When worlds collide is one of my favorite expressions.
One example that always comes to mind for me is what if Moms Demand Action, a gun rights organization, booked a hotel where there was also a meeting of the NRA taking place?
Another example might be a vegan showing up at an all-you-can-eat steakhouse.
And the other night, another example hit close to home.
My wife and I were sitting in our family room; I think I was watching The Twilight Zone and my wife was getting her lesson plan ready for teaching the next day.
I then heard my wife’s computer playing a video that was very familiar to me.
It’s a video I show in my Intro to Business class every year as part of the discussion on Operations Management. It’s a reenactment of how Henry Ford created the first assembly line.
I mentioned that to my wife, and she said she shows a video that is quite similar to her pre-k class every year as part of her unit on Transportation.
Who knew that a pre-k class and a first-year college class would be using the same material?
I guess there is some truth to that saying: Everything I Ever Needed to Know I Learned In Kindergarten (or in this case, pre-k).
Now I feel like I need to up my game. Maybe I could have the students actually build an assembly line in class! But then my wife told me that she sets the students up in an assembly line and has them make snowmen out of Play-Doh…
Maybe I’ll just stick to teaching accounting.
I can’t imagine any pre-school teacher wanting to teach that.
After all, they want their children to have fun…
In case you are interested, here is the five-minute video; I think it’s quite well done.
*image from Detroit Institute of Arts
I think it’s fascinating that your wife shows this video to pre-k children. I would love to be in the room and hear their comments.
LikeLike
she also forms them into an assembly line and they make snowmen out of play-doh. I need to sit in on her class!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow!
LikeLike
she is a gifted teacher…
LikeLiked by 1 person
I had a hard time understanding that video. I think I might have to go back to pre-K.
LikeLiked by 1 person
my wife does a much better job of explaining what is going on…
LikeLiked by 1 person
I wonder what would happen if one of her pre-k students grew up to be one of your students.
LikeLiked by 2 people
we’ve been hoping that would happen at some point, but it has not yet. I’m sure they would all be wishing they had my wife as their teacher again…
LikeLiked by 1 person
That was amazing. I am surprised that it worked for a pre-school class. As an adult, I loved it, especially Ford pulling the first car. That really was revolutionary. I never worked on an assembly line. Did you? I have a friend who worked in a fruit packing plant when she was a teen. Did you ever see the I Love Lucy episode where she worked on an assembly line? Great post, Jim.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Those pre-kers must be very advanced. There were no cartoons or furry characters just some funny music at one point. It would be funny if after seeing the video one of your students announced that it was the same one that was shown in pre-k. 😄
LikeLiked by 1 person
my wife and I keep hoping that one day I’ll get one of her students; hasn’t happened yet…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great story! The closest my wife (a retired preschool teacher and director) and I ever came to something like this is I’d inherit a couple of her former students every year.
Maybe you and your wife should change places for a day. She can lead your college students in circle time, and you can give your award-winning lecture on debits and credits to her pre-k class.
“Mr. Borden, when is our teacher coming back?”😎
LikeLiked by 1 person
I could give my lecture when it is nap time…
and my students wouldn’t want my wife to leave…
LikeLiked by 1 person
An assembly line of making snowman out of playdoh. How creative. I think you need to surprise your students with playdoh sometime! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
or better yet, my wife should come in and teach one of my classes. the students would never want me again…
LikeLike
LOL!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I can only think of Seinfeld when I think of world’s colliding.
LikeLiked by 1 person
another good example!
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
like you, i love ‘when worlds collide’ situations, and it is so true that pre-k and the oldies often collide. i carpooled for years with a high school teacher at my school and our discussions about our classes, the dramas, and the situations/lessons often had eerie parallels.
LikeLiked by 1 person
they must have been fun conversations…
LikeLiked by 1 person
If I could only sit in on one of the classes, it would likely be your wife’s pre-k class. But that is only because they have a “nap” time (and I am hoping cookies).
LikeLiked by 1 person
even without nap time and cookies, my wife’s class would be the one to go to…
LikeLiked by 1 person
It doesn’t surprise me that there are overlaps in your curriculum. When I taught college English, I used The Three Little Pigs as an example to help my students learn a certain concept. (Then I transferred those principles to adult literature, of course.) It’s always easiest to instruct someone by breaking things down to their simplest form. I bet your academic world and your wife’s collide more often that you’d ever expect. Or if not, they could.
LikeLiked by 1 person
great example of using Three Little Pigs in your college class. I am sure that helped your students remember that lesson.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It helped a lot. There was a lot of laughter at first, but then then all came to appreciate the simplicity of the concept before moving on to advanced literature.
LikeLiked by 1 person
anytime the students learn something, that’s a good lesson…
LikeLiked by 1 person
I like the idea of kids making snow men in an assembly line. Do they cooperate? What a coincidence about the video.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s absolutely hilarious!
LikeLiked by 1 person
👍
LikeLiked by 1 person
This was delightful! Pre-K children have brains that absorb everything. They’re sponges. They will definitely ‘get’ much of this, just not in the same way your students do. I must remember to show this video to my students the next time I do a unit on transportation. Thank you Jim and Mary!
LikeLiked by 1 person
as it turns out, Mary actually shows a slightly different one – same guy talking, much of the same video, but still a bit different than mine. here is the one she shows, but only about the first two minutes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTZ3rJHHSik
her children’s first assembly line yesterday was building Mr. Potato Men
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Jim. I am saving that video. And, building Mr. Potato Head on an assembly line is perfect! Tell Mary I have always wanted to use real potatoes. Has she ever done that? Of course the original was parts only, and you supplied the potato. I remember! Those parts had much sharper points, so maybe slightly microwaving the potato would work. I want to try this.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I don’t think she’s ever used real potatoes. Your students would never look at a potato the same way!
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re right!
LikeLiked by 1 person
My husband and I are pretty opposite souls.. he works with numbers and logic and I work in a field of morals and emotions… lol everything we do in our jobs is when worlds collide LOL he has no clue what I do and why I do what I do and I have no idea or interest in what he does or how he does what he does lol and there you have it… 😂
LikeLiked by 1 person
that is an interesting dynamic – a case of opposites attracting!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Does your wife’s kindergarten class count for transfer credits?
LikeLiked by 1 person
there would be no need to transfer after taking my wife’s classs. You’d learn everything you need to learn right there, so no need for more education…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Does your college class count for transfer credits to your wife’s kindergarten class?
LikeLiked by 1 person
probably not; the kindergarten’s standards are too high…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good to know.
LikeLiked by 1 person
A mixed blessing- mass motoring has not been good for Gaia and factory work is not good for the soul, humans need to be creative. But perhaps those ideas would be a little complex for your wife’s little ones! Factories and manufacturing have of course brought many benefits as well.
LikeLiked by 2 people
thank you for the insights, Janet. I guess it would give the chance to talk about careers and the environment with the little ones…
LikeLike