“Make sure you’re working on your math while you eat.”

Working snack.

An entirely new concept to a second grader.

This week’s quote comes from my second graders. In second grade, the students begin what we call a working snack. It’s as simple as it sounds. Whereas in kindergarten and first grade the students take a break to eat a snack, in second grade, they eat while they work.

For some students, this concept of multitasking is brand new and they can’t seem to wrap their heads around it. As this concept is so new, we ask that the kids bring easy to eat, healthy snacks, something like Goldfish, grapes, or pretzels.

Checking all of those boxes can be challenging for a busy parent trying to quickly pack their child’s snack. One student in particular takes the idea of a healthy snack to a whole new level.

About a month ago, I was doing my laps, going around and answering questions while the students were working on problem solving when I noticed a student with a small metal pot. Not Tupperware, a pot. It was filled with corn that had been pre cut off of the cob.

Now that was a first, but it gets better.

On Friday, she brought the corn back… but in a new form.

The girl was sitting at her desk, attempting to work on her problem solving while she huddled over a gallon sized freezer bag containing two corn cobs. She was eating the corn straight off of the cob in the middle of class.

I mean, it was certainly a healthy snack, but maybe not a clean, easy to eat one. Honestly, you can’t win them all every time. That’s just how it is.