First Entry:
I received a verbal message today - a parent had called, and wanted to speak to the Home Ec teacher. Now, of course, my mind races through the range of reasons why a parent would call for me. My messenger goes on to tell me that the caller wanted to know if I would help her child bake a birthday cake for the mother's birthday.
Today was the last day of the term.
We don't use flour in my class because of my kids with Celiac Disease.
We have a 41 minute block, so a cake would be a 3 or 4 day process (demo, 2 days to bake, 1 to decorate).
I'm really not sure what this mom had in mind. That since it was the last day of class I'd have each child bake their own cake? Maybe she heard about the Grade 8s and misunderstood the scale of our attempts? Does she think I'm going to stay after school for a couple of hours and supervise him preparing the cake??? (Please note that there is a direct connection to "Popcorn and 10,000 Shards of Glass" hidden in this anecdote.)
Since my sarcasm filter is officially broken these days, and I can barely restrain myself around the kids, I'm not convinced I would have come up with a suitable response to this odd request. Well, maybe... I surprise myself when I have to come up with something good off the cuff. At any rate, I'm glad I got the message and not the phone call.
Thus, I submit to you, Dear Readers, the first entry in what will probably be a long list of Odd Moments of the Year. If they're entertaining enough, we can have a contest in June to determine the winner/favourite. I'm sure there will be a lavish and glamourous prize... just let me confer with my sponsors.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Blender Smoothies - what could possibly go wrong?
Okay, yeah... you're probably thinking of the same two things that I was. That someone would forget the lid and that someone might stick a wooden spoon into a moving blender. Close...
Our first demo was the exciting one (because I learned where my assistant was liable to goof up). My calm, responsible, assistant chef was a little nervous in front of her peers, and eager to do a good job, she moved a little too quickly. When the smoothie appeared finished, she started to pour, and found a large, frozen strawberry marring the perfection of her work. She quickly popped the blender jar back on the base and... the workstation and the front row were immediately speckled in strawberry smoothie! Lesson One: always put the lid on the blender.
Since I'd uttered many dire warnings about unplugging the blender before sticking anything in it, I was relieved that I only had to unplug a few while students were digging for those stubborn strawberries, but no damage was done. (Maybe next time, I'll let the fruit thaw out instead of using it frozen.)
Much like our recent episode with the exploding oven door (Popcorn and 10,000 Shards of Glass) it was the unpredictable element that caught up with us.
One group returned to the supply table, dismayed. "It spilled", they said. A few minutes later, their cries of anguish rang out, as it developed into "It spilled again!" "Spilled" wasn't quite accurate though. The blade mechanism became dislodged and the base separated. The smoothie headed south. We were able to contain the mess, more or less, and salvage enough of the product that they could have called the operation a success. Until one of their group decided that since his hands were covered anyway, he should just play in the smoothie. The rest of the group, disgusted, declined to sample their product. I don't blame them, actually.
The misbehaving blender was closely supervised during the next two labs, leading to a diagnosis of "Operator Error", and the teacher learned that she should probably check all the blenders after washing to make sure they got put back together properly. I don't recall anyone telling me that I needed a degree in electrical engineering for this job, but being handy certainly IS a prerequisite!
A few more days left in the term now, and we'll be dealing with some sustainability issues before they move onto Tech Ed. and I get a new batch from Performing Arts... and then I get to do it all over again.
Damage summary - the summer camp reported that my hand mixers "lights on fire". We've blown the fuses (more than once) using the microwaves. We've lost an oven due to catastrophic failure of the front panel and it looked like we'd ruined a blender, but I think we can extend its life into Term Two.
Supplies needed - besides consumables, I need mixing bowls, medium saucepans, spatulas, drinking glasses and oven mitts. And yarn. Lots and lots of yarn.
And next term - I'm hiding the knives until cooking lab days.
Our first demo was the exciting one (because I learned where my assistant was liable to goof up). My calm, responsible, assistant chef was a little nervous in front of her peers, and eager to do a good job, she moved a little too quickly. When the smoothie appeared finished, she started to pour, and found a large, frozen strawberry marring the perfection of her work. She quickly popped the blender jar back on the base and... the workstation and the front row were immediately speckled in strawberry smoothie! Lesson One: always put the lid on the blender.
