Popcorn and 10,000 shards of glass

Well... this morning I had six functioning ovens. By the end of the day I had five... and an empty space where one had been.

We're making popcorn balls! Day One was a demo of popcorn on the stovetop, which most students had never done, and led to one heckler in each crowd reminding me of the existence of microwaves.

The second part of Day One was to make the popcorn. And no, the caretaker is not happy with me, thanks for asking.

The demonstrations all went well. Out of 4 classes of students only one pair burned their popcorn, but I had my demo material left over, so I swapped with them. After two days of popcorn popping, not only does the room and hallway smell of it, but so do all the clothes I'm wearing - even my shoes!

In block 6, the third home ec class of the day, with one left to go, something happened. I finished the popcorn demo, waited for questions, and seeing none, sent the students back to their units to make popcorn. In the first wave of movement there was a "smack" and a "whoosh/crumble" (maybe someone can help me with my onomatopoeia?)

Of course, the commotion was right in the centre of the crowd, and I could not see WHAT had broken. Because with those sounds, SOMETHING must be broken.

I asked, and they replied - the stove. What? What do you mean "The stove is broken?"

I could only imagine that the door had fallen off. I was completely stunned by what I saw as I moved through the crowd.

The glass front of the oven door was completely shattered. Completely. Shattered.

Yeah... it was a lot like that. I didn't have my camera that day and I doubt that I would have found time to take a picture anyway. But this is pretty accurate. It's scary how easy it was to find this photo - things like this shouldn't happen often.

It seems that a student had hit the door when moving his chair, and like Corelle dishware, it fractured into thousands of pieces.

Now, this is halfway through the class and we still have popcorn to make, and I have a group with a broken stove, not to mention one heckuva pile of glass to deal with.

The caretaker was summoned. Other teachers emerged in response to my not entirely calm phone call to the office. Okay phone callS. The students settled into making their popcorn, while the adults tried to piece together just WHAT had happened.

Happily, no one was hurt. They made their popcorn, and will finish their popcorn balls tomorrow, as promised. I sure wished that block 6 was the final block of the day, but I still had one more to go.

Enter block 7, to complete their popcorn balls. I began to debrief them, and make it very clear that I had used up all of my patience and if they were going to get me to smile before the end of the day, it was going to take some effort on their part. The caretaker returned at that point to remove the wounded oven.

The new group of students in that unit were stunned as they watched their oven walk out of the room.

Instructions for completing the lab under our new and trying circumstances were issued. Popcorn balls were made and soon enough the confusion and worry was lost in the fun of pouring melted marshmallows over popcorn, and playing with the sticky threads.

Now, I just have to figure out how we're going to make our Chocolate Quinoa Cake next week, when I'm short one oven.

But tomorrow is a popcorn ball day...

Sticks and Stones...

... may break my bones, but teaching children to knit is exhausting!

Day 3. I have 2 6/7 classes learning to knit, a 6/7 class miffed that they haven't started, and some 8s that are downright annoyed that their term isn't long enough for me to squeeze it in.

I may have to hide the amigurumi apples on my desk, since one boy keeps begging to buy one off me.

It took the better part of two classes to get everyone casting on, and today was the day that the newbies started to achieve a knit stitch! They were so excited, some actually Whooped when they realized that they did it!

Most are persevering... some have simply walked away. I told them that their mark is in the attempt. If they actually make something it's bonus marks (as many as they want!) But as long as they give it a good try, they will get a good mark, even if they don't complete the project.

I've acquired another dozen pairs of needles, thanks to a donation and a Value Village spotting. I might still try out the chopsticks. I found some nice ones in the mall - nice enough I wouldn't even have to sand them, and they were cheap, 10 pairs for 3 bucks or something? There are bulk ones that could use a sanding for even less.

I'd like to try making needles as an upcycling project. Don't tell the grade 8s, but I do have a project for them too, but since our timeline is so tight, it's going to be quick and easy... and made from paper. And then they get to make popcorn balls... but that's going to make an interesting post next week.

Let's Try Knitting!

Yesterday, I passed around a sample project - a Mug Rug, aka a Coaster, to the students. Almost everyone who touched it lingered, a few begged to keep it, and I was surprised that so many asked to learn to knit. To be fair, many of them know that my Core Class learned to knit last year, and a lot of kids also wanted in.

