Cartoon of a boy and a teacher. The student says, “You’re goofy, Mr. Schmeltzer! I like that in a teacher.”
Teaching Goofy
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Tag Archives: school
Student of Doom
Cartoon of a boy and a teacher. The student says, “I think you are giving me bad grades merely because I am a prophet of doom.”
Testing those Props
Cartoon of a mom and her son. The son has a dirty face. The mom says, "Something tells me you enjoyed this morning's class."
The other day, I had a great lesson in testing all your props before presenting a lesson.
The monthly theme in my class has been grace. The classroom has been decorated like a candy shop and the opening activities have used sweets as props. This is part of the curriculum at http://whatisorange.org/252basics/
Last week’s lesson called for inviting kids to come up and “test” candy for the rest of the class. The samples included some pretzel M & M’s, gummi candy and Pop Rocks candy.
I went over the precautions. One thing I wanted to remember was to choose children that did not have food allergies. As the father of a peanut allergy sufferer, I didn’t want to put a family in the panic our family has felt in the past. I also wanted to be sure we had enough candy for the class and the kids could sample them without putting their hands into the bag and spreading germs. (My wife says I’m much more responsible than I used to be!)
I had my samples ready to go. I had sample cups for the candy and I decided to pour the sweets into them. Everything was fine with the chocolate and gummi candy. I should have suspected something when the carbonated candy was in individual packets. After all, what causes the candy to pop?
I poured it anyway then went about the business of making sure the room was ready for the students. When I returned a few minutes later, something told me I should recheck the candy. That was when I discovered the Pop Rocks candy had fused together in the bottom of the cup. Of course! The candy reacts to moisture!
I tried to get the candy out of the cup by tapping on the bottom of the cup. Big mistake! The candy exploded all over my shirt. Now I was REALLy in character. The kids got a kick out of the fact I was not only eating the candy, but wearing it. The pink Pop Rocks blended so well with my navy blue shirt!
Luckily, I had enough candy to go to plan B. When it was time for the activity, I had the kids close their eyes, I opened the packets and poured the candy into their hands.
I learned whether you are a guest speaker, or are teaching kids, be sure you test your props before the actual event. Weather and location can be a factor. The candy could be less likely to fuse on a February day than a humid August morning. Even if the curriculum looks complete, there is always room for a surprise or two!
New Bored Record
Cartoon of two boys watching TV. One boy says,”We’ve been on summer break for five minutes. I’m bored.”
I’ll get back to the tutorial soon, but I just had to add another cartoon to the mix. It’s just now summer break for kids in my area. I remember the days when I was bored out of my skull during the first few days of summer break. After all, there were only three or four channels to watch. We have more channels today, but the kids still have to suffer with nothing good to watch on TV. Come to think of if, when WAS there something good to watch of TV?
Grad Fashion
I’m taking a short break from the tutorials to catch my breath. My son graduated from high school this last Sunday. It’s been crazy, to say the least. We’ve been driving all around the countryside to celebrate at open houses. Indiana and Ohio roads have become quite acquainted with us.
I drew this sketch when I thought of how silly caps and gowns look to kids. Isn’t that the way things work? At one time, a cap and gown look so dignified. And I would say even today, if you know what they represent, they look dignified. But to a child, or someone who is comfortable with the extremes of casual fashion, they can feel quite silly.
Graduation is a time we celebrate accomplishment and the next step in a person’s journey. Like those cap and gowns, it can feel uncomfortable, even silly as we take the next phase of life’s journey. Can anyone remember the first day of school? It wasn’t a relaxed, comfortable day for me! Yes, I felt silly and awkward. How about your first date? First kiss? How about the first time you held a paying job? They can all be awkward, silly feeling times.
That’s why feelings betray us. We need to strive to make it through those clumsy times, knowing there is a goal we are striving to reach. I smile when someone says they don’t want to try something because it doesn’t feel right. When I hear that, I try to remember ANY time, I felt comfortable trying something new.
So here’s my graduation speech for the class of 2011: When you go out to the real world, you may feel wobbly, like a newborn animal. You may wonder if what you’re aiming for is right because it just isn’t coming easy. Hold on! If you have a God-given dream to do something, know it may not come easy, it may feel weird at first, but pursue it anyway. Once you get pass the awkwardness, you can toss your cap in the air and graduate to the next level in your life.
Congratulations, class of 2011! (And congratulations, Garrett!)
