General chemistry to undergraduate and high school students

Chemistry is largely taught in the wrong way: uninspired, hidden under jargon, presentation of equations with little explanation, failure to connect deeply connected topics that build on each other. It doesn't have to be that way. In fact, it's almost a sin that students are robbed of a deep understanding of applied mathematics in general, hence these TikTok videos where people struggle to answer "If I travel 60 miles per hour for one hour, how far have I travelled?" Most quantitative chemistry problems are similar dimensional analysis problems with additional steps. Other topics - quantum theory, bonding, structure - start from simple first principles. Forget rt = d. If I travel 60 miles every hour for an hour, I travel 60 miles. If I travel 60 miles every hour for two hours, I travel 120 miles. Similarly, forget q is mcat. If it takes 4.184 joules to heat up a gram of liquid water by one degree celsius, and I want to bring a liter of room temperature water to boiling, how much energy do I need? My name is Michael. I have an high honors degree in chemistry from the University of Florida. Although I have a fulfilling career as an analytical chemist, I absolutely love teaching and mentoring general chemistry students at both the high school and college level. The vast majority of chemistry students aren't looking to pursue it as a profession. They're looking to ace their exam. And that's OK. But even if you don't pursue it as a career, my goal with my lessons is to help students come away from my lessons with lifelong confidence and analytical thinking skills that you can apply to any other topic. I have a problem solving teaching method that I find to be effective over a broad range of students. I dive right into practical problem solving - especially with questions that are likely to be on your exam - and explain how to think about each step with visual aids. Where there are gaps in understanding, my biggest strength lies in the ability to start from first principles and patiently break down individual concepts that form part of the whole. Then we dive into problem solving together as a process of discovery. We practice problems until the student has each concept down.