they needed in order for them to understand.

Thorn: One thorn about your class is that there weren't enough worksheets with practice problems given for homework and some assignments that didn't necessarily help me understand the topics, like the digital breakouts. I feel like they didn't give me the practice I needed to help me understand, but if I had worksheets for homework instead, I would be more confident with the content.]]> 2019-05-12 21:10:20 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359258702 Aditi Mutagi axb0914 https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359260996 Rose: I really liked that the lecture was available on Schoology because it gave us an opportunity to refer back to anything we didn't understand or missed. And also, since these lectures were available throughout the year, it was easy to access them when studying for the AP exam. Often times these notes really simplified complex concepts, especially when using the acronyms.

Thorn: I think having worksheets would really help students in the future. The lecture was a good review, and I usually understood the concepts during the lecture, but when I went home I didn't have enough practice and so I would often forget or confused later on. Worksheets would definitely help ]]> 2019-05-12 21:29:22 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359260996 Aditi Mutagi agm2006 https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359261584 Rose: I really liked that the lecture was available on Schoology because it gave us an opportunity to refer back to anything we didn't understand or missed. And also, since these lectures were available throughout the year, it was easy to access them when studying for the AP exam. Often times these notes really simplified complex concepts, especially when using the acronyms.

Thorn: I think having worksheets would really help students in the future. The lecture was a good review, and I usually understood the concepts during the lecture, but when I went home I didn't have enough practice and so I would often forget or get confused later on. Worksheets would have definitely helped us remember the concepts after the lecture and have practice applying them by ourselves.]]> 2019-05-12 21:33:57 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359261584 Sydney Nguyen https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359266369 Rose: What I appreciated most in your class this year was your effort to make notes for the lectures so that we could read along. The outline helped me a lot in preparing what I needed to know for the tests and was  a very useful resource overall.

Thorn: Although I appreciate your efforts to make AP Chem more fun and interesting, I personally gained much more knowledge through "traditional" lectures and worksheets. I felt that the classes spent doing breakouts were "busy work" for most- and we were so focused on getting the actual answer than understanding the question. Although they were fun and most likely graded to our own benefit, I think activities like these would be best as scaffolding.]]> 2019-05-12 22:11:45 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359266369 Rohith Karkala https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359268495 Rose: One thing that I enjoyed about Chemistry this year were the notes that were posted on Schoology. It was helpful for students who missed a day of class and for reviewing before a test or lab. In addition, the acronyms and other devices used on the notes were helpful in understanding the complex topics.

Thorn: I felt that the sketchnotes and digital breakouts were not as effective compared to the more traditional methods of learning. While they did help with learning the material, the time needed for both, especially the digital breakout, could be used to learn via lectures or worksheets instead. ]]> 2019-05-12 22:28:46 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359268495 Supraj Punnam https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359271841 Rose: One thing that I thought was really helpful in class were the various memory tricks that were taught in order to help us remember important information. These tricks were very helpful during tests and other activities if an important equation or concept needed to be recalled.

Thorn: One thing that could be changed for next would be more practice with free response questions prior to tests. Much of our exposure to these questions occurred during tests and having the ability to practice more with them prior to tests would have been beneficial. ]]> 2019-05-12 23:01:40 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359271841 Patrick Unnikrishnan https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359275237 Rose: I think the most effective part of AP Chem were honestly the notes we had. They were always the thing I looked back on whenever I felt lost, whether in class or at home. The lectures we got also allowed me to start understanding the concepts thanks to the way they were being presented and taught to us. The memory tricks specifically were always fun and useful to learn.

Thorn: The one thing that I remember I never truly understood were the sketch notes. I don't really understand as much as I do normally when I try to draw my notes, especially when I'm required to. I didn't really feel as though I got the same out of it than I would have if I had just done notes my normal way so I think that might be something I'd change.]]> 2019-05-12 23:28:05 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359275237 Suprita Ashok https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359275856
Rose: Your notes are so thorough! Your acronyms make hard college chem concepts much easier to digest. Thank you for the investment you put into this class! 

Thorn: The class (for the most part) was very lecture heavy, which really hurt me. There are many other students like myself who learn better through labs, activities, and other hands on experiences. I loved the buffer unit just because of how much I learned while actually making buffer solutions! 

This has been a great year. :)]]> 2019-05-12 23:32:05 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359275856 Daniel Zhang dlz9345 https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359280169 Rose: I really enjoyed the student level teaching that you accomplished in this class time. I felt that you made a large effort to make sure everyone was caught up in the ideas you were teaching. You also provided several times for tutoring or mentor ship for those who needed help.

