Episode 31: The Chemistry Survival Guide- A better Way to Teach Classroom Procedures
🧪 Episode Summary
In this episode of The Confident Chemistry Teacher Podcast, I’m sharing a problem I run into every year during the first weeks of school: How do I make sure every class hears the same procedures and expectations—and actually remembers them later?
My solution this year is the Chemistry Survival Guide, a free, editable resource designed to help teachers intentionally teach classroom procedures while giving students a student-friendly reference they can keep in their notebooks all year.
I’m sharing exactly how I plan to use the Survival Guide, what’s included, and how it can help you spend less time repeating yourself when October rolls around!
📚 In This Episode, You’ll Learn
✅ Why I wanted a more consistent system for teaching beginning-of-the-year procedures across all of my class periods
🧪 How I plan to spread the Chemistry Survival Guide throughout the first week or two instead of overwhelming students with everything at once
💡 Why giving students a student-friendly reference may be more useful than relying on the syllabus alone
📋 How scenario cards, discussion questions, a classroom agreement, and an open-note quiz can help students actually apply classroom expectations
✏️ How you can edit and customize the entire resource to fit your own classroom procedures and policies
💬 Teacher Tip of the Week
Don’t just tell students your classroom procedures—teach them.
Think about three things: How will you make sure every class receives the same information? How will you keep track of what you’ve covered? And where can students find that information when they need it again three months from now?
🧪 Activities, Labs & Strategies Mentioned
- 📄 Chemistry Survival Guide – A student reference for classroom procedures, expectations, grading, technology, absences, and more
- 💬 Beginning-of-the-Year Discussions – Students consider what makes an effective teacher and a successful student
- 🧠 Scenario Cards – 12 editable classroom situations that allow students to apply procedures and expectations
- 📋 Classroom Agreement – A simple contract outlining what students and the teacher agree to do
- 📊 Open-Note Quiz – A short assessment to reinforce important procedures and expectations
🎁 Resources Mentioned
🆓 Free Resource
🎁 Chemistry Survival Guide
Includes the student Survival Guide, editable materials, 12 scenario cards, quiz, answer key, and teacher guide. Versions are also included for Chemistry, Biology, and AP Environmental Science.
📅 Next Episode
🎙️ Next week we’ll be talking about...
Chemicals…my favorite top 20 and how you can still do labs on a budget
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