Today, I passed small balls of yarn around, and it took a good ten minutes for the class to settle down. Amidst the cacophony, many students demanded to know if we were going to knit. Eventually, they settled down enough to witness the magic of the slip knot. It took another good chunk of time before most of them had mastered it.

They did catch onto the slip knot fast enough that we started to cast on (thumb method, in case you're wondering - thank you, Connor, for teaching me that!) Many of them are already quite territorial over the ball of yarn they were assigned, and plan to keep it for further work. Some might ask to trade colours tomorrow.

A second class was also introduced with very similar results, but I'm running really low on knitting needles. It's pushing it to say I have two class sets even if I use different, but similar sizes, and I certainly don't have 3 class sets. I priced needles, but at 5, 6 and 7 dollars a pair, I'm not blowing my budget on 25 additional needles.

If I'd been smarter, or at least less reckless (Ha!) I'd have spread it out, and started one class, let them work for a couple of weeks and wrap it up. Although... even if I do approach it that way, I'd still have some overlap.

I thought we could make some surplus needles, so I went out to the craft store to look at dowels. The 3/16 size is certainly compatible, but I think they'd break too easily. Middle-schoolers are very aggressive knitters. I'm looking into round, bamboo chopsticks. Hopefully someone in one of my circles has some, or maybe they can be bought bulk for a good price.

On another note, I really want an upcycling project for my Grade 8s, but it has to be fairly simple since their shortened term will end in about 2 weeks. We still have 2 cooking labs to squeeze in. They're pretty happy when they're cooking (and eating).

ps: Note to Self. This would be simpler if you just assigned every the SAME COLOUR.

Dear Self: that would be boring. Stop being so practical.

What's in a Name?

I want to change my course name.

There's nothing wrong with "Home Ec". It's an appropriate name for the course, but it really doesn't give the middle schoolers much information about what the course IS. Despite the lack of sewing this year (and possibly the next few years), it's not "Foods" either, although many of them call it that.

A student said, this week, "This is like an extra science class!" I don't think he was displeased.

It IS a science class.

After the applesauce labs we discussed the ingredients. I have a pretty good video on apples that's more or less local. We talked about where sugar comes from, and looked at the website for a local sugar refinery. Cinnamon was next - and that surprised most of them! But the one that generated the most discussion was WATER.

Water - where does it come from, where does it go? Water safety. Bottled water. Storm drains. Watersheds. Sewers.

So much to think about with such simple ingredients.

So what to call the course? I'd like to call it "Life Skills" but that has another meaning locally, which would confuse people. I don't know yet. We cook and learn about food and nutrition, but also about the cycle that provides that food, and about closing the cycle with our food waste.

Let me know if you have a suggestion!

PS: Food Science and Sustainability came out while talking to some student teachers.

The second round of Home Ec labs

While the Quesadilla Lab didn't give me much blog material (that's a good thing, by the way) the Grade 8 Apple Crisp lab is another story. Being a short week, interrupted by an afternoon meeting, and a shortened term for the eighth graders, I decided to forge ahead without a demo. The horror of it all! A cooking lab without a demo! Heresy!

Once they recovered from the shock, the 8s settled in peeling, cutting and coring their apples. They had as much trouble with the task as the 6/7s did, and were repulsed by little imperfections in their apples. There were two minor cuts to deal with in the course of the knife handling (while there was only one boo-boo out of all three junior classes). A glass dish was also broken. They're starting to understand why they need to wear closed shoes in the lab.

The face-palm moment of the day was the student who slouched on the supply table and said that he needed some stuff. He didn't know what, or how much, nor did he have anything to carry his "stuff" back to his unit. The Unit Manager is away, he announces. And refused to understand that you cannot assign a lab job to a person who is not physically present. Utterly refused. Needless to say his unit was a tad late in finishing up.

We baked the apple crisp the next day (today), and the results were quite good. Clean up was much improved, and many As were awarded for a successful lab. One boy was given the unwanted portions of food by his lab partners, and he left with a huge bowlful, looking very pleased.

I'm planning ahead for next term, and thinking of how I want to re-play the food labs and lessons... but then again, I'm not looking forward to starting the learning curve over and over again as the year progresses.

The apple peelings and bits were saved for a pet guinea pig :-)