Echizento:
I have been trying to remove so many of my past analogies (which I seemed to have spoken with as a crutch for so many circumstances) but even this week I ran into two that were carefully packed into an obscure circumstance I don't often reference so they were still present. Teaching a year of general chemistry in 10 weeks the students get upset with grades with 2 hour lectures and 4 hour labs in one day, at a chapter a day. But I wanted to express they hate the process but like the outcome when it is finally over and they have a grade and are back on track for the school year to take organic chemistry. So I said, "you know it is like making sausage, everyone likes sausage but no one likes how it is made". Well suffice to say a great many don't like murdering animals in my class and hate the idea of sausage completely and told me so. Then to figure out the concentration of a strong acid that ionizes 100% you say, "If you have 2 Molar HCl what are the concentrations of H plus and Cl minus?" They often say 1 molar each and you correct them if they do and say, "No if you have 2 molar HCl you have 2 Molar in H plus and 2 Molar in Cl minus. Think of dancing couples, if you have two couples you don't have one boy and one girl, you have two couples with two boys and two girls" Suffice to say couples are not just boys and girls in their world and they hated that analogy. I am starting to think if I live long enough and teach into my 80's there will be a time when they just have to send me away as most of what I say may offend. But I am trying to take all analogies away unless they are completely safe for this new world.
Posted 07/19/2019 8:50 pm
