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Teaching helps us learn

Mr Khemistry

Teaching helps us learn

Teaching helps us learn

pyramid of retention

Teaching helps us learn!

Read this from a website

Looking at text and expecting to learn is not far off from looking at food and expecting to get its nutrients. We need to digest our life experiences just like we digest our food.”

This made perfect sense. I have been telling my students the best way to remember the information is to TEACH others.

Because i’ve applied this knowledge umpteen times, i know it works!

If you haven’t been sharing your knowledge, start today!

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JC students profile

Mr Khemistry

JC Students batch profile

JC Students – Every batch has their unique profile. For example, 2020 batch are significantly more enthusiastic and open to new ideas/concepts.

Every teacher knows that teaching an enthusiastic class rubs off positively on our own energy. We feel the positive vibrations from the students and that in turns injects energy into our teaching. When you know that students are interested and learning well, something inside you fires up 🙂

Hope this will be a virtuous cycle for 2020 and 2021, that everyone is excited to learn new things and grow.

How has your 2020 been shaping up?

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Time – Our Most Precious Commodity

Mr Khemistry

Time

This post is dedicated to all JC 2 students and to my ex-principal.

Time – CNY is now over, JC 1 orientation is over, March Block Test is just around the corner. One of the traits of successful people is they plan ahead, way ahead. Today, we want to look ahead to the rest of the year to see if we are on the right track, specifically whether we have enough time.

During term time we are learning new content and doing tutorials. However, during the ‘A’ division competition period from Mar-May, sometimes CCA trainings are so intense, there’s even no time to do tutorials!

Major school holidays, March/June/Sept. Total of 6 weeks.

Assuming you study Chemistry everyday for 12 hrs.

Assuming you know all the key concepts to study.

ASSUMING you use effective study strategies to remember all the key concepts.

Let’s look at how it works out for H2 Chemistry syllabus…

Total topics in H2 Chemistry —–> 23

Time required to revise —–> 2 x 23 = 46 h (2 hours per topic)

Time required to practise basic questions and review —–> 4 x 23 = 92 h

Time trial 5 years of past A level papers and mark —–> (5 + 5) x 5 = 50 h (P1-3, mark, 5 tys) minimum practise

Total time required for Chemistry = 46 + 92 + 50 = 188 h (for ONE H2 subject)

Total time from school holidays: 42 days x 12 h = 504 h (assuming you study 12h EVERYDAY)

3 H2 subjects requires approximately 564 h. (just multiply 188 by 4 if you take 4H2)

We are also assuming we do not spend time studying for General Paper. That’s quite a lot of assumptions isn’t it?

The truth is this: Even after mugging like crazy during school holidays, how do you think this level of preparation (not doing challenging prelim questions) compares with other students with tuition?

What you can expect from Chemistry Tuition at Mr Khemistry:

  1. We teach you the key points for every topic and provide you with concise notes. No frills. Just the important stuff.
  2. We give mini-quizzes at the end of every topic to assess your learning.
  3. Revision questions are given to help you consolidate key learning concepts.
  4. Booster classes given every 3 months for common topics students are weak in.
  5. Whatsapp consultation support.

If you are interested to join us, hesitate no more! Come down for a free trial session to see truly enlightening Chemistry lessons 🙂

Click on the call button at the top of the page or the whatsapp icon below to get in touch.

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Dettol disinfectant spray

Mr Khemistry

Dettol disinfectant spray

dettol disinfectant spray

Dettol disinfectant spray – Can it kill the novel corona virus?

Kekulé, skeletal formula of chloroxylenol Chloroxylenol, also known as para-chloro-meta-xylenol (PCMX), is an antiseptic and disinfectant which is used for skin disinfection and cleaning surgical instruments. It is also used within a number of household disinfectants and wound cleaners. It is sold in a number of formulations and under a number of brand names including Dettol. (Source: Wikipedia)

Dettol’s company RB, has clarified that it does not have access to this new corona virus and therefore have not done testing on it before. So that is no evidence that it can kill the virus. It can probably kill flu virus which has been tested before.

But this doesn’t stop us from spraying it over common areas, cutting down the amount of germs in our common spaces will do us good in this period. I wish we will all become more socially responsible to wear face masks when we are sick. Of course it feels uncomfortable and older folks probably despise wearing it but it is the way to go.

Singapore is becoming more and more densely populated and we can all do better by increasing our level of personal hygiene. Don’t you agree? 🙂

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Alcohol-based hand sanitizer

Mr Khemistry

Alcohol-based hand sanitizer

alcohol-based-hand-sanitizer

Alcohol-based-hand-sanitizer. Masks and Hand Sanitizer are all the craze now, no thanks to the Corona Virus. Gifts of masks or hand sanitizers are probably more welcomed than bak kwa.

Since i’m currently teaching the topic of alcohol for the J2 classes, let’s look at how important alcohol is in the hand sanitizers.

Basically, hand sanitizers work by disrupting the cell membrane of a bacterium and the outer coat of the virus. The alcohol (isopropanol or ethanol) content has to be at least 60% to be effective, 70% being the best and most effective. Any lesser and they’re not going to help much. Also, if our hands have dirt or grime on them, hand sanitizers wouldn’t be as effective. If our hands have dirt or grime, we have got to wash our hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.

