Second that! I took a while to grasp the concept of "social doorknobs" while reading this text. I think it boils down to something people can use to open up conversational pathways and keep the conversation flowing.

While reading this, I kept drawing parallels to how I like to teach. (I'm not a professional teacher, but I volunteer at a makerspace and nothing is more fun than watching someone grasp a new concept and use it to actually make something.)

I tend to think that, in general, there's very little new under the sun, so most students are already equipped with analogies that will help them understand what I'm teaching. That is, if I can just figure out what they're familiar with and draw the appropriate parallels.

Teaching, then, becomes an exercise in learning my student and trying to express analogies that they can grab onto. Which means sometimes throwing out a slow-ball so they have an easy hit, and seeing which metaphor they use to hit it with, which then gives me some information about how to proceed.