Poltergeists

Who you gonna call?

It was irritating when kitchen utensils moved from drawer to drawer whenever I wasn't looking.
It was confounding when measuring cups would disappear, then reappear from one class to the next and cookie sheets would hide in plain sight in the cupboards.
But now it's dangerous. My poltergeist is playing with fire.

Wednesday. Block 5. Right after lunch. Ten or fifteen minutes into a knitting session. It's noisy. They don't knit quietly. "TEACHER! That burner's on... maximum. It's glowing red!"

Yikes! The group seated in front of the blazing stove denies all culpability. They appear genuinely puzzled. And offended. They know that this offence is worthy of a visit to the principal.

In their absence, I tested the burner to see how long it takes to heat up, and turn red. Two minutes for the heat to be palpable, almost 4 for it to turn red. The smell is distinctive. It has to be happening during this class. If it were the class before lunch, I'd notice the second I walked in the room. In fact, I'd probably notice before I even left the room. It's not the sort of thing you'd overlook.

Thursday. Block 5. Same thing. "TEACHER! Someone turned on our stove again!"

The only visitors to that group has been the girls from the neighbouring group. Not your prime suspect types either. But, let's be objective. They were at the scene of the crime, so I enquire, quite seriously. "I did it yesterday", confesses one," but I didn't do it today."

Hmm... I launch into graphic descriptions of the dangers of clothing and hair catching fire, and hope that I've subdued them. They seem subdued. Good thing that the boy closest to the scene of the crime has very short hair. Longer hair, or a carelessly placed gym bag could have spelled d-i-s-a-s-t-e-r.

I spent a lot of time thinking about how to avoid a repeat, or worse. At the beginning of this term, I noticed that someone was flicking the oven closest to the exit door on as they departed. I had worried about kids hiding someone's gym strip or math book in an oven the way they like to hide things in the drawers or cupboards. Now the burners.

Should I sneak something onto the burner that smells so that I catch it sooner? Or would that make it worse? If I caused the fire, I'd certainly be in trouble! Maybe I could just switch the stoves off at the fuse box. If I could find which switches control what.

The fastest way to get great answers is to email the other Home Ec teachers via the listserv, who respond with amazing speed, with diverse, thoughtful and sometimes funny answers. Most of the early answers were similar and advised cutting the power to the stoves. Some teachers have a master power switch for the room - very handy during fire drills (something I hadn't quite worked out how to handle).

Friday. Block 5... the caretaker and I spent a long time trying to track down the fuse breakers for each stove. He didn't have any more success than I did. We found 3. Maybe 4 (that oven's not working anway). The others, he unplugged. Just before the end of the block, would you believe it? "TEACHER! It happened again!" At least the power was off this time.

 I do not look forward to unplugging and replugging the ovens each lab, but it's almost summer break. Maybe by fall, I'll have a better idea.

Or I'll learn how to placate my poltergeist.

P. S. My voice is missing. The latest in a rash of mischief in the Home Ec room. I blame the poltergeist.  It couldn't possibly be this awful, rotten cold I picked up.

Bill Nye in the Foods room

I love Bill Nye. I admit this freely and without hesitation. Bill Nye is awesome. That show, on tape, has played a supporting role in my classroom since I started teaching. Enter teaching Home Ec... Goodbye Nye? Not a chance. He's Bill Nye the Home Ec guy in my class now, and we've watched "Germs", "Nutrition", "Agriculture" and I've saved "Pollution Solutions" for emergencies. I do, often, have to deal with the question "Isn't he dead?" (Thank you, The Onion - the students have no idea what you are, or what a parody is, but they've heard the urban legend)  Happily the answer remains "No."

The 6/7s are still happy to watch Bill Nye episodes, and they giggle, or chuckle at the jokes and sight gags. The 8s require an apology in advance -  that I acknowledge that this is too young for them, and a little outdated, but the information is still quite relevant... then they can cut loose and enjoy Bill too.

Today, after 4 terms of Home Ec, and about the 10th showing of "Nutrition" (which really does have some good gags) I found out something interesting about my students: students with autism REALLY love Bill Nye's gags. They are the kids who laugh out loud, even when no one else does. They have huge grins on their faces, and are clearly having a wonderful time. The students who are developmentally low find some fun in the show's gags, but don't really get the jokes, so don't laugh as much.

I'm recommending Bill Nye videos as a diagnostic tool. Wondering if you have autistic students in your class? Show a Bill Nye video. Let me know what you find out! Science Rules!