I have this on my Kindle but haven't started it yet. You've reminded me it's there - thank you! 🙂

Ack! Maybe I should "white out" my statement - I'm sorry if I spoiled it for anyone! 😉 🙂

I have both of these in "real" format and you're absolutely right, Lori - they're gorgeous! They are on my TBR pile so I have the pleasure of digging into them in future! Yes. All the time. 😄 Maybe this time, Henry will have a moment of non-megalomanic clarity and let Thomas Cromwell live...

Thank you, everyone, for the discussion and the feedback. I have lots to think about now. 🙂 I think the reason I was considering the split stream was because I wanted to keep the current rigorous course for student who wanted/needed that level of rigor but also wanted to offer something between my regular course and my Honors course. I wasn't sure if the concept of a split-stream course was common, though, and might be confusing to parents and students. No matter which direction I choose to take, I promise that the current rigorous course will always remain available to students. 🙂 Over my years of teaching chemistry, I think I've realized something that ties into the conversation about young, very bright students. Students who are very talented at math are often very good at "intuiting" subjects like math and physics and those subjects will come easily to them. Chemistry is an odd beast - it contains math but the theory behind the calculations that need to be done can't be "intuited" without a lot of work being put into learning the theory. Strong math students are often flummoxed by that. 🙂 @Roadrunner - I think your oldest fits that category. 🙂 He's very bright and talented at math and physics and those subjects can be "intuited" by very bright students so they aren't used to taking notes or paying careful attention to lectures. They learn by doing the problems and homework. The trouble with honors chemistry is that it seems like the kind of subject that can be learned that way as there is a fair amount of math involved but without learning the theory, the student will run up against a wall when trying to "intuit" the problems. And then there are all the topics that contain no math whatsoever - naming, Lewis structures, VSEPR theory, etc. And chemistry is so very abstract - you can visualize physics and even biology (to some extent) but what one "sees" during a chemical reaction (at the macro level) is often not what's going on at the atomic level. That also tends to stymie the "intuiting" process. Again, thank you guys so much for the feedback. The Hive was so very encouraging when I was first thinking about offering these courses and I value the diversity of opinion that resides here. 🙂

I wonder if they're doing different content? Or maybe have different output? Less readings? Less video lectures? All things that I'll ponder. 🙂

I would love to have your boy in my Intro to Organic Chem & Biochem class if he's interested! 🙂

The bolded makes my heart heavy. 😞 I would never want to cause a student to move away from STEM and that fact that I might have done that makes me sad. But I also don't want STEM students to not be prepared for the rigor that they'll encounter at uni - know what I mean? But again - I'm coming from the background of university in Canada, not the States, and I might be over-estimating the level of knowledge/chem skills that students need in order to be prepared for college intro chemistry. I think you guys have a much broader range of what first year looks like for students depending on which school is attended. Intro chem at, say, MIT is probably going to be vastly different than intro chem at a less science-oriented school. Here in Canada, I think it's pretty standard across the universities as to what 1st year chem looks like. We also start degree requirements from year one so there are no gen ed credits to be taken. By the time we're in 3rd year undergrad, we're doing really specific course work that might not be done until grad school in the States. It's hard for me to judge, you know? 🙂 The credit thing is interesting - that's something I could think about. Thanks for the feedback, Farrar!

I don't think my course is on par with AP, no, but I think it's a strong lead-up course - know what I mean? 🙂 I think what I mentioned above to Roadrunner is part of my worry - that I'm used to teaching this content to students who are 16 to 18 years old here in Canada and most of the students taking my online course are 13 to 15 (which, again, totally makes sense as that's the age range of 10th graders) and that I might be expecting too much from the younger set of students. I think a lot about my students. 🙂

Yes - you did understand me. 🙂 I think part of my struggle is knowing what is considered "Honors" level material in the States. In Canada, we have a completely different way of approaching high school science courses and students wouldn't encounter what I teach in Honors until the 11th and 12th grades so the material that, to me, says "Honors" 🙂 would be done by students here with a few more years of maturity under their belts. Because I'm getting a lot of students who are between the ages of 13 to 15 taking the course (which totally makes sense - that's 10th grade in the States), I wondered if maybe I was expecting too much from the younger set. Does that make sense? And I like your thinking of having optional "AP prep" questions!