Thorn: I think that it would have been very beneficial to start the AP chem review maybe a week earlier and have as an entire class review each big idea carefully instead of having the week of exams where almost everyone was missing or just weren't in the mood to study. I did however really like the list of the subjects and example problems which I thought was really helpful in my individual studying.]]> 2019-05-13 00:01:29 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359280169 Vamsi Immanneni https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359284597 Rose: My favorite part of AP Chemistry was the labs. Although a lot of the time, since it was group, some people didn’t do their part, it was very beneficial for me. This is especially true because the pre lab and post lab questions were very similar to actual Chem FRQs. 

Thorn: I think it would have been more beneficial to have more practice problems and walkthroughs of the practice problems right before tests. We knew the content well because of the reviews, but since there weren’t enough walkthroughs in class we were unprepared for the tests. Note that this only applies to unit tests as we did have enough practice for the ap test.]]> 2019-05-13 00:25:04 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359284597 Ishita Rastogi ixr0976 https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359284716 Rose: I love that your notes were extremely thorough and that you had acronyms to help us remember important facts and formulas. It was great to see them on the white board too, so that the important concepts for each unit stood out. If I missed something during the lecture, I liked that everything was easily accessible and that I could go back to either your lecture videos or notes on Schoology.

Thorn: I liked that we had worksheets throughout second semester, but I wish we had more worksheets first semester as well. With the worksheets, I realized I was able to practice problems for the current unit on my own at home while we reiterated the concepts at school. I just wish there was more of that for each unit so that I understood the concepts better.
]]> 2019-05-13 00:25:54 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359284716 Andrew Pease https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359286645 Rose: One of my favorite things that we did in class was walking through your notes. I felt like the notes provided some very valuable practice when it comes to solving problems or developing intuition in the way the chemistry world works. Your notes would often cover all types of questions that we might see on your exam or the AP exam and I never felt like I might be wasting time listening to your lectures. 

Thorn: One of the things that I didn't quite like was the digital breakouts. The most valuable component of the breakouts were the questions, but it felt like way too much emphasis was put on the answer. Often times, the answers you wanted were unintuitive and convoluted which drew a significant emphasis from solving the questions to finding the right answer. This led to a lot of students feeling the need to skip the questions altogether, nullifying the "good" of the activity. ]]> 2019-05-13 00:36:04 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359286645 Rachana Inteti https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359288298 Rose: One if the most beneficial things that you have done this year is that you always checked in with us to make sure that every single person was caught up and understood the concepts that you were explaining. You never went ahead and left your kids to figure it out because it’s an AP level class and we should learn at a faster pace, but you actually went back and re taught material that you felt needed reviewing. Your abundance of tutorial time and flexibility and how you were able to connect individually with each of your students on a level beyond that of a regular student-teacher relationship was greatly appreciated. 

Thron: There wasn’t a lot in this class that I felt needed improvement, but one thing that I believe might be beneficial to the upcoming class is having like a class review session or like review games over the unit a day before the test or something so people can figure out where they are struggling or what their weak points are in the material, and they have students around them and you to help them out immediately if they encounter a problem. I think these quick review games or sessions would be a fun way for the class to feel more prepared for the test.]]> 2019-05-13 00:43:56 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359288298 Tarun Rayapati https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359289428 Rose: I really liked the labs and the notes, because we spent a lot of time for both of these. I think I learned the most through the notes because when we were first going through the notes at the beginning of the unit I was able to get an idea about the unit, and then later on throughout the unit if I had forgotten something I was able to go through the notes and learn the part again. Another good thing was the labs because in the labs we were able to see what we learned in the unit and see what we needed to learn and that we were able to see it in a real life example.

Thorn: I think one thing that could be changed was the digital breakouts. While I was doing the digital breakout I had spent more time trying to figure out how to put the answer/code into the form rather than learning and using the concepts. I feel like traditional homework sheets would have been better since we didn't get many homework problems this year and it was rather just the pre or post lab problems from the labs. So, I feel that regular questions would have better helped me learn the concepts.]]> 2019-05-13 00:50:51 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359289428 Sahil Chilukuri https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359295623 Rose: One of the things I really liked about Ap Chemistry this year were the Unit notes that were provided to us on Schoology. It was helpful as it gave a detailed outline on the important parts of the chapter, and we could do practice problems along the way to ensure we understood the concepts. This was a better, and more convenient way to learn the information rather than the more conventional "info's in the textbook" method. 

