A valuable life lesson
An analogy I came up with last week to help enlighten my students, far too many of whom have tried to slide by, giving the minimal amount of effort they could and still pass the class, and who (shockingly!) failed my class for the last grading period:
There’s a classic episode of The Simpsons where Lisa is doing a science experiment at home. She puts a food pellet in a hamster cage, but attaches it to a little wire that’s hooked up to a battery. The hamster nibbles at the pellet, gets a bit of a shock, and quickly gets as far away from it as he can.
Lisa notes in her journal that the hamster has learned a lesson.
Then she puts a cupcake in the kitchen, and likewise puts an electrified wire in the back. Bart comes by and grabs for the cupcake. It zaps him but, unlike the hamster, Bart does not learn his lesson. He keeps grabbing the cupcake, and keeps getting zapped. He’s immediately addicted to a pointless cycle of self-destruction.
Here’s the application:
Bart is like too many students who, seeing how delicious that cupcake is, keep letting their hunger for it overcome their common sense.
The cupcake is the elusive goal of getting by in a class without having to work very hard.
The wire and battery represent the inevitable failure that follows this course of action.
After all, as Einstein said, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result. How many kids must be thinking, “THIS time my plan to goof off and somehow be just good enough will surely work like a charm!”
Now, when I see students slacking off, or otherwise doing things that will hurt their chances for success, I tell them, “Stop grabbing the electric cupcake.” They’re already sick of it.
If only I could get them to strive for the huge chocolate cake of well-earned achievement!
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