I thought I'd ask this here since you all were so instrumental in helping me to get this going. 🙂 Do you think people would find the concept of a split-stream course too confusing? 🙂 I'm going into the 4th year of offering my chemistry courses and I feel like the Honors Chem is DEFINITELY on the rigorous end of things. Maybe too much so. I still think that it fills a need for a small group of students and don't want to do away with that level of rigor for those students who need it/want it. I had a thought that I could keep the same lecture videos and overall schedule but do something like Derek Owens does with his assignments and tests - have the first part of the assignment/test/exam be for everyone and then have one or two more questions for students who want more challenge. I think I would call one stream "Honors Chemistry" (this stream of students would only do the first part of the assignments/tests/exams) and the other stream "Honors Chemistry with Lead-up to AP Chem" or something like that (this stream of students would do all the questions including the challenge ones). I have to be careful about College Board property rights with "AP" labels, though, so I might need a different name. The course as it currently is would become the second, more rigorous stream. As it is right now, I think there is too much "distance" between my regular Chemistry and my Honors Chemistry in terms of rigor. Adding in the other stream of Honors Chem would help to fix that, I think. So... Is that too confusing? Should there be two separate courses instead? Hive thoughts?

I finished an audiobook! I've long struggled with audiobooks as my brain seems wired for print reading - my memory is almost exclusively visual (my brain "takes pictures" of the pages I read) and I have a very hard time remembering something if I only hear it as opposed to seeing it. (Except for music. I remember song lyrics and words to pieces I've sung. Weird.) I chose one of the Fairacre series that wasn't available for Kindle and bought it with a free Audible credit. I figured that I know the characters and setting well from having read almost the entire series so it would be easier for my brain to settle in to the listening. It worked! 🙂 At least - I enjoyed it. 😄 We'll see if my brain remembers the story as well as if I had read it. 😉 I took the quiz and got the same result as you, @Robin M but I don't often read romances so I'm not sure if my answers to all the questions made sense. 😄 It was fun - thanks for the link! I remember reading that Yeats poem in an English class at some point and it does have beautiful imagery. Solitude is very, very appealing to me and solitude in nature feeds my soul. I love that I live where I can't see my neighbours. 🙂 For my next audiobook, I think I'll try Stephen Fry's Mythos: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45731786-mythos I won't get the illustrations (which, I hear, are gorgeous) but I know the stories from school and Stephen Fry is highly entertaining. 🙂 Books read in 2021 2. Miss Clare Remembers (Fairacre #4) by Miss Read *Fiction (audiobook) 1. Changes at Fairacre (Fairacre, #18) by Miss Read *Fiction

I love the idea of sipping from books. Every time I read that phrase, I smile. 🙂 Severus Snape is one of my favourite literary characters. I'm not great at identifying literary devices or themes or character attributes (I had an abysmal English/writing/reading education in high school on top of the fact that my brain simply doesn't seem to be wired to "get" literature or poetry) but I know who/what I like and don't like. 🙂 When I went to look at the list of anti-heroes on Wikipedia, I recognized a fair number of characters from literature and film that I've liked over the years so I apparently have a thing for anti-heroes. I think it's the depth and darkness that appeal to me. I've still only finished one book for 2021 but I'm almost finished the Yrsa Sigurdardottir book and I've started on the final Fairacre book. I've also made the decision last week to deactivate my Facebook account. The amount of time I was spending on the endless scroll was ridiculous - there has to be a better use of my time than the dang endless scroll that just NEVER ENDS. This last week has been a real eye-opener for me. I actually felt anxious when I wasn't logging in for the first 3 or 4 days which tells me that there was a bit of addiction to social media happening there. 😉 🙂 My attention span is getting longer (even just in a week!) and I have more time for serious reading, exercising, and other pursuits. I think I like the "non-FB me" better than the "FB me".

Thanks, GW! 🙂 Thanks, mum! 🙂 I think I've said it before - we must have very similar reading tastes! I was looking at the Jonasson books and might start on those next. While I'd love to read everything in the original language, Icelandic seems REALLY daunting. I may have to stick with translations. 🙂 And the Afdeling Q series looks really good, too! I may try to join in on this read along but after my spectacular fails with the SWB books and the Tolkien books last year, you probably won't want to place any bets on my finishing. 😉 Thank you for all you do, Robin!

Virtual high-fives to all of those who, like me, have the best of intentions to post weekly and follow a reading schedule and participate unfailingly but who then end up binge reading fluff, forgetting to note what's been finished, and letting weeks and weeks go by without a single BaW post. My Goodreads shelves are a mess, I can't remember to update my lists, and when I do remember to update I do it in batches and everything ends up with the same date so it looks like I finished 15 books on the same day. Sigh. And I'm TOTALLY an organizer and a planner!!! My lack of reading organization/planning is a weird anomaly. I think I might be old-school and would do better with some sort of paper planner/journal for reading. Any favourites to recommend? And did you all know that Frixion makes erasable highlighters?? Genius. Finished my first book of 2021: 1. Changes at Fairacre (Fairacre, #18) by Miss Read *Fiction I've given up on rating books because it stressed me out. I don't know why - probably because there was no "right" answer to the rating. My science/math education brain likes "right" answers. 😉 I'm currently reading a horror/thriller novel by an Icelandic writer: I Remember You by Yrsa Sigurdardottir (in translation) The whole 'Nordic Noir' genre has really been appealing to me lately. I've also been watching 'Fortitude' and 'Wisting' on Amazon Prime. If anyone has author suggestions for Nordic Noir, I'd love to hear them!