Thorn: I felt that the digital breakouts were not as efficient as traditional study techniques would have been. I felt that the intent of the breakouts were nice, and the questions were helpful, but the time required could have been used in a different, more efficient way. (Lecture Notes, videos, etc.)]]> 2019-05-13 01:30:45 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359295623 Neha Ghanta https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359297768 Rose: One of the things I really liked was how you went through the lecture notes and walking through the problems. It really helped me when studying for tests as I could go back to the lecture notes to see a step by step process on how to do the problems and the chemistry behind it all. 
Thorn: The one thing I didn't really find beneficial were the digital breakouts. I spent more time trying to figure out how to make the breakout form work than the actually chemistry aspect of it, and when we had the race to see who would finish them first, it made it seem that the answer was the only thing important than the process to get to the answer. ]]> 2019-05-13 01:46:25 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359297768 Subramanian Ganeshan https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359297824 Rose: At first, I was scared coming into AP Chemistry. I had no prior knowledge and came into the class with a clean slate. The stories about intensive lab reports from my friends who had taken the class the year before didn't help either. However, after looking at the curriculum and organization of the topics on Schoology, my fears subsided. The planned structure and balance of lectures, labs, and assignments for every Unit helped me to learn faster and more efficiently and I believe this structure will be beneficial to the students taking the class next year as well.

Thorn: I liked the concept of the digital breakouts but felt that they were overused. At one point it went from fun to tedious and I found myself not gaining any knowledge by doing them. I feel like balancing out the breakouts with similar fun, unconventional activities such as a "Who wants to be a millionaire" Chemistry edition or a Kahoot/Quizlet team tournament would ensure collaboration and make the class environment more lively, yet educational at the same time. ]]> 2019-05-13 01:46:52 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359297824 Kevin Li https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359299920 Rose : I like all of the resources available to study for tests. This helps me reinforce the concepts you teach in class and really gives me confidence about going into tests and knowing I can apply the knowledge. These resources also helped me prepare thoroughly for the AP Test.

Thorn : I personally don't like most of the more elaborate activities that we do to obtain knowledge. Some of them were fun, like the egg activity or certain labs, but some of them, like the last digital breakout, was not enjoyable for me, because I thought I had to go through a lot of effort to obtain knowledge to an extent that was only marginally better than just going over the other resources.

]]> 2019-05-13 02:00:34 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359299920 Kevin Patel kbp6615 https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359301723 Rose: I found that throughout the year students were provided with the materials needed to ensure their academic success in the class. Whether it be through content posted on Schoology or insightful labs, students were always given that extra push towards guaranteeing their academic success (as long as they chose to put in the necessary work).  

Thorn: I found that something that detracted or didn't provide as much content as it could have in its allotted time frame were activies like our Digital Breakout. While these activities were fun, they simply required excessive amounts of work to be completed with not enough learning value. Overall however, the concept behind these actives was quite innovative but they merely could have been a bit more quick.

]]> 2019-05-13 02:10:16 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359301723 Rohan Jupelly https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359305612 Rose: My favorite part about AP Chemistry was the amount of material provided to us in order to fully understand a unit, especially the lecture notes. I found them easy to follow, informative, and by the end of the notes I was able to fully grasp any concept. Compounded with the practice problems in class, the notes were an effective way to ensure that we learned every essential concept and I can confidently say I am prepared for any general chemistry class in college as a result. I assume that the notes are very similar to ones given in college and they provided me experience beforehand to experience a college style class for the first time.

Thorn: One facet of the class that I didn't necessarily think was beneficial was the digital breakouts. While they did reinforce concepts we learned, I found they often tested our ability to "game" the form and guess random facts, especially for the word, color, and directional locks, rather than test our true knowledge of chemistry. If anything was to remain of the breakouts it should be the number locks because the answers are much less open to interpretation. Other than that, I think the sketchnotes should not be required as I do not learn as effectively by drawing and visualizing and instead an alternative outlets should be provided to demonstrate the mastery of a concept instead of such a restrictive one.

]]> 2019-05-13 02:30:51 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359305612 Pratik Koppikar psk4422 https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359306036 Thorn: One of the things I didn't really like too much about AP Chem this year was specifically my lack of diversity in terms of who I worked with. It seemed like we were assigned lab partners a lot, and even after putting in a majority of the effort to complete online group assignments and accurately reflecting everyone's contribution, there seemed to be no change when the next lab rolled around.

