We should all embrace the redneck side of teaching. Simple. Functional. Unconventional. Odd. Even us hoity-toity chemistry teachers need to embrace the simple from time to time. We should just engage with the simple rather than constantly straining toward the proper so that we will be better able to connect with our students and they will find chemistry more accessible. Here are some simple ways to utilize the simple.
1. Use redneck equations.
I know this will ruffle some feathers, but I have noticed that students have a hard time distinguishing in their minds the difference between “actual” and “theoretical”. We use these terms in both percent yield and percent error calculations. So, I redneck them.
|did-shoulda| / shoulda x 100 = percent error
did/shoulda x 100 = percent yield
Kids understand did and shoulda with less mental effort. How much did they make versus how much they shoulda made. And yes, I do teach them the real terms for the calculations, but they always go to the redneck equation. And the concept is so much more intuitive with words that they commonly use. This means that in their minds they are actually connecting the experiences in the lab more closely with the outcomes, rather than just going through some rote steps.
2. Redneck your lab.
It is OK and even recommended that you allow students to be creative and just make things work, even if it doesn’t look as neat as the videos of super-star teachers on Youtube. Use a pop can for calorimetry. Give them a sheet of aluminum foil and tell them to solve the problem. (Here is a free simple lab for thermo that is most definitely redneck) Use duct tape. Use lab equipment in unexpected ways. Buy supplies from the dollar store. Let them be creative.
Just yesterday, I was looking through a cupboard for some lab supplies. Down in the bottom I found the “Tar Condenser 3000”. It was from a few years ago when the students were doing a project on gasification of organic garbage to make fuel. One group was really struggling with the amount of tar that was plugging up their apparatus. So, we hot glued a PVC pipe, a biology culture tube, some lengths of hose and who-know-what else together into a contraption. I vaguely remember them rubbing it with ice as they used it. Did it work? Maybe a little. Did they have to engage their brain on a scientific level to solve a problem? Absolutely. Did is use up a few lab supplies and look ridiculous. Yes. Was it worth it? Without a doubt.
3. Use the redneck in life to engage with kids.
This example is from AP Biology this year. While out hunting, I was finding so many different types of bear poop. It was fascinating. So, I did what any normal redneck would do. I started collecting photos of all the different piles. I ended up with seven distinct food sources. Then in class, while learning about macromolecules and the digestibility of starch and cellulose we played a game, “What did this bear eat?” I projected the photos of crap on the board and we analyzed what they were eating. I was so proud. First of my great pictures. Secondly, I had a parent a while later tell me about how I had helped to shape their dinner conversation. I loved that I had pushed that into their minds. And they were able to squeeze out a pile of knowledge. Sorry, couldn’t help myself.
But seriously, don’t be afraid to use the common or fascinating to engage the minds of your kids. Not every demo has to come from book. Some of them come from the back end of bears.
4. Speak in redneck.
I bet that you are like me. When a stranger asks what you teach and you get to tell them “chemistry”, there is a little swell of pride in your heart. Because the next response is almost always, “Wow, you must be smart.” Or “I could never do those classes in high school.” Or “That was my favorite class.” People already view you as somehow intellectually superior to many other teachers. You get a different look if you answer, “PE”. The students have already heard these things from their parents. They have already been told that their family doesn’t have science genes. They have been told that it is going to be really hard. And if you come in and only use highly technical and intentionally lofty language, it will only propagate those beliefs in their heads.
Use language that they can connect with. Simplify. Make it accessible to all kids. And once you have them hooked, then take them up the intellectual ladder to higher terms. Do I use the term, “want” when talking about reactivity on the periodic table? Absolutely. Fluorine really wants to gain one more electron. I know this is a lie. In fact, fluorine has absolutely no wants, desires, dreams or aspirations. In fact, fluorine is just interacting with the world in such a way as to become more stable. But kids understand “want”. I tell that that fluorine doesn’t want anything, and then proceed to use the word want. Now, once they move up into AP chemistry we move away from anthropomorphic words and use technical terms. But for entry level kids that are sure they aren’t science people, you can help them become science people. And then the pool from which you draw your AP kids from can grow a little bigger. And that is just what I want.
I hope that you take just a minute to connect with your redneck roots for class today. You might just find that the simple, the functional and the odd are an amazing way to meet your students in a whole new way.
Want to engage your kids through play? Not just silly play, but play that grows your curriculum. Try our classroom chemistry games. Up & Atom helps teach kids to do basic stoichiometry in their head. CHeMgO will get them more repetitions in writing ionic formulas without another worksheet. Trendy (which is still on pre-order sale for a few more days) has the kids playing a fast game of periodic trends. Give it a shot. You will be amazed how the simplicity of playing a game connects with them.
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