Parents

Let me be very clear here. Parents make the lifeblood of the best students flow. Parental involvement with students and through teachers always makes for the strongest students in the classroom. By all means, call me, email me, contact me through here. I hope all parents reward students at home with recognition, monetary rewards, privliges, and freedoms for excellence in class, and I hope that parents use punative means of taking away free time, electronic pieces used for entertainment, allowances, or things of value to reinforce the importance of education. I'll make any arrangement necessary to meet with any parent concerned about grades, work, progress, chemistry, science, or whatever... Use me as an asset, and help me prepare your students for their lives to come.

The following can be found in this PDF as well:

//**Chemistry**// //**Instructor: Dr. B. Jesse E. Reich**//

Email: Jesse_reich@natick.k12.ma.us Email: blairjesseellynreich@gmail.com http://reich-chemistry.wikispaces.com [|http://reichchemistry.edublogs.org]

While this is a chemistry course and chemical concepts are stressed; material is presented with a serious message: We do not simply learn chemistry, but we are here to learn life skills that are useful across all disciplines. Students are urged to learn truly //new// material. We’ve all had experiences with concepts that make their way into English courses or History, but this class is meant to be a brain expanding experience because so few students come to the class with any background in chemistry. Here we learn to see the world in a new way, and apply the lessons we’ve learned across all disciplines.
 * Greetings from the world of chemistry!** This class meets the Massachusetts Science Frameworks for Chemistry and reflects the key components of chemistry necessary for good citizenship and for a base of understanding and skills as set by the Natick High School Science Department. This class is designed to introduce the core concepts of chemistry within the general arena of a physical sciences course, and in particular to teach essential chemistry concepts and the basics of chemical experimentation. We will study the major topics of chemistry in a broad sense to learn more about matter at the smallest level and how matter can rearrange sometimes with dramatic effect.
 * Greetings from the world of technology:** By now I hope that you’ve heard from your kids sitting around the dinner table about the technology that’s been incorporated into this class. I use the World Wide Web to make students expand the way they think about projects and as a way to disseminate information to them 24/7. The main page for the course, reich-chemistry.wikispaces.com, is an interactive website that allows students to post class notes, homework answers, lab analysis, and worksheets online. Just as important as posting information students can view each other’s work and not miss a beat in class for a sick day. The students are also asked to post on the class blog at reichchemistry.edublogs.org. The blog is meant to work on the students’ writing ability especially as it relates to science and more specifically chemistry. Again, the course is not simply about chemistry, but about learning new life skills and applying both old and new skills //through a scientific lens//. The wiki also incorporates videos of lectures and labs (students do not appear in the videos). These can be found on the wiki and they are posted to [|www.teachertube.com] (where they have received over 2000 views and one has already become the featured video of the day). While some students have expressed difficulty learning how to work with technology I assure you that I understand there is a learning curve and I actively support my students through the learning process. //In the end I believe that the ability to create dazzling presentations online and to work with interactive electronic media is key to these students’ futures, potential, and will make them stand out from their peers as they look toward college and job horizons.//


 * __TOPIC (Approximate time spent on the topic in weeks)__**
 * Introduction (2)**
 * The Building Blocks of Matter (9)**
 * The Bonds That Hold Things Together (3)**
 * The Language of Chemistry (2)**
 * Phases of Matter (3)**
 * Solutions and Their Behaviors (2)**
 * Acids and Bases (4)**
 * Chemical Equilibirum (3)**
 * Thermochemistry (4)**
 * Kinetics (3)**

All work must be turned in to receive credit for the class. No grade other than an incomplete will be assigned until EVERYTHING has been turned in. //(I will begin assigning after school detentions soon to help those who have fallen behind to catch up and be able to pass the course. If you’re not sure if your student has fallen behind there is usually a spreadsheet on the wiki that displays the student ID number of every student and shows what work is still outstanding. Course grades are posted every 1-2 weeks in a similar fashion as well. Please keep in mind **the late policy is in no way designed to fail students, but it exists to ensure students complete their work and learn the material**).//
 * __Grades: an excerpt from the syllabus handed out in class and available on the wiki__**

1. Grades: Your semester grade will be divided into several portions. a. The main component consists of tests and homework, which is valued at 30%. b. The second component is laboratory work, which is valued at 20% of your grade. c. The third component is participation, which is valued at 10% of your grade. d. The fourth component is a series of online projects, which as a whole is valued at 20% of your grade. e. The fifth component is the final exam, which is 20% of your grade.

2. Expected Work a. Homework, etc. (problems, write-ups, discussion, projects, and reading) will be assigned every week and will be expected to be turned in at the end of every week. The majority of the assigned homework will involve problem solving from the book, reading, small projects, discussion questions, lab write ups etc.... b. **All** work is subject to being peer reviewed. Don't write anything on any homework assignment that you wouldn't want your peers to read. c. It is very important to note that **incomplete homework assignments will not be accepted, graded, reviewed, or anything else.** An incomplete assignment is considered a sign of disrespect and will be treated as such. d. Work not turned in on the expected due date will be considered late. The only person that can supply you with permission to turn homework in late is Dr. Reich. All requests to turn in homework regardless of whether they are signed by your doctor, principal, parent, or key religious figure will not be accepted unless you have previously cleared it with Dr. Reich first or the situation arose from an "emergency" (Dr. Reich is solely responsible for determining whether or not something actually counts as an emergency). e. Homework etc. that is within one week late will be graded and up to half of the points will be lost. f. Homework that is later than one week late will receive a grade of 0. Remember though, you still have to turn stuff in if you want to receive **credit for the class.**

3. Laboratory work a. The labs in science class are necessary to experience practical and tangible meaning to otherwise obscure science stuff. Labs can be enjoyable, interesting, and mind boggling. They can also be **//dangerous//**. All participants are expected to follow **//basic safety rules//**, which will be explained in class. Failure to follow rules will result in removal from the lab area, no credit received for the laboratory activity, notification of administrators and parents, and subsequent detentions.