Rose: Honestly, chemistry wasn't my favorite subject coming into senior year. There was a reason I saved it for last - I didn't really like the subject and it often didn't make sense to me. What you did this year was change that view significantly. The reason I want to go into research in biology was an ah-ha moment I had during sophomore year where everything just clicked. In your class this year, I had so many of those. Thank you so much. My favorite thing about your class was how much you made it make sense. Bringing in guests to talk to us, using models, snyderisms - I had so many of those moments throughout this year that while I may still like bio more (sorry), chemistry has become so much more loved in my world.]]> 2019-05-13 02:33:17 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359306036 Carter Kryzak https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359310822 Thorn: The digital breakouts were often extremely frustrating. While this frustration may have been related to the fact that I didn't always know enough chemistry to complete them on my own, the struggle was further compounded by the difficulty involved with inputting the answers correctly; even when I found the right answer, it often took several attempts and some communication with other groups for me to figure out how I could get the form to accept my correct response. I'm not sure how to fix this issue because grading every step to every digital breakout as the students complete them would be impractical, but I'm sure you can come up with something creative and great (you always do). Another piece of advice would be to format notes in a fill in the blank style. I personally think this style would be somewhat childish, but it actually helped me so much in GT chem and I think it would help seniors like me who are, for the most part, taking AP Chem because they are out of AP sciences to take; it would force students to be better students. Just an idea though (and it certainly wouldn't prepare us for college because professors won't do that so I understand your current approach).

Rose: You rock as a teacher. During the second semester especially, you gave PLENTY of practice problems (and my main complaint with teachers is often lack of practice so this made me very happy). Also, your class always let me know whether or not I was ready for the test. I couldn't trick myself into thinking I was ready. I really, really liked this because you always seemed to give me a real understanding of what I knew (and what I didn't) BEFORE the test date. Also, I like how the practice was often available before we had completely finished a topic. It served as a way for me to see what we would be learning and understand how much info would be covered in the unit.

Happy Mother's Day!]]> 2019-05-13 02:57:40 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359310822 Rui Gong rxg1613 https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359312543 Rose:
I liked basically everything about the course. I like the people in the class; I like the content of the class; I also like the teacher of the class. It is just a fun environment to be in. Although this class is tough, I have never sweat or get nervous for this class like I did for other classes. The class environment is just fun.
Thorn:
There is not too much to complain other than the rigidness of the course. Of course, there is nothing anyone can do about it. So yes, it would be amazing if you could magically make the material easier Ms. Snyder! ]]> 2019-05-13 03:04:53 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359312543 Tausif I. txi1503 https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359312839 Rose: One of the most beneficial and favorite things I liked about this class was the lecture sessions that was given for each new unit covered. Not only that the notes were very informative and goes straight to the point, but the lectures given during class explains the concept far better than what the lecture notes have given. Another factor to the great contribution to this class is that students are always receiving help in a regular basis whether it be through extra lessons or tutoring session or simply asking questions that needs answers. I believe that this class hasn’t abandoned it’s students since the beginning to the end while some other classes might give up on a student who has fallen behind.
Thorn: One of the things that could be implemented is the lab assignments. While labs are really helpful in applying the knowledge learned from lectures, the sudden or immediate transition from lectures to a lab maybe too fast of a pace and hard to follow through for some people. Rather than starting a lab immediately, having two practice labs where the lab itself is demonstrated but the post labs and the write up of the lab is done together as a class before an actual lab where it is done in groups may be a good transition to doing lab assignments.]]> 2019-05-13 03:07:00 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359312839 Ricky Titus https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359313080 Thorn: I think a lot of people have already mentioned this, but I think the digital breakouts either need to be revised or removed completely. I found it irritating how I could not work on other parts of the assignment just because I was stuck on one part, and I feel that I probably would have learned better if I was given a normal assignment over the same content. In terms of things that can be improved, I think that it would be helpful to upload the annotated notes that you show us in class into Schoology, because I think that seeing your handwriting on the notes explaining how to do certain problems and remember key ideas will help me recall what I learned in class earlier so that I can better retain that knowledge. Finally, I think you should go over some practice MC and FRQ problems for each unit as I feel that this greatly helped prepare me for the AP exam.

