Mr. Teacher

Breakfast is served! (continued)

by John Pearson


 

Overall, though, I'm not too keen on the switch. For one thing, I've lost 15 minutes of instructional time each day. My kids, loquacious as they are, had gotten pretty good about coming into class and getting started on the morning activity right away. Right now, the transition between breakfast desktop and math desktop has not been a smooth one.

In addition, the breakfast options leave a little something to be desired. Remember Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs from Calvin and Hobbes? Our daily breakfasts come pretty close to that in terms of inducing hyperactivity. Pop tarts, honey rolls, and these pancake-wrapped sausage-on-a-stick thingies are among the menu items I've passed out. I'm thinking individually wrapped sugar packets can't be too far away.

Finally, the potential for spillage disaster is always prevalent. I'm fortunate in that my classroom has a sink and a tile floor. We can dump unfinished milk and juice into the sink before throwing the cartons into the trash bag. I feel for the teachers with no sinks in carpeted rooms.

A few weeks ago, someone threw a half-full chocolate milk carton into the trash bag which then leaked all over my floor. A colleague who visited my room later commented, "I feel like a rap stuck in a glue trap."

I fear that despite the downside, we won't be going back to breakfast in the cafeteria. I can only hope the bigwigs don't decide that they want us to serve lunch in our rooms as well.

I really don't want to have to ladle out nacho cheese so close to my math books.

John Pearson is a third-grade math and science teacher in Dallas, Texas.  He has degrees in mechanical engineering from Duke University and Texas A&M, so most consider his math abilities adequate enough to teach nine-year olds.  He is also the author of Learn Me Good (Lulu, 2006), a funny, fictionalized account of his first year in education.  Read more at www.learnmegood.com


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4 Comments

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Other readers' comments on this article:

  1. Hi Pearson, I picked your article for my class TECA 1311, Educating Young Childre.  I had been in the school system for the last five years as a bilingual aide, so I know what you are talking about.
    My heart "cries" when I see all the food in the waste.... I was born in Ecuador, South America, the most beautiful place to live... if you have money.  I was fortunate to have a Dad, who was a teacher and wrote some official text books, and a mother that did not have to work.  However, we did not waste anything, we eat everything on the plate, your mother as well as mine - will tell us:  acaben TODO, and we did it.

    Posted by Nancy S. Alvarado on Feb 5, 2008 11:28 pm

  2. I can't believe they are wasting educational time on breakfast.  It needs to go back into the cafeteria where it belongs.  Shame on them.  If it is a teacher duty problem, solve that problem.

    Posted by Mystery Teacher on Feb 6, 2008 1:02 pm

  3. Ah the insulated meals.  I actually have to chaperon lunch in the same manner.  Our minions, oops!...I meant students!... are sent down to the first floor and made to carry up those insulated bags to the 5th floor (no stairs in NYC) to have lunch.  The stairwells are littered with garbage.  The hallways reek of pizza.  Hundreds of pounds of food are thrown away because quite frankly nobody is EVER going to eat the spinach or 3-bean-salad when it's mass produced and has to be served up by the likes of moi.  I've often taken home bags of fruit and veggies to eat at home or give to neighbors.

    Posted by Miss Seora on Feb 8, 2008 10:15 pm

  4. While I sure wish when I was a kid that I had the sugary deliciousness your kids get, I remember being server what sort of resembled scrambled eggs (powdered I can only guess), toast, pancakes (if we were lucky enough to come early to get them), fruit, and the occasional sugary cereal (again if we were lucky enough to beat the other kids to it). I have to say though, the school would never allow food to be served in the classrooms (unless special pizza parties were awarded for winning a recycling contest or something of the sort) for they feared the monstrous south Florida bugs would invade their classrooms. To be asked to server food in the classroom seems just silly, like you said, you lose 15 min of what should be educational time. To some 15 min isn't a lot, but at 15 minutes up for each school day and sure does. Not to mention the time it takes if there is a spill or if kids are particularly hyped up on sugar and need to fall back into a zombie like state also known as a sugar comma.

    Posted by Jessica on Jul 17, 2008 10:51 am



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