A Teacher’s Vacation

What does a teacher do in the last days of a vacation?  As little as possible.  However after several days of illness (bad cold, fever, dizzy on standing), this teacher felt well enough today to start feeling stir crazy.  Stir crazy doesn’t equal stamina though, and that pesky fever indicates I’m probably still contagious.  I really don’t dislike anyone enough to share this. So how to entertain my exhausted body and my busy mind?  I did what every teacher does.  I thought of the kids.

Task One – Online planning of math for the next two months.  Yes that leaves the prep, and yes it is subject to change, but the outline is done.  In fact I took the time to look at math for the rest of the year.  An important realization from that process; I love the program we are using, but we will never have time to get through it all by the end of the year.  This means I have some very carefully considered decisions to make.  Sorry my darling kiddos, that means I get to “spy on you” even more closely than usual.

Task Two – Let’s consider Valentines Day.  (Yes, every teacher thinks about six weeks from now, actually farther out than that but we’ll go with 6 weeks.) What is a teacher to do?  Sweet treats don’t work when one kiddo is pre-diabetic (yes, at age 6, hurts my heart to think of her forever battle).  Store-bought valentines are nice but not too personal.  What can I make for the cuties?

After a long nap (even thinking is exhausting) I remembered the crayons I’ve been hoarding and a project I haven’t done in several years.  So, crayon hearts it is!

First – Find the silicone molds.

Next – Find the crayons I peeled last month.  (Don’t ask, first grade teachers save and peel crayons, it is just something we do.) I peeled a couple more for this project.  (Yes, I know.)

Next – Sort them by color and smash them up a bit.  (OK, truthfully, I sort them as I peel them, I know it is a sign of a sick mind. Ha!)

Then – Fill the molds.  I like to use three or four colors, and for some reason I really like the hearts with a little white.

Now – Put the filled molds on a cookie sheet and into a 250 degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes.

Finally – Let them cool completely before popping them out of the trays.  This took about 30 minutes.

There you have it!  Beautiful crayon hearts for some of my favorite small humans on the planet!

As I said my friends, what does a teacher do in the last days of vacation?  The same thing they do every single day.  Think about the kids.