16 weeks of Simon...

Remember the old game Simon? The one with the colored buttons that looked like Close Encounters, the Home Game? Everyone had it, or at least had some strange facisimile of the game. Ours was small and white and sounded a little like someone was putting a squirrel through a meat grinder. But again, I digress.

Sitting at the bar with a friend the other day, I came to the realization that a semester of my class is like a 16 week long game of Simon. You give them a tone--a concept. One concept is easy to remember, especially in a class that's not rocket science to begin with. I would love to kid myself and say, "no, this class is harder than it looks," but it would be a lie. A monkey could pass this class if they came everyday and could manage to read the text. So start with one tone--one concept--and everyone's with you. I love the first weeks of class for that reason. It's a good feeling to introduce a concept and see in people's faces that they get it.

Then comes week two, and now you have two tones to remember. Most people are still with you at this point. And that's like the game. Unless you're playing Simon the Drinking Game, most people can get through two, or three, or even four tones without too much trouble. But then the challenge begins. You start to lose people the higher you go, and for me, that starts about week five or six.

So for now, as the end of week two is on the horizon, I'm still seeing recogition in people's eyes. I'm trying to be optimistic because this seems like a good group. But I'm a realist as well, and I fear its only a matter of time before the accusatory buzzer sounds...

Sixteen weeks of Simon. We'll see how long they last...