I wish I could say I was flexible. The truth is, sudden changes get me flustered. Sometimes I even get stuck- I completely freeze up. I cope with change by planning- planning for what I want to see happen, planning for every possible contingency, checking and rechecking supplies. My hope is that when sudden change happens, I have the plans and tools I need to move forward.
I had the best of intentions today, but I can't say I was prepared this time.
We’re on camp schedule this week, and this morning I had no sixth grade classes assigned. Our special needs classes usually send a few kids to join our sixth graders, but they aren’t in the camp rotation. My big idea? I wanted to do an activity just for this group of students. I recruited the art and computer teachers, and we planned to make Rice Krispy Treat Apples and to make apple prints. We would have all of our students together (total of 9) in my lab.
I put a supply list together earlier, and we each gathered part of the list. I forgot to include a knife for the apples, a large pot to heat the marshmallows (remembered the hot plate!), and a spoon for mixing. This meant we had some extra scrambling to do as our guests were arriving.
Putting aprons on everyone and getting hands washed was quite an endeavor. There’s definitely a reason this group of 9 kids had 4 teachers, 4 teacher’s aides, and student teacher/observer all involved in this!
I melted butter as our students measured the cereal and added the marshmallows. Then the crazy part happened- the marshmallows wouldn’t melt. They became foamy, but not melted. They soon looked like a rubbery, brain-like mass. The project wasn’t working, and our kids were now playing with Legos to fill their wait time (sitting still as 3 minutes turns into 15 just isn’t an option!) Our art teacher also began the apple print activity which was looking to be the only fall apple activity we would get to do after all.
To say I was overwhelmed at this point would be pretty accurate. Add to that my throbbing knee and lack of sleep because I stayed up late preparing soup for a potluck I put on the wrong day... So many changes attacking me all at once!
In a last ditch effort to save our marshmallow mass (or maybe to see just how bad we could get it) we added the Jell-o powder (to turn our concoction red) and the rest of the stick of butter (5 tablespoons more than the recipe called for). The color wouldn’t mix in evenly at all. We dumped the cereal in. We have nothing to lose at this point. After a bit of stirring, it actually forms a mass that does look normal- except for the bright red color, but we were going for that look.
We quickly formed balls and place them on wax paper. We had enough for each student to have two “apples.” We gathered most of our group back to the assembly area. Some were still painting and joined us later. It took some coaxing to get them to push their finger into the ball to make an indentation for the Tootsie Roll “stem,” but eventually it worked out for everyone! One of our girls even tried to add more than one stem to her apple, as she really liked the Tootsie Rolls. Our computer teacher helped pipe on a green frosting “leaf,” and our treats were finished. (…and to think, we were only 30 minutes past what we said we would need!)
As I said earlier- I had the best of intentions. It just didn't turn out quite as I expected. I can only hope that no one else felt as frazzled as I did at the end of the day.
At least clean-up was pretty simple. We did remember to cover tables with butcher paper, so all the paint, apple parts, and marshmallow-sticky-stuff rolled up nicely to be thrown away.
I stopped by the group’s classroom at lunch time. The kids were having a great time eating their treats, oblivious to the craziness involved in making them. They also have some pretty cool artwork to bring home once the paint has dried completely.
To the art and computer teachers: Thank you for letting me steamroll you into this. I could not have pulled this off without you! Ready to go again in 2 week?
To the FALS teachers and aides: Thank you for sharing your students with me, for putting up with schedule and room changes, for your patience with my efforts, and for laughing me through the rough parts. You are truly amazing in your work with these special kids! You really know how to see kids with God's eyes. I hope to do better next time, and be less of a burden on you.
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