Rose: Honestly, my favorite part about this class was having you as my teacher. Even though chemistry was not my favorite subject as there were some concepts within the curriculum that were very difficult to grasp, I always had the confidence that I would eventually be able to understand it knowing that you were there to thoroughly explain it to me. Clearly you are a person who loves to teach chemistry to students like us, and this passion of yours shows up everyday in class, whether you are teaching us a new concept or helping us with a lab. You were always there for us, and I know that if I did not have you as my teacher, then I would not have been able to learn anywhere near the amount of content that I learned this year without your support.]]> 2019-05-13 03:08:19 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359313080 Vanuli Arya vanuliarya https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359314577 Rose: The note packets we were given at the start of every unit were a blessing in this course – the notes condensed all the essentials of a unit in one place and were a huge review help throughout the year. I really appreciate being given those as a resource this year. Additionally, I really enjoyed the classroom environment. The lectures were quite possibly the best way I could have thought of to learn essentials for a unit – and I liked the structure of these class periods– where it was more of a Q&A and open discussion where we could air our concerns and questions. This was a really great part of AP Chemistry and made me feel as if I truly could get a better grasp of certain concepts. This year was really great in regards to the overall feel of the class – the variety of activities and the support of a great teacher made this class feel comfortable and enriching this year. 

Thorn: I believe that often times, when we did practice problems, it definitely helped me get a basic grasp of how to solve problems,  but sometimes I felt that there was a lack of complex problems that we did in class either as practice or on the board. We often times did "example" problems, one or two of each type of problem, but I think intense guided practice could have benefitted me more for certain types of problems, especially when we got into Ksp and Ka and Kb types of problems. "No strings attached" in class practice definitely seems like a good idea. We definitely did some of this, but possibly a wider array of practice problems done as a class, and more guided practice could have solidified my knowledge on some concepts. ]]> 2019-05-13 03:20:03 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359314577 Yash Sharma https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359315319 Rose: I really thought that this would be a very difficult class coming into the start of this year. I had always heard that AP chem was one of the hardest classes one could take in high school. However, this class was taught in such a nice way that it was really easy to pick onto difficult topics if people payed attention. Additionally, the amount of notes provided on Schoology were very helpful, as they were the same thing that we went over class in detail so it was easier to memorize the material when looking over it again. Overall, this class was way more bearable than I thought it would be due to the excellent teaching.

Thorn: I believe that the digital breakouts were pretty hard to do and I would personally rather do a worksheet. It was really difficult to find how to put an answer into the form in the exact acceptable way. Additionally, you would not be able to move on until you answered everything else right so sometimes it took a very long time to figure out a problem without getting to move on. ]]> 2019-05-13 03:25:30 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359315319 Vedin Barve https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359315748 Thorn: Sometimes I felt that the class lacked structured review before a test. We would be worki
ngng on an activity or a lab assignment for one class period and the very next would be some sort of a formative assessment. Having a built in structured review such as a packet of practice problems and FRQs or lectures would really help me prioritize what concepts I should be studying before the test because I would know during class itself what were my strong and weak areas. 

Rose: The class is very interactive. By nature, AP Chemistry is required to be interactive because of the lab processes we are required to know for the exam, but the addition of group work and breakouts made the class all the more enjoyable. My favorite moments of the year involved labs because I was able to apply what I knew in a format that was better than lecture notes or videos. ]]> 2019-05-13 03:29:02 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359315748 Almira Rajwani https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359316429 Thorn: 
One small thorn that I found in this course was that before a test I would have liked to have a class review over the material we covered. I feel like it would have been very beneficial to run through an overview of the concepts being covered on the test along with some practice frq's and and problems. I also believe that having a quick main vocab review the day before the test would have been very helpful. 

Rose:
Honestly, the rose in this class was you. Having such a passionate teacher who truly cared about her students was a blessing. I really appreciated how hard you worked this year and how you only got better from the first semester to the second (especially when you noticed and added more practice problems the second semester). Thank you so much for being a rockstar teacher. HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!]]> 2019-05-13 03:34:25 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359316429 Sangho Han https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359316940 Rose: 
I really liked the labs and activities we got to do. Most of the activities and labs we did were not blow off activities, but were related to topics that we were learning about and helped to understand the topics better. The labs especially helped to apply the information we learned into physical visualizations to understand the topics better. 

Thorn: I personally thought that we didn't have many practice questions that were structured like the AP Exam and tests through out the school year. There were moments when I thought I understood the information, but later realized during the test that I was missing information or had not conceptually understood the topic.]]> 2019-05-13 03:38:37 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359316940 Rajit Ghai https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359321017 Rose: I thought the summarized notes for each unit were very helpful especially when it came time to study for the tests and although I didn't take the AP Exam, I imagine they would have been very helpful for that as well. Direct teaching was also very helpful as it gave us a chance during class to grasp the material and ask questions. 

