It can be daunting. There is not a lot of traditional chemistry in the NGSS upon which to build an entire Chemistry course, certainly, many traditional topics are not explicitly mentioned in the standards. Many of us teachers are at different points in our understanding of what the NGSS are and what they represent and I have heard from many teachers who are asking for help and guidance. Yet, many of us also must keep in mind the need to prepare students for potential advanced coursework when planning for our NGSS based classes. The temptation to "front-load" content from AP or IB into a General Chemistry class is very real, but does that serve the vast majority of students who are NOT going to enroll in those classes? I would argue that it's unfair at best and more likely counter-productive to include even softened AP or IB material in a General Chemistry class.

My name is Sean Fisk, and I am a teacher of Chemistry and Department Leader at Ruamrudee International School in Bangkok. I have been teaching in the US and abroad for over 10 years, and my course-load has included NGSS, AP, and IB, simultaneously, for the majority of that time. In this webinar I hope to show how the Next Generation Science Standards explicitly lead into the newest Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate Higher Level chemistry curricula and how I push and support those students who will potentially be enrolling in my advanced courses without front-loading material.