Since I'd uttered many dire warnings about unplugging the blender before sticking anything in it, I was relieved that I only had to unplug a few while students were digging for those stubborn strawberries, but no damage was done. (Maybe next time, I'll let the fruit thaw out instead of using it frozen.)
Much like our recent episode with the exploding oven door (Popcorn and 10,000 Shards of Glass) it was the unpredictable element that caught up with us.
One group returned to the supply table, dismayed. "It spilled", they said. A few minutes later, their cries of anguish rang out, as it developed into "It spilled again!" "Spilled" wasn't quite accurate though. The blade mechanism became dislodged and the base separated. The smoothie headed south. We were able to contain the mess, more or less, and salvage enough of the product that they could have called the operation a success. Until one of their group decided that since his hands were covered anyway, he should just play in the smoothie. The rest of the group, disgusted, declined to sample their product. I don't blame them, actually.
The misbehaving blender was closely supervised during the next two labs, leading to a diagnosis of "Operator Error", and the teacher learned that she should probably check all the blenders after washing to make sure they got put back together properly. I don't recall anyone telling me that I needed a degree in electrical engineering for this job, but being handy certainly IS a prerequisite!
A few more days left in the term now, and we'll be dealing with some sustainability issues before they move onto Tech Ed. and I get a new batch from Performing Arts... and then I get to do it all over again.
Damage summary - the summer camp reported that my hand mixers "lights on fire". We've blown the fuses (more than once) using the microwaves. We've lost an oven due to catastrophic failure of the front panel and it looked like we'd ruined a blender, but I think we can extend its life into Term Two.
Supplies needed - besides consumables, I need mixing bowls, medium saucepans, spatulas, drinking glasses and oven mitts. And yarn. Lots and lots of yarn.
And next term - I'm hiding the knives until cooking lab days.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
The End of the Grade 8 Term
I told the class this week that it's kind of a disappointment.
I've watched how much they've grown and learned and all of a sudden it's time to pass them on to the next Explorations teacher. Since I'm used to being a classroom teacher and keeping the group an entire year, this concept of keeping them for 7 weeks and then sending them on their way is downright weird... and a little sad. (Don't tell them that!)
The class didn't give me much feedback about the course - one student said "Fewer videos" (she could remember 2) "Fewer worksheets" (we did maybe 6), and finally revealed that she WAS disappointed that we didn't sew because they were supposed to make pyjama pants this year.
A few are audibly disappointed that the younger classes are learning to knit, and they're not. But there just wasn't enough time.
I liked that we got through some ideas regarding sustainability, although I'd hoped to do more with the older students. What happened, was that we got side-tracked by interesting, although barely relevant topics (Like the risk of impregnation while swimming in a public pool. Some things you really need to deal with in class, and not let them wander around with these weird ideas in their heads)
I do wish I had more time to reflect on my unit plan (did I just willingly use the r-word? Ugh.) because there is a lot of room for improvement. At the term's end though, I had a group of students quietly savouring their quinoa brownies... and they even did a good job of clean up!
I've watched how much they've grown and learned and all of a sudden it's time to pass them on to the next Explorations teacher. Since I'm used to being a classroom teacher and keeping the group an entire year, this concept of keeping them for 7 weeks and then sending them on their way is downright weird... and a little sad. (Don't tell them that!)
The class didn't give me much feedback about the course - one student said "Fewer videos" (she could remember 2) "Fewer worksheets" (we did maybe 6), and finally revealed that she WAS disappointed that we didn't sew because they were supposed to make pyjama pants this year.
A few are audibly disappointed that the younger classes are learning to knit, and they're not. But there just wasn't enough time.
I liked that we got through some ideas regarding sustainability, although I'd hoped to do more with the older students. What happened, was that we got side-tracked by interesting, although barely relevant topics (Like the risk of impregnation while swimming in a public pool. Some things you really need to deal with in class, and not let them wander around with these weird ideas in their heads)
I do wish I had more time to reflect on my unit plan (did I just willingly use the r-word? Ugh.) because there is a lot of room for improvement. At the term's end though, I had a group of students quietly savouring their quinoa brownies... and they even did a good job of clean up!
Quinoa/Chocolate Brownie Bites
Okay! I LIKE this recipe... it's indestructible!
