The Applesauce Must Go On!

There are so many good reasons why I should have stayed home the past two days.

1. I am a bad role model. I should not teach cooking labs when I am sick.
2. My classes are noisy, and that much noise on a stuffed up head is very unpleasant.
3. Now, I'm really tired, and it will take me that much longer to get better.

Oh well. I had one good reason why I chose to come to work with a rotten cold.

1. The 6/7s are making applesauce.

Yesterday, one class was cooking, and another was prepping. Today, the final class was cooking. I don't feel comfortable leaving cooking labs for guest teachers, unless we can discuss in advance and ensure that they can and want to deal with it. While I have no doubts that a certain Guest can indeed handle anything and everything that comes up, would she choose that harrowing experience, or would she rather pick up another on-call job? Yeah, I don't blame her either. (I told the kids that Ms. T. could handle the job, but she might not be my friend afterwards. They think that's funny, but they nod, sagely.)

Since this lab involves grade 6/7 student handling knives for the first time, and boiling pots of apples and sugar, I decided to just deal with it.

Good thing! Another teacher in my school was away, and no teacher was sent to replace her. The principal and vice principal covered her class. I probably wouldn't have been replaced either. Yikes!

The kids are actually quite nervous about the knife skills lab. We go over knife handling and safety (especially around dishwashing - and some classes did hear about the time my little brother put the just-sharpened knife in the sink without telling me, and I got cut AND I got in trouble for swearing at him!)

I'm more concerned about the cooking part. Six stoves, each with a boiling pot, and 25 kids who bounce around like Tigger. Anyone who cannot behave sensibly gets sent to the hallway to compose themselves. If they calm down sufficiently, they can come back. (Everybody does - No One wants to miss a cooking lab!)

So... Applesauce lab successfully completed. One injury - not related to either knives or boiling pots (she slipped on the floor during clean up, and bashed her leg on the table, poor thing). The rest of the classes were content to watch Bill Nye the "don't bug the teacher, she's sick and lost her voice" Guy. I love you, Bill. Never change :-)