Thorn: One thing I didn't really think was necessary were the digital breakouts. I feel like practice problems would have been a better use of time especially because a lot of the time would be spent figuring out how to answer the questions in the digital breakout as opposed to learning the content itself. ]]> 2019-05-13 04:11:21 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359321017 Anthony Liu https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359323017 Thorn: I didn't really like the lack of structure we had before a test. I feel like my grades on the tests may have been better, if you had given us a review with the things we needed to know for the test. I mean while the labs and digital breakouts were helpful, I feel like more reviews with FRQ questions or multiple choice questions would be really helpful to help us better understand what the assessment would look like. Most of the problems that we did on the worksheets that you gave us were a little too easy, I was able to accomplish them really easily. But for some reason I could hardly understand the tests. I think it would've been better if we had reviews to work on that matched the complexities of the questions on the test. 

Rose: I really enjoyed the labs that we got to do,. By doing the labs I felt like I gained a much better understanding of the unit overall. Frankly I thought the labs were the best thing about the class. If you payed attention in class it was pretty easy to understand the labs, and the labs were really interesting, being able to test out what I had learned in class. ]]> 2019-05-13 04:22:48 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359323017 Abhi Cherukuri https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359323611 Rose: I really liked the creativity that was in each learning assignment an I think the labs were very helpful.

Thorn : I wish the notes had answers so I could check when doing at home, and that they were more review videos over practice problems. Mr.Houghton had just practice problem session videos posted to schoology which I felt were really good. ]]> 2019-05-13 04:27:24 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359323611 Veena Praveen https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359324034 Rose: The notes were extremely helpful, especially when we went through them as a class. I thought that going through them as a class ensured that we knew what all was going to be tested. Additionally, I liked how you always had additional resources for us to practice.

Thorn: One aspect that I did not like were the digital breakouts. More often than not, I was focused on finding the right answer as opposed to learning the content. Furthermore, it seemed as if the digital breakouts were over used a lot. I would suggest mixing in various other "games" that allow us to learn the concept, rather than having one where it seems the objective is to finish first for the highest grade.]]> 2019-05-13 04:29:46 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359324034 Matthew D'Souza https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359324716 Thorn: I didn't like how the notes lacked solutions to the many practice problems it had. I could do all of the practice problems, but still get them wrong without knowing so. I understand that I could just ask you in person for any of that help, but I feel like it would make things a lot more convenient if there were some solutions posted to the problems in the notes. That way, anyone could practice what they  heard in the lecture and then have the work shown to see if they were able to learn the concepts correctly.

Rose: I feel like there were plenty of activities that were very interactive and had lots of effort put into them. Specifically, the labs were very helpful in teaching me about the concepts that I heard in your lectures. I liked the fact that the labs often required you to interact with your partners and work efficiently while doing activities that you could've easily made less fun. I found it very clear that you are passionate about chemistry and that's probably why all the activities we did had so much thought behind them. Having such engaging labs and activities is only possible with a passionate teacher who actually cares about our learning.]]> 2019-05-13 04:35:05 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359324716 Tanish Paruchuri https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359324938 Rose: The notes that you provided were very helpful. Usually during class I can't focus so when I am paying attention to your lectures I space out, but when I read the notes at home I am caught up to where we are. I also really loved how the class was structured. It wasn't as stressful as I expected to be due to the overwhelming course load I thought I was going to have. This allowed me to be able to comprehend the higher level content in this class better. I also felt like when it was AP exam time I actually new all the content and that we didn't miss anything. Lastly, that list you provided on the whiteboard was really handy. I feel like you saved us a lot of time. Literally only the sections you listed were on the AP exam.

Thorn: Although the notes came in really handy, I had to use outside resources to do practice problems. Especially My Organic Chemistry Tutor, who is someone I would recommend showing all your future AP Chemistry students. Maybe if the notes had a step by step explanation on how to solve them, or if you made videos explaining them, that would have been better.

