Packing It Up, Turning off the Lights on Another Year

I have ended up this school year weary and worn, not sure why, but tired nonetheless. Yesterday I finally took down a bulletin board, removed the student's housing displays from the space above the top cabinets and emptied the top of my desk -- putting the most of it in files or trashcan. My eyes fell on the posters I've made of their senior pictures from the past nine years. There were two graduation invitations -- one from a developmentally challenged student and one from a former student who was graduating from college. It was the message in their cards that lingered in my thoughts.

I keep all the cards and notes. A minister's wife said one time -- "Save the notes you don't get many when you're past fifty. I guess the same holds true with teachers. Our daughter teaches elementary and has gotten many gifts from students over the years. I've had my share of nice mementos when I taught the younger classes, but when you teach juniors and seniors the gifts they give-- come not from the parents shopping, but from their own pen.

I have about 240 different students in a year and I have to say remembering names is a lot like the Hallmark commercial of the old professor packing it up and the student comes by with a card and thanks him for his instruction -- he finally is able to remember her name and calls her by it, even telling her where she sat in his class by the time she walks out the door.

When my students come back to visit, I always pray, "Lord, help me with that name." Now I don't always remember their names, but their life stories stick with me and several notes they've written come to mind --

It's always something like,
>"I loved your class because we got to cook and have hot chocolate" or
>"This class finally got good when you let us in the cooking lab" or
>"I know I drove you crazy, but thanks for always putting up with me".
>One guy this year wrote"You were always so quick with the comeback when I challenged everything you said" (which was daily).
>"I'm looking forward to you and Mrs. M going on the road with your cooking show" (we used to tease them and say we came as a matched set and planned to hit the road in a Winnebago during retirement and do TV spots.) He went on to say, "You two are inseparable, like ham and cheese". (I guess they always think food when they think of us).
>Another young man said, "I'm not going to lie, at first I didn't take your class seriously. . . but towards the end I did, though you probably don't believe me."
>Several years ago one girl wrote "I've never seen anybody be so passionate about fruits and vegetables, but you were ALWAYS excited about EVERYTHING".
>One girl recently said of me and my co-worker, "I wouldn't have made it, if it weren't for you two." (That student was high maintenance and did take a lot of prayer, I admit.)
>One note I'll never forget was from a young woman who said "You showed me I don't have to get married right out of high school but can still pursue my dream of being a veteranarian, and that there will still be guys left to marry."
>One that keeps me energized, was from a former student who said, "You were always in a good mood." (She had my class early in the day -- lucky for her.Lord, keep me smiling even through 6th period.) She went on to say I had inspired her to go into culinary arts. All teachers really want, is to know we've done our job to the best of our abilities and that we connected on some level with our students, hoping they will go out of our classroom to become responsible parents, partners and citzens in the community. Teaching is what I enjoy and I tell my students each year I'm working my dream job -- However, this teacher is ready for a little R & R to refuel, read, renew so I'll have something to give 'em next year.

Lab Lessons

I have held labs for 125 students all week - shopping for $500 worth of groceries -- I'm worn out with labs -- and have one more week to go. We go to the grocery store before this final lab to explore unit pricing and making decisions on a budget. The students love lab experiences and they seem to apply themselves more to the other assignments I give, knowing they'll get their time in the lab to prove their culinary genius.

So many times I have to ask my students when the prepared product fell short of the picture in the cookbook - What did we learn from this?  

Essentially, labs in food prep prepare them to be pretty good cooks at the end of six weeks -- well not chef status -- but at least sous chef.
 
Though we do various activities to illustrate concepts - like creating mock families, building their own "house" out of craft objects, holding a mock wedding and managing a mock budget --I have often thought how valuable it would be to be able to create labs for some of the other life situations they might have to face -- relationship break-ups,  financial bail-outs when they have ruined their credit, facing serious illness or picking themselves up when they have given into something more powerful than they realized.

I started my life skills course by saying -- I want you to not just SURVIVE - but THRIVE! I tell them they are on the front porch of the rest of their lives and I don't want them to live SCARED -- but SMART. When they make a mistake in lab -- I often ask, "and what did you learn from THAT?" My seniors will be graduating soon.-- I hope I have them well prepared --I guess the question I should ask myself now about my course instruction is and "And what did they learn from THIS?"