I really dislike exercise 😜 but I could be out of doors in the winter here constantly - Canadian winters make me so happy. 🙂 I love your pic - did you guys get the perfect freezing conditions in the fall, too? We had a ton of "wild ice" around here that people took advantage of. I didn't get out to do any skating but lots of friends of mine and their kids got out. This video on The Weather Network is the nephew of a friend of mine on our local big lake: https://www.theweathernetwork.com/ca/videos/gallery/sunset-skate-/sharevideo/6214534417001 I was never much for playing when I was a kid, either, and I don't much like games but I understand what you mean. I can see it with my DD and my DH. They both love to play. 🙂 Good for you guys!

I just binge-watched Bridgerton!! 🙂 I haven't read the books, though, so that's something to look forward to. And Simon in the Netflix series is SMOULDERING. Whew! ;D My dd was SO upset at how Mary is overlooked/mocked in the 2005 film version of P&P that when I saw you mention "The Other Bennet Sister", I suggested that she and I read it together. Hopefully, it will make her feel better. 🙂 She's a quiet, studious, piano-playing girl herself so I think she really identified with Mary. Which just made her feel all the more incensed at Mary's treatment. 😉 Rutherford!! 🙂 Try "Sarum" if you haven't read it already. Or "London". Such a great world to immerse oneself in!

I managed to go back and put a list together of my 2020 reads. I didn't really have a goal so I can't say whether I met it or not. 🙂 I wasn't very adventurous in my reading choices. By the latter half of the year, I was mostly alternating between the Fairacre series by Miss Read (because they're just so comfortingly boring ;)) and horror (which has some sort of "re-setting" effect on my brain so that if I'm too stressed out or my brain won't "shut off", horror will almost always short-circuit the "won't shut off" switch in my brain:)). I don't think I had one stand-out book but I want to thank whomever (or multiple whomevers) it was who introduced me to Miss Read and to Elly Griffiths. Those two authors have become the reading equivalent of a "comfy blanket" for me - I can just open up a book by one of those authors, snuggle in, and feel safe and warm. 🙂 My goal for 2021 is to participate here more. 🙂 And also to broaden my reading horizons. I used to read all kinds of books but when one is tired or stressed, it's just so easy to stick with the "safe" and familiar. Thank you to everyone who shares and contributes - you've led me to so many wonderful authors and down so many wonderful rabbit trails!! Books read in 2020 36. The Silken Rose by Carol McGrath *Historical Fiction (13th century England) 35. A Country Christmas by Miss Read *Fiction 34. Christmas at Fairacre by Miss Read *Fiction 33. Dark Matter: A Ghost Story by Michelle Paver *Horror 32. Thin Air by Michelle Paver *Horror 31. Village Centenary (Fairacre, #15) by Miss Read *Fiction 30. (Reread) The Vanishing by Wendy Webb *Horror 29. Miss Pringle of Fairacre (Fairacre, #17) by Miss Read *Fiction 28. Village Affairs (Fairacre, #13) by Miss Read *Fiction 27. The Invited by Jennifer McMahon *Horror 26. Farther Afield (Fairacre, #11) by Miss Read *Fiction 25. Unorthodox by Deborah Feldman *Memoir 24. Tyler’s Row (Fairacre, #9) by Miss Read *Fiction 23. Summer at Fairacre (Fairacre, #16) by Miss Read *Fiction 22. (Reread) All Who Go Do Not Return by Shulem Deen *Memoir 21. (Reread) Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayer *Travel memoir 20. Too Much and Never Enough by Mary L. Trump *Nonfiction biography 19. The Loch by Steve Alten *Thriller/Horror 18. Black Potatoes by Susan Campbell Bartoletti *YA Nonfiction 17. Over the Gate (Fairacre, #5) and Fairacre Festival (Fairacre, #7) by Miss Read *Fiction 16. A Room Full of Bones (Ruth Galloway, #4) by Elly Griffiths *Mystery 15. The House at Sea’s End (Ruth Galloway, #3) by Elly Griffiths *Mystery 14. Storm in the Village (Fairacre, #3) by Miss Read *Fiction 13. The Night Sister by Jennifer McMahon *Horror 12. The Mist in the Mirror by Susan Hill *Horror 11. The Janus Stone (Ruth Galloway, #2) by Elly Griffiths *Mystery 10. The Crossing Places (Ruth Galloway, #1) by Elly Griffiths *Mystery 9. Shadows and Strongholds by Elizabeth Chadwick *Historical fiction (12th century England) 8. Village Diary (Fairacre, #2) by Miss Read *Fiction 7. The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann *Nonfiction 6. Crooked River (Pendergast #19) by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child *Mystery/Thriller 5. Village School (Fairacre, #1) by Miss Read *Fiction 4. The Graveyard Apartment by Mariko Koike *Horror 3. Daughters of the Grail by Elizabeth Chadwick *Historical fiction/romance (13th century France, Cathars) 2 1/2. Extraction (Pendergast #12.5) by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child *Fiction (short story) (I didn't think that a short story would count but I did finish it 🙂 ) 2. The Case of the Chocolate Cream Killer: The Poisonous Passion of Christiana Edmunds by Kaye Jones *Nonfiction (history) 1. The Love Knot by Elizabeth Chadwick *Historical fiction/romance (12th century England)

