Today in the classroom:
First year chem are digging into transition metal charges. We haven't done anything with them yet, so this will ask students to adapt their nomenclature conventions to address ambiguity. Should be fun.
Second year chem is going to get an introduction to molecularity and reaction mechanisms. They're also finishing their iodine clock lab reports and then working on their homework practice set for this week if we have time.
On ionic nomenclature, I have specifically avoided teaching the crossover method for finding ion charges because I want students to be able to use reasoning to write neutral compounds. Crossover works, but they won't understand the WHY.
I may introduce it today because we've done so much with main group binary compounds, many see the big picture. It can really help with the transition metals because it cuts down on the mental math many find difficult.
