<p>Hi,
In my honors chem class, my teacher really does not teach us anything. On most nights, I seriously have to teach myself what is going on in class. In the first quarter, I got in 85 and I studied at least an hour every night. This quarter I am at a 95, but that is basically because I got a 100 on the easiest test of the year (naming chemical compounds/balancing equations).</p>
<p>Anyway, I am just basically studying out of the textbook every night and I am seriously struggling in chem. Outside of chem, I am do very well in school and have about a 97 weighted average.</p>
<p>Can anyone offer any advice on how to improve myself in chemistry besides just reading the textbook? It is hard to learn out of the textbook because the answers are not in the back, so I can't check my work. Preferably, an online resource would be really helpful. Also, changing teachers isn't an option because we cannot add/drop the same class to get a new teacher. </p>
<p>Get a test prep/study guide for Chen (they sell them for specific courses, general, and ap Chem). I struggled A LOT in ap Chem bc my teacher was the type to let kids smoke weed in the back of the room while he ate a sandwich at his desk, but having practice problems helped me get an a… Although I got a 2 on the ap test, and I’m used to 5’s, but that’s not a problem for honors. You could try to get a tutor or ask a different teacher for help too.</p>
<p>Oh how I love chemistry. The only truly interesting subject I’ve ever had. Anyway, I got a 95 in Honors Chem, so here’s what I did: Don’t stress out at all, and rely on your own logic to solve problems. DO NOT copy the teacher’s way of solving, since if it doesn’t mesh with your style, you’ll have trouble learning the mathy parts of chem (stoichiometry specifically). The only test I bombed was the stoichiometry one, because I was a noob and didn’t immediately get it so I tried to memorize how to do problems instead of work through each one individually which failed me hardcore.
And don’t worry about the textbook too much, there’s a good chance it will confuse you more than help you, if you’re confused to begin with. If the textbook has answer sets to problems, use those, but don’t rely on the textbook’s way of solving, perform trial and error on the problems until you develop a rhythm and go with it. The worst possible thing to do on chem is to stress and overthink it, because at its heart, chem makes no real sense. Just accept everything and know where all the numbers come from and you’ll be fine.</p>