The Stories...

Being an elementary teacher is a particularly trying experience. It's also particularly rewarding. Over the relatively short period of time that I've spent as a teacher I've cried, laughed and been speechless on so many occasions by the antics that go on in my little world called a classroom. Days later I'll find myself reflecting on a moment with a tear or a smile and telling myself "I really should write this stuff down." As I launch into another year of teaching, I'm sure to add to the collection of stories I already have to record. This profession is a gift. Not everyone can do it and certainly not everyone can enjoy it. But some of us can and some of us do. I can't imagine doing anything else. I'm not the best teacher in the world, I don't have the best ideas or even the most unique. I don't have the fanciest of credentials and I haven't invented anything groundbreaking. But I do have a philosophy about my job and the role it plays in our society and it's on that philosophy that I build each lesson. It's the philosophy that every child has potential and should be approached as if they hold the keys to the success of future generations. I know that not all of them will succeed and most will probably never go beyond ordinary. But do you think when Abraham Lincoln, Nelson Mandela or Barack Obama walked into their first day of grade school that their teacher looked at them and thought, this kid will make history? I doubt they had any idea. But hopefully they looked at them and thought, here is a child, let me strive to empower them to change the world. They did and just maybe it was partly her we can all thank. And so here is my little blog, my ideas, my best and worst moments, my thought process on educating, and how it plays out each day.

Together with my students we have successes and failures. As they say on Law and Order, "These are their stories..."

(all student names have been changed to Jane and Johnny for the privacy and protection of the students and their families)

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

The Official Lunch Box Pet Peeves List

All kinds of families pack all kinds of lunches for their kids. Some kids come with a lunch so wholesome and tasty that it tempts me to try and trade MY lunch for a 5 year old's. Other's I simply don't understand why? Some just downright annoy me.  At times it's clearly just poor nutrition being passed down the family line, other times it's so odd I have to wonder if there really was a superb reason to the insanity packed in that Hello Kitty or Go Diego lunch box.  Either way I can't help but feel a little irritated as I watch the lunch boxes pop open.  Here are a few lunch room pet peeves I have-

Anything that comes in a Cambell's can with the pop off lid.  Yes I wore a white blouse today and yes you sent your kid with a can of Spagetti-O's he can't open. And when I grab that tab and pull that lid, red sauce is going to splatter all over my shirt.  Thanks a lot.

Something that needs to be microwaved....EVERY SINGLE DAY! Do you know how long it takes to microwave an entire classroom of lunches? PB&J people, PB&J!

Soup. Come on, they are 5! Seriously? Soup? And by the way, when you put the soup in the thermos at 6:00 a.m. this morning, the steam caused the lid to vacuum seal as it cooled. So yea, when I finally get it open (permanently damaging my wrist in the process), it's COLD. And a metal thermos can't be microwaved. But did you think to include a bowl? Or a spoon for that matter? Of course not.  

Juice bags. They always poke the straw through the other side, then squeeze sticky juice all over themselves. (Albeit preferable to the juice box missing the straw off the back. How pray tell are they supposed to consume the juice?)

Sugar overload.  The cinnamon bread with the 1/2 inch of nutella along with a side of oreos and a fruit roll up (NOT actually considered a fruit by the way) plus the sugary juice IN A BAG.  Exactly what kind of a day are they wishing on us?

Sending the same thing EVERY DAY.  I'm sick of seeing it, smelling it, and heating it up- so I'm sure the kid is sick of eating it. If they aren't they should be. For the entire school year, pizza bagels was the only thing you could think to purchase from the freezer section? Corn dogs, frozen burritos, tiquitos, hot pockets, chicken nuggets, lean cuisine, frozen PB&J sandwiches, pizza bites, pizza sticks, personal pizzas, pizza pockets, fish sticks, frozen mac & cheese? None of that seemed like an equally reasonable choice to throw into rotation?

And then there is the other extreme...nine billion different little packages of goodies. Oh the selection, the variety, the possibilities, a smorgas board of choices! FYI, it is physically impossible for a five year old to focus on eating if they know existing in their possession is an un-open bag of chips. By the time they finish struggling with all 5 billion types of packaging? Lunch is over.

And holding the top spot on my Lunch Box Pet Peeves list! (drum roooooolllllll) YOGURT IN A TUBE! It's yogurt. In a tube. Enough said.
Posted by at

2 comments:

  1. Lindsay and FamilyApril 19, 2011 at 5:02 PM

    lmao....AMEN girlfriend! However I must disagree with the yogurt in the tube!!! My boy is obsessed with them --- but I did hate when the pre-cut tear here spot wouldn't tear it open and I had to scrounge for scissors! (which are typically lacking in a cafeteria!) Personally I would add the lunchables with candy! Try telling a kid he cannot eat that candy while at school!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownApril 19, 2011 at 7:41 PM

    And of course, one more time Stacy you have filled my evening with laughter thst I so need on a daily basis! Thank you so much for your dry wit, personally I think it is the best kind! I was fortunate enough to have a child blessed with "dry wit" which in turn blessed me with many chuckles over the years, and now that that wit is silient I so appreciate yours!!! LY!Auntie Joy

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)