Another thing to note for alcohol-based-hand-sanitizer is you’ve got to use enough and rub it in thoroughly until it dries, otherwise it wouldn’t work as well as it should.

So yes, hand sanitizers does help in the fight against corona virus, but do check the alcohol content before getting it.

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Perseverance – an often misused word

Mr Khemistry

Perseverance

It is an often quoted word to students, other forms include tenacity, determination, grit etc. As teachers, we try to inculcate the right values to students but sometimes the meaning of the word gets lost in translation.

From the dictionary, “persistence in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success.” Perseverance by itself is a good thing and every successful individual possess this quality. However, we do have to qualify it when used in terms of studying.

If a student is already studying as hard as he/she possibly can, telling them to work harder, longer isn’t really helpful. I knew a student once who was extremely diligent, she would finish all the tutorials and revision worksheets the school gave. Yet her results (including chemistry) were always failing or just scrapping a pass. Did she persevere? She did all she could but she just couldn’t get a good grade.

You would remember the story of Thomas Edison inventing the light bulk after failing 1000 times. We need to realise that Edison didn’t keep doing the same thing 1000 times. His goal was specific, he wanted to invent the light bulb. But the method to do it was not. Meaning, he tried 1000 different ways to make it work.

And this is the secret behind all successful people…they don’t keep repeating the same old mistakes. They try, fail, learn from it and try another method. The learning part is sometimes missing when students hear about perseverance. So they work harder, stay up longer, doing the SAME thing they did when they failed!

Einstein said that “Insanity is doing the same things over and over again expecting different results”.

So i tell my students, our goal is to score an A, there’s many ways we can go about it. Our goal is specific, but the method is not! Be resourceful! When we go out to work next time, we will also meet challenges and we can use our mind to think of alternative ways to achieve the target.

If you had been failing H2 Chemistry, have you thought of changing your study strategy? Since the way you had been studying haven’t work. Remember, don’t ignore the problem, don’t deny the problem. Face it and think how can you solve it.

After teaching Chemistry for more than 14 years, we have developed several studying strategies for students. Come down for a trial lesson to see how we guide students approach the question.

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Catholic High School

Mr Khemistry

Catholic High School

This year i am attached to Catholic High School for Olympiad training. It was a class of some 35 boys and i expected them to be quite boisterous. However, i was surprised that they appeared quite mild during the 2.5 hour lesson. Only slightly noisier when they were discussing the MCQs i gave them.

Another surprise was i realised the principal was someone i knew, what a small world!

Still getting used to teaching these boys, the lessons are quite spread out over the 4 months and i guess there wouldn’t be too much time to build rapport. Just need to do my best to ensure that they understood most of the content.

It was only after i took up the assignment that i realised that CHS is actually affiliated to EJC, so i might be seeing them again next year haha.

Image may contain: 10 people, people smiling, people sitting

Hope these boys will get some medals at the olympiad 🙂

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Eunoia JC Open House

Mr Khemistry

Eunoia JC Open House 2020

Went for Eunoia JC open house upon my student’s invitation. One of the things which struck me is how much wood was featured in the school building. Apparently, my student say it was imported from Europe and very sturdy. The whole feel of the classrooms is like a corporate co-working space.

They brought me around the school to see some of the more outstanding features:

View from the library

Library

 

 

 

 

 

Walkway

View along corridor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

900 seater auditorium

Auditorium

Elevated track and field

Elevated track and field

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The canteen is a open space with a very high ceiling that opens out towards the park, i was busy eating and forgot to take a picture ><

Heard most of the toilets are also open-air but i didn’t use those.

We missed the Principal’s talk, didn’t want to stay until Chemistry talk as it was 3-4pm at the chem lab.

Meet quite a few ex-colleagues there and they weren’t even chemistry teachers haha. The two chemistry teachers i know are not around.

Before i left, had a chance to hear my student perform Erhu and Gaohu (a higher pitched Erhu), very nice tune i must say.

Hope all the students had fun touring the campus as much as i did 🙂

Eunoia students, here what you think of your new campus?

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Visit from ex-students

Mr Khemistry

Visit from ex-students

Visit from ex-students – So happy to see my ex-students coming back. Still remember the day i saw their family, two of them together with their parents at my former B2 unit. Hope we can get a chance to take a group picture together with their parents again.

Woon Siblings

School term has restarted, are you still in holiday mood? 🙂

Time to hit the road running!

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Year End Miri Trip

Mr Khemistry

Year End Miri Trip

Felix had lots of fun at his cousin’s indoor playground. The children are 2-6 years old, literally 1 every year. Having them all in the car together is a rare event.

We visited The Nest, a new stylist cafe in a atas area of Miri. The food there was quite alright, it’s pricey in ringgit but cheap in sing dollars.

How was your year end holidays? Was it a time of reflection and planning for the new year?

Here’s wishing everyone a happy new year!

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drowning in ball poolOn the way to dinnerNice decoChicken sandwichEgg benedict

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