Even though the students struggled with the (relative) complexity, even the group who cooked their quinoa by "winging" it managed to come up with a decent looking, highly edible product.
You know what's delicious? The silence that falls when a group of 13 year olds start eating something yummy that they just made by themselves. Too bad that magic didn't extend to the younger classes that followed, but the 6/7s were a little disappointed that they weren't cooking today, and that they weren't cooking whatever it was that smelled so good.
Yes, I have a thing or two to learn about how to write up a recipe to help things run smoothly, and that edit will take place very soon, but I like this recipe enough to try it again next term.
p.s. here's a link to the recipe I used. It lends itself well to adaptations. To use it in Home Ec I converted it to metric and then cut the recipe for the groups. If you want my version, just contact me.
http://www.canada.com/life/Crazy+about+quinoa/2961804/story.html
Even though the students struggled with the (relative) complexity, even the group who cooked their quinoa by "winging" it managed to come up with a decent looking, highly edible product.
You know what's delicious? The silence that falls when a group of 13 year olds start eating something yummy that they just made by themselves. Too bad that magic didn't extend to the younger classes that followed, but the 6/7s were a little disappointed that they weren't cooking today, and that they weren't cooking whatever it was that smelled so good.
Yes, I have a thing or two to learn about how to write up a recipe to help things run smoothly, and that edit will take place very soon, but I like this recipe enough to try it again next term.
p.s. here's a link to the recipe I used. It lends itself well to adaptations. To use it in Home Ec I converted it to metric and then cut the recipe for the groups. If you want my version, just contact me.
http://www.canada.com/life/Crazy+about+quinoa/2961804/story.html
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Hey! You got your quinoa in my chocolate!
The end of the Grade 8 term is rapidly descending and our final cooking lab is upon us. The Pièce de résistance is Chocolate Quinoa Cake (cupcakes, rather). Just to keep things confusing: the recipe is a "cake", I've described it as more like "brownies", but we're making individual portions. This has upset some students who haven't quite caught onto my somewhat random nature.
I literally lost sleep over this one. Last night, after finally falling asleep through the Halloween fireworks and accompanying sirens, I awoke around 2 a. m. Quite seriously awoke. Awoke enough that getting out of bed was the only cure. The main problem? How in the heck was I going to get through a full demo of this lab in 35 minutes, when the product had an estimated bake time of 20 - 25 minutes? (It's an estimate because when I tried the recipe I made a batch in a cake pan, and not in a cupcake pan. Silly me.) Not to mention the quinoa needed a cooking and setting time of 20 minutes, plus a spin in the blender - and I wasn't quite convinced that I have working blenders.
By morning, with a few more hours of sleep behind me, I came to a sensible solution. Precook the quinoa before class. And choose a VERY sensible assistant chef.
The results of the demo were encouraging - the two day lab should be well timed, and the product will definitely need between 15 and 20 minutes to bake (depending on the peculiarities of the ovens). BUT... by Thursday, each unit should be able to walk out munching on something chocolatey and yummy. Clean up will probably be our major stumbling block... but then the popcorn ball lab proved that you can't predict where your challenges will occur - just that you may as well be prepared for anything ;-)
I literally lost sleep over this one. Last night, after finally falling asleep through the Halloween fireworks and accompanying sirens, I awoke around 2 a. m. Quite seriously awoke. Awoke enough that getting out of bed was the only cure. The main problem? How in the heck was I going to get through a full demo of this lab in 35 minutes, when the product had an estimated bake time of 20 - 25 minutes? (It's an estimate because when I tried the recipe I made a batch in a cake pan, and not in a cupcake pan. Silly me.) Not to mention the quinoa needed a cooking and setting time of 20 minutes, plus a spin in the blender - and I wasn't quite convinced that I have working blenders.
By morning, with a few more hours of sleep behind me, I came to a sensible solution. Precook the quinoa before class. And choose a VERY sensible assistant chef.
The results of the demo were encouraging - the two day lab should be well timed, and the product will definitely need between 15 and 20 minutes to bake (depending on the peculiarities of the ovens). BUT... by Thursday, each unit should be able to walk out munching on something chocolatey and yummy. Clean up will probably be our major stumbling block... but then the popcorn ball lab proved that you can't predict where your challenges will occur - just that you may as well be prepared for anything ;-)
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