“Chem classrooms: distanced,
Throughout fall semester.
The desks and the lectern,
Remote; these are missed.
Note, though, some ‘furniture’
Still omnipresent: the
Chart periodic— key
Table— persists.”
The 14 September 2020 Twitter poem is one that immediately places itself somewhere in the 2020-21 span, discussing more of the unusual circumstances of the academic year than any chemical principle of interest.
“Chem classrooms: distanced, /
Throughout fall semester. /
The desks and the lectern, /
Remote; these are missed.”
My introductory chemistry courses had high enrollments in Fall 2020, so the class format I chose involved required, online lectures supplemented by optional, in-person discussion sessions that could allow for easier social distancing. It was challenging to know how to approach the autumn term, and no modality was obviously perfect. However, I aimed for a blend of communicating information thoroughly and flexibly, while still including chances for in-person discussions and clarifications with students interested in those opportunities.
That meant, though, that the traditional classroom furniture items (“the desks and the lectern”) weren’t used regularly in the same way, and so “remote, these [were] missed.”
“Note, though, some ‘furniture’/
Still omnipresent: the /
Chart periodic— key /
Table— persists.”
The last four lines of this poem point out that any chemistry classroom, in any modality, will contain a piece of furniture, albeit a metaphorical one. This is highlighted by the description of the “chart periodic— key table”: an allusion to the Periodic Table of Elements.
This is one of several poems written last autumn where the use of the double-dactyl rhythm falls short compared to the true structure of a double dactyl. That failing is particularly pronounced in this poem; the structure still looks quite awkward to me. However, this rhythmic form was a fun change from the limericks of 2019; further, it was intriguing how different types of poem ideas came to mind through this academic autumn than in the last one, with the sounds of the dactylic feet more pronounced than the anapestic feet of the limerick.
Chemphasis 