]]> 2019-05-13 04:36:37 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359324938 Thorn https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359325483 2019-05-13 04:39:27 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359325483 Aimee Ahn https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359325484 Rose: I liked the unit notes the most because I could go back to it any time and review the material. It helped me remember the lecture better and know which concepts to study for tests. You also provided us with extra review material every time and I benefited from them as well. Furthermore, I also liked how you tried to engage us with many different activities so we could enjoy learning Chemistry. :)

Thorn: Although I enjoyed the idea of digital breakouts at first, I found myself getting frustrated over it many times. I couldn't move on to the next part when I couldn't figure out one question, so I think it'd be more helpful if that part is more flexible, letting the students go back and forth from different problems. I also found myself guessing on most of them, so encouraging the students to show more work or going over confusing questions in class would help a lot!! Since I struggled a lot applying what I learned into solving problems, I think I would've benefited if we did more actual practice problems in class as well.]]> 2019-05-13 04:39:28 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359325484 Alice Han https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359328371 Rose: One thing I really liked this year was the unit notes that was provided to us. If I missed something during the lecture, I was absent, or if I couldn’t focus in class, I could always go back to the notes to review concepts and practice.

Thorn: I didn’t really like the digital breakouts. Creating them was a bit of a pain, and so were doing them. I didn’t really think it enriched my learning experience regarding chem.]]> 2019-05-13 05:00:32 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359328371 Rahul Malhotra https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359328823 Rose: One thing I really liked this year was the labs that made all the topics we learned put in a real world application way. This taught us to look at the new topics in a new way.

Thorn: I didn't like the digital breakouts because there would always be a problem with the online websites and it was quite confusing at times. 
 ]]> 2019-05-13 05:04:38 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359328823 Bhaash Pathak https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359335474 Rose: One thing I liked was how the course units were structured. It felt as if what we learned in a previous unit could be readily applied to the next, making the course easier as it went on.

Thorn: There were not enough practice problems given early on to help in the understanding of different concepts.]]> 2019-05-13 06:00:50 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359335474 Saket Ashar https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359525291 Thorn: The only complaint I could really think of was the way we would prepare for tests. I felt like throughout the year, we would learn the concept and then proceed to test over it with little review. Looking back I kind of understand how some activities were meant as a review, but I personally would've preferred some kind of more structured review that gave us a bit more practice. 
Also I'm not sure if this is a thorn or rose but I loved your integration of mnemonic devices in the classroom, but I wish we spent more time on some of them (like RICE check).

Rose: Coming into AP Chem I was told it was going to be incredibly difficult and time consuming. But at the end I can say I loved a lot about this class. I loved how many labs we did and the way you integrated little memory tricks into lesson. I also loved how towards the end of the year you tried to capture your lectures so you could post them on Schoology. As long as you continue to be the amazing teacher you have been, the class will continue to be awesome!]]> 2019-05-13 15:20:39 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359525291 Kaitlyn O'Quinn https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359534310 Rose: I liked that the notes were provided. This made sure that we were learning necessary information and not something that we didn't need to know.

Thorn: In preparation for test, I wish we'd gotten more practice problems. We could find some in the textbook, but being able to look at work if we didn't understand is a lot of help. It isn't always necessary to come into tutoring if we could just figure it out on our own.]]> 2019-05-13 15:37:00 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359534310 Kyle Kass https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359539034 Rose: The class was actually really enjoyable when working with friends. I did not feel as if any of the material was hard or particularly poorly taught. Furthermore, the overall organization of the class was good. Each unit built off of the previous.

Thorn: I felt as if the tests did not always reflect the material taught in class. There was a difference in the difficulty of problems and subjects of problems on the test and in the class practice. Although, this need to be taken with a grain of salt as the test are meant for us to take our knowledge further and apply it in a more broader sense.]]> 2019-05-13 15:45:44 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359539034 Sumedh Chilakamarri https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359572142 Rose:  I really liked the outlines notes that were listed for every chapter and unit. This allowed me to efficiently absorb the information that I needed for the exam and maximized my learning. The textbook had a lot of extra information and it would become difficult at times to absorb all the information. The outlines helped summarize the main points and gave me examples to work with to enhance my understanding. 


Thorn: I wish we could work on more practice problems for every unit as that would have been more beneficial for the AP exam. Additionally I feel like we could reduce the number of labs we were doing and instead spend more time on applications of problems, which would help us for exams. I feel like you could give your students for next year more timed practices for units to allow them to gain experience in solving problems with efficiency, necessary for the AP exam.]]> 2019-05-13 16:51:24 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359572142 Johann Gonzalez https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359583042 Rose: I thought that the in-class lectures with notes were very beneficial, as having someone explain each idea on the notes really helped my understanding of chemistry. The notes and lectures were among the parts of the class that taught the most.

