Are You Serving Turkey? - Thanksgiving

On Thursday, millions of people will sit down to a large dinner of sweet potatoes, turkey, assorted vegetables, turkey, cranberries, turkey, dressing, turkey, rolls, turkey, pumpkin pie,  and more turkey.  How did the consumption of turkey get to be such a staple of Thanksgiving dinners?  I don’t know. I do know that the Swanson Company invented TV dinners in 1953 because they had such a surplus of turkey meat, that to avoid financial ruin, they put the turkey in aluminum pans, added some taters and a veggie and viola – the first TV dinners.   Turkey contains an amino acid called tryptophan. Tryptophan is a natural sedative and many believe this is what causes you to be sleepy after eating that meal on Thanksgiving.  What is more likely the cause of sleepiness is not just the tryptophan, but the enormity of the meal itself.  With a full belly of multiple food items consisting of fats and carbohydrates, blood rushes to your core and away from your extremities, thus making you listless.  And that, boys and girls, is why Uncle Joe falls asleep on the couch while watching the NFL game. 

What are you serving in your classroom?  Is it a “Yawn Fest” where the staples are heavy doses of boring lectures with a side of non-relevant examples?  Look at your students during your next class.  Is there a blank stare on their faces?  Do they have all of the energy of a garden slug? If so, you may be serving too many “turkeys” in your lessons.  Are you “spicing” your lessons with enthusiasm?  Are you stimulating your students to explore? Are you sparking their curiosity?  Are you leaving them thirsty for more?  Are you engaging them every day? One of the best ways to get students excited about learning is for their teacher to be excited about learning theirself. Are you creating a ripple effect on enthusiasm?  Are the kids running to get to your class because they don’t want to miss anything? The lifeless should not be teachers. Are you bringing life to our classroom? Are you teaching with passion? Are you rubbing off on your students in a good way? Have you been accused of drinking too much coffee? Are you full of vigor and vitality? These are all signs of a teacher that is not serving heavy doses of educational turkey.  Does your classroom resemble the family room after Thanksgiving dinner or is it a high-energy place?  The serving of  turkey-laden lessons is banned from our classrooms.

The Browns play on Monday night against the unloved Ratbirds of Baltimore.  Can you believe it – the Browns on Monday night?!