I don't post a whole lot, but I sure learn a lot from all your posts! I thought I would share what happened today...
I teach middle schoolers who have emotional issues. They're good kids but have a hard time just functioning. So we had a "social skills" class today on handling anger. There were a half dozen kids. I brought in my pressure canner and gave a very brief history of canning and what it was. These kids had never seen or had homemade ANYTHING in their lives. They did like the part where I explained that tin cans were invented in the early 1800s, but they didn't invent the CAN OPENER until 30 years later!
Anyway, the point of the lesson was to discuss how such a tiny amount of water boiling in the bottom can create enough steam that it can explode the canner, even all that thick metal. (It was mostly boys- anything about explosions interests them!) I explained about how the tiny piece of rubber in the lid was a safety valve and could prevent such catastrophes. Then I compared it to the kids, how anger can build and build, and if you don't have a safe way of getting rid of it, it will explode out of your control.
The kids got the idea and we had some fun discussion, But I had brought a can of pineapple that I had canned a year ago, and that REALLY amazed them! They could not believe it was still "good" after a year. I explained about germs and seals and all that. Finally, my one girl said she wouldn't believe it unless she could taste it.
So I managed to get the seal off and gave them each a plastic spoon to taste a chunk. They were amazed and delighted and kept saying how amazingly fresh it was, so much better than "normal" canned pineapple. I don't think they had ever had fresh pineapple in their lives.
And then later at lunch, my girl student got into a huge fistfight with her best friend. I wasn't there, but she came into my room completely out of control. She knows my room is a "safe" room, so she came there without being told, and fortunately she was the only one in my room at the time (It was my lunchtime). So she picks up several chairs and throws them across the room, screaming in fury. I just let her get it out for a few minutes. I had left the pressure canner on the floor in the front of the room. She saw it, and froze for a minute with a chair in her hands. She set down the chair and just looked at it for a minute. Then she went to the corner of the room where we have a "chill out" area, and sat down to cool off. She was an angel for the rest of the day.
It's so sad that these (and most kids nowadays) know absolutely nothing about being self sufficient. They think everything they buy comes from a magic place called Made in China. All it took was a few minutes and they were so excited about the whole process. They even asked if I could can things for them if they brought them in! And I guess the lesson made a difference and helped to calm down an out-of-control child. I always knew canning was a great invention!
I teach middle schoolers who have emotional issues. They're good kids but have a hard time just functioning. So we had a "social skills" class today on handling anger. There were a half dozen kids. I brought in my pressure canner and gave a very brief history of canning and what it was. These kids had never seen or had homemade ANYTHING in their lives. They did like the part where I explained that tin cans were invented in the early 1800s, but they didn't invent the CAN OPENER until 30 years later!
Anyway, the point of the lesson was to discuss how such a tiny amount of water boiling in the bottom can create enough steam that it can explode the canner, even all that thick metal. (It was mostly boys- anything about explosions interests them!) I explained about how the tiny piece of rubber in the lid was a safety valve and could prevent such catastrophes. Then I compared it to the kids, how anger can build and build, and if you don't have a safe way of getting rid of it, it will explode out of your control.
The kids got the idea and we had some fun discussion, But I had brought a can of pineapple that I had canned a year ago, and that REALLY amazed them! They could not believe it was still "good" after a year. I explained about germs and seals and all that. Finally, my one girl said she wouldn't believe it unless she could taste it.
So I managed to get the seal off and gave them each a plastic spoon to taste a chunk. They were amazed and delighted and kept saying how amazingly fresh it was, so much better than "normal" canned pineapple. I don't think they had ever had fresh pineapple in their lives.
And then later at lunch, my girl student got into a huge fistfight with her best friend. I wasn't there, but she came into my room completely out of control. She knows my room is a "safe" room, so she came there without being told, and fortunately she was the only one in my room at the time (It was my lunchtime). So she picks up several chairs and throws them across the room, screaming in fury. I just let her get it out for a few minutes. I had left the pressure canner on the floor in the front of the room. She saw it, and froze for a minute with a chair in her hands. She set down the chair and just looked at it for a minute. Then she went to the corner of the room where we have a "chill out" area, and sat down to cool off. She was an angel for the rest of the day.
It's so sad that these (and most kids nowadays) know absolutely nothing about being self sufficient. They think everything they buy comes from a magic place called Made in China. All it took was a few minutes and they were so excited about the whole process. They even asked if I could can things for them if they brought them in! And I guess the lesson made a difference and helped to calm down an out-of-control child. I always knew canning was a great invention!
