Everybody Should Take Chemistry

Everybody should take chemistry
Though how miserable you get to be
Balancing chemical equations
Mixing all those potions
Memorizing elements and their symbols
Understanding atomic numbers in the periodic table
Ingesting it is the central science
Which makes sense
It is the study of matter and everything it has on
Atoms, molecules, electrons, neutrons, protons
It is a science so powerful
It can create both the good and the awful
Studying it gives you the background
To make decisions that are sound
You will learn to differentiate in the news and in your life
Between truth and hype
About everything around you
Even the ones working inside you
What affects the earth or not
What is good for you or you will get fat
Not to be conned and confused
By some of the hocus bogus
Everything will make more sense
And you will find some are nonsense
Things that you learned and sometimes made you confused
Its foundation now you can use
Having learned chemistry
Will give you liberty
To ask and not just swallow
What is presented to you to follow.

Failing Is Not A Crime

Failing Is Not A Crime

In my class I did not want anyone to fail
They should be tough as nails
As a teacher I was a control freak
In my classes defeat and failure should not sneak
You can do it, I preached
As long as you work hard was my speech
You will get all the help you need
Use it should be your wise deed
But alas it was not to be
There were A's and there were D's
To my chagrin there were F's
I wanted to jump the cliff
Until I realized
Thanks to a friend* so wise
Who told me the sad reality
Allowing them to fail I should let it be
It was part of nurturing
It was key to true teaching.
Through the years I happily discover
They could be successful
Because that was what they wanted to be
It was not really about me
Failing is not a crime.
Good things take time.



*This friend is the late Dr. John Woolcock of the Chemistry Department of Indiana University of Pennsylvania.   I consider him The Teacher.  One of the best and also a wonderful mentor.

Dreidel from Homemade Edible Playdough

I am not really a crafty person.  When you teach kindergarten CCD (religion) you almost have to take a leap of faith that you can be one.  In teaching children at this age level, you think of activities that will not only teach them the lesson but also engage them.  Hands on activities wherein they color or make something are appropriate for children this age who could not read or write yet.

Last week, we were covering Jesus as a toddler and up to when he was 12 years old when he got lost in Jerusalem.  I wanted the students to realize Jesus was once a child like them who liked to play games. He grew up a Jew and I remember how dreidels are popularly played by Jewish children during Hannukah.  It is a game of chance.  The dreidel has four sides with a pointed end like a top. Instead of being circular in shape it has a square shape.  It has also a handle for the children to use to spin the dreidel.

I had made edible homemade play dough for another planned activity so I decided to use it in making a dreidel.  I shaped the play dough like the dreidel  that I saw in the internet but instead of writing the usual Jewish symbols on the four sides I just wrote the numbers 0,1,2 and 3.   I wrote 0 on one side, 1 on the other, 2 on third side and 3 on the last side.  If the dreidel upon spinning shows zero (0), they get none of the three goodies that I brought.  If  number 1 shows, they get to choose one of the prize goodies, if  it is 2 they get 2 kinds and if they get 3 they get all 3 of them

This way of playing the game that I have described is not the usual way the dreidel game is played which appeared to me more like gambling. In the traditional dreidel game, a pot of coins or candies are for play.  One symbol indicates you do not get the pot, another symbol you get the whole pot.  One other symbol indicates you put back what you just won and the last symbol you get half of it.

When we played the dreidel I made at home in class, Rylie loved it.  So we made one in class using the microwave in the teacher's room.  I used Q tip for the handle.  It actually worked!  I asked her mom, Adrienne, how it went with the two dreidels (the one I made and the one Rylie made) that Rylie took home.  She said one has to spin it real fast so it will not fall on one side too soon.  Other than that it worked.

Below is the recipe of the play dough and how I used it to make the dreidel.

Dreidel from Homemade Edible Playdough

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup salt
• 1/2 tbsp cooking oil
• 1/2 cup or more water

Mix the flour and salt in a small bowl.  Add the cooking oil and water.  You can add more water to your preferred consistency.

Take a small amount of the play dough and shape it to the dreidel shown below with four flat sides like a block but with a pointed end at the bottom.  

Insert a Qtip into the flat top side of the dreidel.  You can remove the cotton on the Qtip if you like.

Microwave the dreidel for 1 minute.  You will find that the dreidel might still be soft.  It will harden after a while so let it set.

Using a marker write the numbers or symbols you like on the four sides.

To use the dreidel,  which is heavier than the store bought one, you need to spin it real fast using the Qtip handle. 

Dealing with Being Overwhelmed

Lesson from A Pile of Laundry

When I used to teach Chem 101
And students had too much studying to be done
I used to illustrate using their pile of laundry
How to deal with the stress with imagery
I reminded them how overwhelmed at first they were
As they looked at the pile and just stared
How they decided not to freeze and did the wash
Since they did not want to smell like trash
I reminded them how they felt so much better
When it was all done later
Their tension headache all gone
As the laundry got all done.
So to my students so overwhelmed
This I used to tell them
So it would be with their chemistry
If they want to be happy
To not just stare at the homework and quit
But just do it. Do it. Do it.