312 Lancer Dr.

Columbia, SC 29212

jhahn@lex2.org

JulietHahnPHD@gmail.com

803-834-0827

Got my first paycheck about a week ago from New Bridge.   First paycheck is a live check and not sent via direct deposit.  I keep forgetting to go and put it into my checking account.   I spent all summer working on taking the Praxis is General Science.   I spent too much time studying for it because I passed with a grade of 98.5% - clearly too much studying.   General Science praxis does cover (a) Earth Science   (b)  Biology   (c) Chemistry (d) Physics. 

The above is the address of the house that my parents bought some 40 years ago.   Mom passed away nearly 2 years ago.   Dad and I are living at this house.   Dad is unable to live by himself.   My parents never wanted to go into a nursing home.   Even though my brother offered to pay for a really nice nursing home near his Virginia house where his wife's aunt lives, they refused to even go look at it.   I am proud to say that my mother never had to go into a nursing home until she passed away.   She died in the hospital in the last week of her life.  The same address as shown above is also on my transcript from my undergrad college (U of SC, Columbia).  

My father has a doctorate in Physics from Florida State University and he was a college professor at Benedict College teaching Physics for some 30 years before he retired.  He was the first person at Benedict who started teh 2+2 Engineering degree where students started with Physics at Benedict and then went on to earn an Engineering degree at a number of colleges such as Geogia Tech.     My brother has a doctorate in computer science and he is a professor at George Washington University in Washington, DC teaching computer science.   He is also co listed with the medical school at George Washington University hospital  because he does a lot of work on computer assisted surgeries.    https://engineering.gwu.edu/james-hahn

As long as I have assistance from a caregiver, I will not stop working in order to care for my Dad while still letting him stay out of the nursing home.  One of my colleagues says she will retire when her parents need a lot of help but I don't think that will be nessary in my case.  In the worst case, I can have my Dad go to live with my brother.    In any case, my Dad will not be going into a nursing home.

I let the yard go while studying for the Praxis during the summer so I am going to have to hire someone to take care of it because it is quite a mess.    I am quite the saver and both my parents and I have always lived way below our means and I have always had a job and persons with a doctorate earn on the high end of the payscale so my Dad and I are financially really secure.   In fact Mom used to always complain that Dad did not hire people for work around the house when we had all the money needed to do so.   It just takes time to hire people though.

posted 9/7/24 Saturday by Dr. Hahn

I went to EL Wright Elementary School, Dent Jr High and graduated from Irmo High School (top 1% GPA, top 3% natonally on Prelinimnary SAT).   I graduated with a BS in Chemistry from the University of South Carolina, Columbia (3.8/4.0 GPA,)  I then earned a doctorate in Chemistry from the State University of New York, Stony Brook (now nicknamed Stony Brook University, the flagship University in the State University New York system)   I then did postdoctoral research among others at Columbia Univesity (NY, NY not Columbia College), at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.   

I have been teaching College Chemistry (mostly freshman General Chemistry and sophomore Organic Chemistry Lecture and Lab) for about 20 years.  In the 20 years I was teaching at college with at least a BS degree but mostly at colleges with small MS or PhD programs in Chemistry.  I have taught at community college in the 20 years for about one year.    About half of the 20 years was as a tenure track professor and about half as a non tenure track full time professor.    Anyone who has a doctorate in the content area (Chemistry) can teach in colleges in the content area.   I taught at Richland Northeast High School last academic year.   I taught in Fall 2023, 2 sections of Physics and a section of Chemistry.   In Spring 2024, I taught 2 sections of CP chemistry and a section of Earth Science. 

I am considered a certified K-12 teacher via SC Alternative Certification path.   I received a PACE letter from the SC Department of Education to teach  General Science (high school and middle school) based on transcript and Praxis scores at the end of August 2024 because my General Science Praxis score posted at the end of July.   According to SC law anyone who has passed the Praxis in content area can teach high school and K-12.   Praxis is a standardized test given all over the country in different content areas with a little bit of "how to teach" questions.   I already had the PACE preliminary letter in fall of 2023 but I let the preliminary PACE expire because I was super busy and forgot to get my fingerprinting done.   I did not know that I had let the PACE letter expire until I went to the alternative certification job fair so then I got my fingerprinting done and resubmitted so I got the Chemistry PACE letter at the end of July in 2024.   Anyone with a doctorate in Chemistry can teach at any college because college teaching does not have any education certification requirements.