Thorn: While I liked the idea of the digital breakouts, in practice, they didn't offer much in the way of learning or reinforcement. I thought that the Tesla Breakout was fine, but only because that one was mostly questions that tested our knowledge, while the Tesla part didn't really offer as much. Many of the other breakouts also had good practice problems, but confusing instructions or puzzles made it difficult for us to apply our knowledge of chemistry, as we had to navigate through perplexing puzzles. I think that the idea of them was fine, but the instructions should be more clear.]]> 2019-05-13 17:13:05 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359583042 jenny vu jtv5349 https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359583257 rose: One thing I liked about this class was that we were given many resources to study and review concepts. So, if I didn't understand something in the lecture, I could always go back on the notes or presentations in schoology. 

thorn: I wished that we could receive quick feedback on assignments instead of having to go up and ask about something specifically. For instance, if we had a lab report on schoology, I would like to see what was taken off on the rubric when I view my grade. ]]> 2019-05-13 17:13:29 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359583257 Hrithik Choudhary https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359621216 Rose: Class and the lectures themselves were very good and helped me understand the content well. Having guided notes along with the lecture helped me to stay focused and make sure I didn’t miss things or tune out. The notes were also a quality resource to learn and review the content. I also liked the variety of activities and how interactive the class was, since this class is pretty concept based.

Thorn: The digital breakouts were fun and engaging, but weren’t the most efficient way to review content. They took quite a bit of effort, and a lot of that didn’t have much to do with the actual chemistry. If there was a more focused review or activity before tests, I think most people’s scores would increase. There should also have been more quizzes or some similar way to check knowledge before the test.]]> 2019-05-13 18:31:29 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359621216 Carrie Chen https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359664637 Rose: I actually thought the digital breakouts were really helpful because they forced me to understand the concepts and how to do some problems. I also really like how the notes are always in schoology. I can always refer back to these notes whenever I need help on a certain topic. 

Thorn: Although in class lectures are very helpful, I wish that we could have done more practice problems as a class. Instead of seeing the steps of how to do a problem, I wish that we went through step by step of how to actually calculate and solve. I feel like if we did more practice problems, a lot of the topics would have been less confusing. 

]]> 2019-05-13 20:29:10 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359664637 Jackson Briscoe https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359670435 Rose: The labs we did were challenging and forced us to learn, but not in an unfair way. You prepared us enough to do the labs, the challenges often just came from having to apply the things we knew in ways we hadn’t done before and that made me learn way better then I would have otherwise.
Thorns: Being someone who missed a lot of days, it became obvious that it is a lot harder to catch back up with the class. To be fair though, I think the lecture videos you were working on will really help with that problem. In addition part of the difficulty is the nature of labs and the amount of time they take to do.]]> 2019-05-13 20:51:13 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359670435 Trevor Holmes https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359708406 Rose: One thing that I liked about AP Chem was the mnemonic devices that we could use to remember stuff better. (FAT CAT = From Anode To CAT thode) whoops sorry not sorry Kyle got annoyed when I said it like that. But seriously they helped me remember stuff even when I studied the minimal amount!

Thorn: I didn't really like the digital breakouts. They felt tedious, and often times I wouldn't actually have to do the problem to get the correct answer (sometimes putting in random combinations would be faster) so it could be somewhat counterintuitive. I also didn't like how we were forced to go to the Tesla store on our own time as part of one. ]]> 2019-05-14 00:34:05 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/359708406 Aryan Ramisetti https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/360082451 Thorns: I feel that we spend a little too much time looking at real-life applications of things that involve chemical processes. I feel that we should spend less time labs and more time doing traditional textbook and practice problems, as I feel it would'e helped me prepare for so many of the tests. I also feel that it would be really helpful to record lectures for us to look back at when we have doubts or need to study.

Roses: I really enjoyed the out of the ordinary assignments we had like morse code-involved lab breakouts and Tesla showroom visits and lectures. I also really enjoyed how you were really open to questions and had such a great attitude about us. I like how you understood that we get tired and have so many difficult AP classes to attend. I also loved how you showed us how we use retrieval practices.]]> 2019-05-14 19:39:57 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/360082451 Rui Liu rxl4182 https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/362986752 Rose: the digital breakouts were really engaging but I remember the first breakout we did was really confusing and it could be so much easier and I really really love all the "hoe + 1/2" it makes all the memorization much much easier and fun. The last thing I appreciate you for doing in this class is to apply the knowledge we learn in the classroom to real life scenarios. 

Thorn: also the digital breakouts.. some of them are actually really hard and the fact that we can process to the next step until we got the last question right is very very overwhelming.

]]> 2019-05-23 15:49:23 UTC https://padlet.com/asnyder3/zn0aag8ai2yc/wish/362986752