The Antics of the Yellow Kitchen

The yellow kitchen is neatly tucked in the back of my classroom.  It's one of my favorites because of it's color.  It also gets to claim the home of the spice cabinet, the garbage disposal, and the newest stove.  Because of this, I'm not sure why it feels the need to act up.  Maybe it's because it has the least amount of counter space, or up until February because it had the oldest stove.  Regardless, the yellow kitchen has developed quite a name for itself. 

It started back around October.  The seniors had been cooking taco meat for their lunch fundraiser and we were pouring cooled grease down the disposal.  A couple days after this, an unpleasant odor starts coming from the yellow kitchen.  My first thought was a dead mouse.  Unfortunately the problem wasn't that simple.  The garbage disposal had a crack all the way down the side and had spewed hamburger grease all over the cabinet under the sink.  It was very disgusting.  And thankfully our wonderful day maintenance man cleaned it up for me while I taught class.  (I cannot sing his praises enough!)  So the yellow kitchen receives a new garbage disposal. 

Everything seemed to be going well, until the beginning of this semester.  We were getting ready to do some serious cooking in Orientation and needed all 5 kitchens, so our maintenance man goes about turning on the gas and checking for leaks.  He's checking the stove in the yellow kitchen and all goes well until he gets ready to light the last burner.  Suddenly there's an explosion of fire at the back of the room.  I'm not exaggerating here.  I was standing at the front of my room discussing lab options with "my boys" and felt the heat from it.  As it turns out, the pipe that feeds the burner in question has been broken and leaks gas out all the time.  So my amazing administrator magically comes up with the funds for a new stove for yellow kitchen. 

At this point, I'm thrilled.  I have a new garbage disposal and a new stove.  We are good to go!  Well apparently the yellow kitchen is not happy yet.  I haven't figured out why it feels unloved, but apparently it does.  During one of our last labs in Orientation, the stove starts smoking.  (This is mainly because of human error, but still)  To make a long story short, moral of the story - it is possible to use to much cooking spray.  But on top of that, we can't leave the gas on all the time yet, because there is still a strong odor of natural gas coming from the yellow kitchen.  I don't know what it will take to end these antics, but I've had enough of it!

Quote of the Day

"Ms. Miller, you're gonna miss us next year."

I can't tell you how many times I've heard that from my seniors Friday and today.  And I can't deny it.  I am going to miss them next year.  A lot.  And some people will think I'm crazy because of it.  Maybe I am, but I embrace it. 

My students already think I'm crazy.  After all, I expect them to do their homework, I save seemingly EVERYTHING in foods class, I won't let them sit on the counters, and I expect perfection in clean up.  I also dance in the hallway and at prom, and won't let them set me up with one of the construction workers.  (I know, I'm practically insane!)

It's part of life, a very fun part at times.  Frankly, I think you have to be at least a little crazy to be a teacher.  Most kids can't wait to get out of high school to make a mark on the world.  And what do teachers do?  We make a running sprint back to it to spend the rest of our lives in high school.  Crazy right?

Looking Back & Moving Forward

(This was intended for last week, but got lost in the files of my computer before I could post it)

So many things have changed since the beginning of the year.  In August I was scared to death and so excited to have my own classroom.  I had tons of ideas and lots of fresh hope for things to come and plans – BIG plans.  The first day of teacher meetings, I nearly cried when I saw how small my classes were.  I’m talking small, one student, two students, four students.  Yes, I actually had a class that was one student.  The first day of school arrives and I meet my new students for the first time.  After meeting my small classes, I did go home and cry.  I had two classes of only one student.  My plans were falling apart before the year even started!  Thankfully one class doubled in size.  (Yes it’s still just two, but doubled makes it sound impressive.) and the other quadrupled.  I went home on cloud nine that day, but still wondering how I was going to handle one of them. 

Now as the year ends, I realize that God knew exactly what He was doing.  I needed those small classes to maintain my sanity.  It’s been a wonderful year and a stressful year.  Some things have worked wonderfully, others, not so much.  There are things to change and more BIG ideas for next year.  I’ve learned to choose everyday to believe in my students.  I’ve made some great new friends in my co-workers, and forged some good relationships with my students.  We’ve learned a lot this year and made the school smell wonderful along the way.  And those small classes?  Those are the ones I’m going to miss the most.  I have a week left with my seniors, and it makes me a little sad to see them go.  (And now that I’ve written this, they’ll do something next week to make me happy they’re gone.)  I’m not going to be sad though.  We’re going to celebrate next week!  They’ve survived four years of high school, and I’ve survived my first year of teaching.  Sounds like a reason to celebrate to me!

Taming the Savage Beast

Not that I would ever call any of my students savage beasts, but the analogy works well.  In two of my classes, we are working on designing bedrooms in shoeboxes.  Students have two weeks to work on their designs so we have plenty of class time to try to stay quiet.  We had encountered this problem when we had our sewing unit too.  So what is the answer?  Music. 

It’s the most amazing thing.  As soon as I turn on Pandora the mood of the room changes.  They get quiet, they concentrate better, and they seem to get more accomplished.   And it doesn’t seem to matter what type of music I play.  Anything works!

Of course I realize, I could make them be quiet without music, but playing music helps maintain my own sanity as well.  Some days I need to calm my own inner savage beast.  And if two periods of music isn’t enough to calm me, this thought is – it’s May!  And there are only 17 days of school left!  Holy cow!  Where has this year gone?