Just looked it up. Whataboutism is a variant of tu quoque. 🙂 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whataboutism

I think Friend B was more making the first point rather than the second but I don't want to read too much into an online interaction. It's hard to know what anyone means online (or heck - even in person. 😉 ) As always, you're the research queen, Lori D. ! Thank you! Both you, Pam, and Lori D. are correct - it wasn't the most logical of arguments to witness. 😜 There was just something about the substitution of the denigration of presumed sites Y and Z by Friend B instead of confronting the validity of site X (the site the original article was from that Friend B chose to share) that twigged something in my brain to think that the "whataboutism" (thanks for that, @Moonhawk!) was violating some rule of logical argument. Thank you so much, Hive mind!! You folks are the greatest! 🙂

Can I tap the Hive mind wisdom? 🙂 I just read two statements from some friends who were arguing online and I'm sure that Friend B committed a logical fallacy but I can't think of which one it would be. Here is, roughly, the exchange: Friend A: The website that you are getting your information from, news site X, is biased and questionable. Friend B: And news sites Y and Z are any better?? (Friend B is also making an assumption that Friend A is getting their information from sites Y and Z (which are sites that would be considered biased from the opposite direction from Friend B's site X) but that's not what I'm thinking about.) Is Friend B committing a fallacy? If so, which one? I feel like it's some kind of false equivalency but that doesn't seem quite right. Basically, Friend B's response to Friend A saying that Friend B's site of choice (site X) is biased and questionable is Friend B sarcastically commenting that sites Y and Z (the assumed sites of choice for Friend A) aren't any better. I feel like this should be an easy one to identify but my brain is not cooperating this evening. 😉

Thank you for thinking of me and tagging me, Robin! I'm still here - sometimes reading, sometimes not. It's been an odd year (possibly the largest understatement EVER) and I've had a lot of family things to deal with (elderly parents' health issues - that sort of thing). My online teaching business has also been doing very well - possibly too well as it's taking time away from reading. 😉 No - I won't say "too well". I'm just continually grateful that there are so many parents who find my little corner of the educational universe and who choose to trust their students' introductory chemistry education to me. I've not been keeping track of what I've been reading but since most of it is on my Kindle, I should be able to go back and put together a list. Hopefully, I can do that before the year turns. Thank you so much, Robin, for captaining this amazing community of readers and thank you to everyone who shares and participates! Even if I don't post much, I try to read the threads. And even if I don't get to read every thread, the fact that the threads are here - read or unread by me - makes me feel happy and warm inside. 🙂

I just looked it up. 🙂 A raised pie is a free-standing one so the pastry is sturdy enough to retain its shape without being in a pie tin. The elk pies that I buy from the elk farm aren't raised, then, so are made with typical pastry dough instead of the hot-water dough. Still super tasty pies! 🙂

I wasn't sure of the terminology - I should probably have looked it up before posting. 😉 🙂

Moose is definitely less "gamey" than venison - moose is probably one of the least "gamey" of game meats. 🙂 Elk is another meat that is super lean and is considered "raised game" - at least here it is. 🙂 Our local elk farm is just a few kilometers away from where I live and I love elk meat. It's SUPER lean, though, so you need to either add fat or cook it in a way that will tenderize it. The elk farm hires a local woman to make elk pies to sell and the spice/ingredient profile looks very close to the BBC recipe you linked. They are super tasty! Best of luck with whatever you decide, OP!

I was sad when they split. 😞 Blue Rodeo. 🥰