I passed the Chemistry Praxis in September 23, 2023 (also have a doctorate and am able to teach college in chemistry content area) with a 95% grade.   I passed the General Science Praxis in July 21, 2024 with a score of  98.5%.   Passing the Praxis in SC requires a grade of 70% and higher.   Praxis scores come out about 3 weeks after the date of the test.   General Science includes Biology, Earth Science, Physics and Chemistry so I am certified to teach Biology, Earth Science, Physics and Chemistry.  Persons with an education degree qualified to teach sciences usually take a lot of "how to teach" education class and only a few classes in the science content area often how to teach science type classes.   I probably have more rigorous science content area classes (even in Biology and Physics) than most science certified teachers because I have a science content area degree and my doctorate is in the chemistry content area.

My parents bought a house in Irmo, SC about 40 years ago and they have lived there ever since then.   Mom, who has a degree to teach elementary school but was always a stay at home mom,  passed away last year.  My Dad who has a doctorate in Physics from Florida State University and was a professor at Benedict College for some 30 years before retirement is still living in Irmo in the same house that he bought 40 years ago.    Because my parents need some help and have been unable to live without assistance, I have been getting teaching jobs nearby in recent years.   My parents do not need financial assistance because they are savers and always lived below their means, they just need help around the house.

The way that I taught college chemistry in the 20 years that I taught college chemistry is with a lot of low point testing.   I teach with about 3 to 4 "in class work" every day the class meets.   I also usually give in a semester 4 exams, 8 quizzes and a cumulative final exam.   There is usually either a test of exam every week to week and a half.    The easiest way to teach college classes is a midterm and a final.   Midterm and Final often results in half the class flunking out.    Even without that for years the standard is (from a really old movie in a large auditorium full of freshmen):   Look to your left.   Look to your right.   One of the 3 of you will NOT be here at the end of the semester.  

I have always had in all of my 20 years of teaching college chemistry almost NO DROP/FAILS in my college General Chemistry and Organic Chemistry classes.   However I have never had that result by dumbing down the class or just throwing grades at students.   The way I teach I put on the "in class work"  the most important content covered that day.   I compile those and put the most important of the "in class work" on quizzes.   On exams, I put the most important content covered on quizzes.   I never give exactly the same question so simply memorizing the answer will NOT result in a good grade. 

The " in class work" is a modification of the "clicker" system used in a lot of large lecture sections in colleges (of 200 to 400 students).   There is a TV remote type of "clicker" associated with student names which is included in grading.   Usually half of the grade is for someone being in class and answering anything and half of the grade is for getting the correct answer.    I often taught at colleges without "clickers" so I started to have a question from the powerpoint but hand graded the "in class work - clicker" question.    Some college teachers use "clicker" but really don't see an increase in students performance.   On the other hand "clicker" advertisement has an example of a college chemistry professor who says that before "clickers" he had maybe half the class earn an F grade but using "clicker" he had NO failing students.  

Prior to New Bridge Academy, 23-24 acadmic year I was teaching at Richland Northeast High School (Chemistry, Physics and Earth Science).  In the 22 to 23 academic year I was teaching at Coker University (General Chemistry lecture and lab and Organic Chemistry lecture and lab and Biochemistry lecture).   2020 to 2021 and Fall 21 I was teaching at the Citadel.   At the Citadel I taught Introduction to Chemistry lecture and lab and General Chemistry labs.  I took off a semester because of my parent's health issues.   2019 to2020 (Covid year) I taught General Chemistry lecture and lab at Presbyterian College.   At Presbyterian College there was a common assessment exam for all sections of General Chemistry I Lecture.   All the other professor lost the standard 30% drop/fail but I had almost no drop / fail but had about the same average on the end of the semester common assessment exam.  So this is proof that my students do learn the material and that I am not getting almost no drop/fails because I am dumbing down the class.   I also taught at Francis Marion University for about 3 years (2012 to 2015 academic years).   I was a tenure track professor before that.   I just did not get tenure.

http://JulietHahn.com
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