Mr. Jeff Christopherson

            Chemistry Teacher

            Normal Community High School               

            e-mail:  CHRISTJS@unit5.org

 

Education:   Hold a Master’s degree in Chemistry (1992) 

                            Illinois State University, Normal, Illinois

                        Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry with Honors (1989)

                            Illinois State University, Normal, Illinois

 

I have worked as a research chemist for The Upjohn Company, but found I

enjoyed interacting with students and teaching more than real  work.

 

Teach: Honor’s Chemistry and Advanced Placement Chemistry

 

Professional Interests:  Develop web based curricula to enhance the         

            students classroom experience. I know very little about programming and 

            ‘web’ but can see how it can be useful to students.   My greatest expertise is in developing
            PowerPoint  presentaions.

 

Professional Goal:  Work with chemistry teachers in central Illinois to share chemistry lessons,         

            demonstrations, and tutorial programs via the internet.  I would publish others work on my site 

            (they would be given credit on the page).  Any teacher could use these lessons and ideas.  

 

Favorite Parables: The Station - by Robert J. Hastings

                                    The Parable of the Pebbles

 

Personal Interests:  I love my family, gardening, photography and home repair

& remodeling.  Most summers I can be found in my yard or gardens

watching them (kids and plants) grow and change.

 

Teaching Style:  I try to bring a professional attitude to the students about the

dangers of chemicals and how to handle them safely.  My teaching style

 is a volatile mix of high enthusiasm, dry humor, and story telling to 

explain chemical concepts.  I try to perform lots of demonstrations to 

enlighten and excite students. Students will rarely say “I’m bored” in my 

classroom.  They know the work is hard, but they have fun.

 

Honors:  American Chemical Society (Illinois Heartland Local Section) - High School Teacher of the Year 2004

            Who's Who Among America's Teachers (1998, 2005, 2006, 2007)

            Induction into the National Honor Roll's Outstanding American Teachers organization (2007)

Publications: 

·         Chemistry Web Site - High School 

       www.unit5.org/chemistry 2007

       

                 www.unit5.org/science 2007 (webmaster)

                 www.unit5.org/biology 2007 (webmaster)

                 www.unit5.org/christjs 2002-06   (archived)  

                 www.unit5.org/staffnchs 2008  (webmaster)
           www.che.ilstu.edu/ipchris/  (webmaster)

            

·         Instructional Support CD (Chemistry) 2007 v7.0

 

·         “Effects of Exercise Detraining on Lipid Storage in Rats”

                        Transactions of the Illinois State Academy of Science (1999)

Volume 92, 3 and 4, pp. 203-209.

 

·         “Clinical Experiences & Student Teaching Handbook”

Biology/Chemistry/Physics/Technology – Contributing Author

Alliance for Scientific Literacy – Illinois State University (1998)

 

Presentations: 

 

·         Jeff Christopherson & Joe Jelinek "Integrating Technology into Your Instruction"
Teacher In-Service at Normal Community High School (January 7, 2008) - Normal, IL

·         Jeff Christopherson "A Collaborative PowerPoint Resource for Chemistry"

      Illinois Association of Chemistry Teachers (IACT) Annual Meeting

      (October 5, 2007) - Normal, IL (Illinois State University)

 

·         Jeff Christopherson Taught PDA  Class - How to Make An Instuctional Support CD (Summer 2007)

 

·         Jeff Christopherson "Instructional Support CD "

      Illinois Association of Chemistry Teachers (IACT) Annual Meeting

      (October 6, 2006) - Normal, IL (Illinois State University)

 

·         Jeff Christopherson Titled Instructional Support CD and Collaborative Website Paper ID 1022486

      American Chemical Society 233rd National Meeting   (March 26, 2007) - Chicago, IL

 

·         Jeff Christopherson and John Bergmann Titled Interactive and Collaborative Website

      Enhancing Chemistry Conference - Champaign, IL (March 16, 2007) (University of Illinois)

 

·         Jeff Christopherson Free Instructional Support Chemistry CD 

      Annual High School Chemistry Competition (2006) - Bradley University

 

·         Jeff Christopherson and Kevin Hodel Titled Interactive and Collaborative Website

      Science in the South 10^th Annual Conference (March 10, 2006)- Carbondale, IL (Southern Illinois University)