I'm still smiling!

The last couple of weeks have been really great ones.  Nothing exceptionally big has happened, but I do want to share some of the small things that have made the end of the semester wonderful. 

1.  I have great students.  For the most part, I've had students with really good grades, which makes my job a lot easier.

2.  I have students who will stop by just to say hello - apparently seeing me once a day is not enough.

3.  Monday we had Christmas parties in all of my classes.  I was really on top of things and got to school early Monday morning - early enough that hardly anyone was there.  I had a very heavy box full of soda and puppy chow.  I managed to get it out of my trunk without a lot of fuss, but as I closed my trunk lid and start walking toward the door I was pondering how exactly I was going to get it inside.  I look over and one of my students is running toward the door from across the parking lot to get there ahead of me and holds it open for me to get in.  As I'm walking in, he says - I didn't realize you had that big box until you were started toward the door or I would have carried for you.  How sweet is that!?  Add to this - he's a kid you would never expect that from.  Made my day!

4.  I also handed back pajama pants Monday.  Same kid that opened the door for me asked to go change into his.  He wore them for the rest of the day - proud as could be that he had made them.

5.  I have students that draw me funny pictures of class jokes and write me random notes to say hi when my room is used for after school activities. 

6.  My foods kids are awesome cooks!  They have made some AMAZING dishes this semester!  And they want to take group pictures to remember the class by. 

7.  I finally have even the kids that aren't in foods trained on how to clean up the kitchens when other classes borrow utensils or prepare food in my room.  They even dry out my stainless steel sinks!

8.  I have students volunteer to do things for me - take boxes to the dumpster, clean out nasty tea containers that were randomly left in my room, wash my dishes, etc.

9.  Kids want to change their schedules to take more of my classes.  Two of my classes are doubling in size after Christmas break!

10.  One of my student's gave me a really sweet Christmas gift. 

11.  My student's never fail to make me smile.  They are the reason I love my job!  Don't get me wrong, sometimes they really frustrate me to the point I'm ready to pull my hair out, but they usually make up for it later.

The Magic of Cooking

I am a very happy teacher! I've mentioned earlier about our FCCLA Holiday Bread Sales. This week has been bread week. The mass baking extravaganza. Four different types of bread, 211 loaves, 5 days. We actually started last Friday, and so we finished up today. My 1st and 3rd hour classes did all of the baking, which they of course loved! I have to brag on my classes just a little here. They have been wonderful this week! Monday I had to be gone unexpectedly, but thanks to my very capable substitute, bread week went ahead as planned. I was worried all day about how the bread making would go, but these kids stepped right up and baked 50 loaves of lemon bread in one day! Not only that, but I came back to clean kitchens. It's so nice to know that they have learned something this semester! I have some amazing students this year that make it easy to come to work every morning. That being said, there is also something to be said for cooking.

Cooking can be a very magical experience. It does so much more than give us food to feed our bodies. It also helps feed the soul. Years ago women bonded over a cook stove or around the kitchen table preparing meals. They had to, there wasn't other time to spend together unless you were working at the same time. Cooking has also been the time for parents to pass down life lessons to their children. There is a song by Trace Atkins that fits here well. In the song he describes a father fishing with his daughter, but in reality they are doing much more than just fishing - they are making memories together. Cooking fits into that song as well. I have a lot of fond memories of times I cooked with my mom as I was growing up and even now that I am an adult. I look forward to the day that I can have some of those same memories with my future children. In the meantime, I get to make memories like that with my students at school. There have been so many of these this week! There are far too many memories to share them all here, but there have been many times of laughter and smiles in my foods classes this week. I sincerely hope that they have enjoyed the week and made as many memories as I have. I hope that I will have many more bread weeks in my teaching career, but I'm not sure any of them will be able to top the first.