It's all about Donuts!

The last time I went into a third grade class to teach I was speechless….children put cardboard in their ears and noses. They were using chairs similar to the way bullfighters use their capes. I was there to teach the difference between unit and mass production and they would have none of it.


The Junior Achievement Kit provided paper donuts and stickers so the children could make paper donuts using both mass and unit production methods. But, the children couldn’t move past the fact that they had never tasted a donut. To make matters worse the teacher was absent and I was left alone with the class. After a half hour, I gave up; called it a day and left defeated. The children were left unsupervised.


This time was different. I've been planning this lesson since I visited home in December. I was prepared and armed…armed with little packages of donuts that I carefully wrapped and brought back from California. These tasty treats would be distributed if and when the lesson was finished and they behaved accordingly. And, the teacher was there to ensure that they wouldn’t treat their chairs like bullfighting capes. That always helps.


The lesson lasted one hour. Each time a child finished a donut, it was held up for my inspection. Each time, I expressed excitement, “Oh, look class; the perfect donut.” Or, “Look this one is colored purple! It must taste like Goofy Grape!” It was fun. It was a success! I’ve redeemed myself as an educator and I can once again hold my head high.