Mini Monkey Breads and Staff Breakfasts

So, you may know I am an educator. More specifically, a Language Arts Consultant in a K-2 building. Which means, I am a reading teacher, an interventionist, a staff resource, and data organizer/collector (Prior to this year I also got to do morning announcements and plan fun reading community activities like assemblies). It’s a pretty cool gig. I have told my children that no matter what they chose in this life, they need to love what they do. I figure the average person spends more consistent time in their work space (Pre-Covid, that is) than anywhere else. You might as well LOVE being there and what you do.

And I am just going to put this out there, educators across the world changed how they did things over a weekend. Literally. We were in person one day, and the next day we were virtual and learning platforms and transitioning how we did things ASAP. Amidst a pandemic. With grace, even when overwhelmed. We were one of the many heroes.

Well now we are considered by some to be lazy, and sitting on our couches, and not earning our pay. It’s nice how the world sways.

Yet, every educator I know is busting his/her rear end to get the job done. Whether it be hybrid, in person, asynchronous, remote, the amount of work put into making sure our learners learn is amazing. Whether we are home or in the building, it is getting done. Then add in the multitude of technology being handed out and utilized, breakfasts and lunches feeding families, emotional learning support, and just trying to be more than enough for our students in a time where yes, we are all doing our best to navigate everything from grocery shopping to Facebook posts.

Add in racial injustice of epic proportions and the political landscape that is USA at this point. If our point of view as educators hasn’t been touched and transformed yet…we need to do better.

For one small and quick second I want to talk about what it really looks like in some schools, including my own, right now. I preface this by saying I honestly feel like I work in one of the best districts. Our BOE and Union work together to keep us as safe as possible. I consider myself fortunate.

We are masked. We follow arrows on the hallway floor and we stay socially distanced. This means desks, supplies, everything. We are sanitizing and hand washing and minimizing contact. Breakfasts and lunches are served in classrooms. Recess and mask breaks happen outside, and we follow the rules. While still managing to keep our kiddos engaged and looking forward to a time when things will look differently. (I am done using the word “normal” when it comes to returning back to life. I don’t think we had “normal”).

As a specialist, if I get to be me (we sub a lot at this point), I am isolated in a sense that I am not mingling with staff daily except electronically. I am in the building, but I am not always seen in the building. Which I tell myself is fine, but it isn’t. I understand and fully believe in doing everything to keep everyone safe. I do my job. Like everyone else.

So when I go through the back log of blog posts I haven’t written yet and stumble across these photos, my heart breaks a little. Because, these Monkey Bread Muffins are a Friday Staff Breakfast staple. And they are not being made at all this year.

When I was newly married and a minister’s wife, an old pastor who attended our church during his retirement had a great saying, “If you feed them, they will come.”

This is true in just about everything. School activities. Church activities. Life activities. And our building does Friday Morning Breakfast like nobody’s business. I make a sign up sheet and you can count on one team or another (we do groups of four or five) providing a spread of sweet and savory. Everyone comes to the table. If you have bus duty you get in and out. If you don’t, you pull up a chair. You sit with colleagues who have a different lunch wave than you. You catch up with the faces you don’t normally see. It’s a great way to end the week, and let me tell you, it is a community builder.

In my emails to staff (and they are all signed from BREAKFAST BOSSY PANTS) I have one rule regarding sign ups (and if you don’t and show up to eat I know who you are) IF YOU FILL YOUR PLATE, PARTICIPATE. Somehow, most of the staff who eat, do.

And honestly at this point, 100 days into the school year, I think any of us would not complain about the “takers” just to have a breakfast around the table on a Friday morning.

That’s the gift of this year. We have seen what we need to change, toss, and what we need to keep going forward.

I vote for staff breakfasts once it is safe to return to this type of activity. That’s for darn sure.

If you love the idea of Monkey Bread but don’t necessarily like to commit to the messiness of pulling pieces off the bigger unit, and let’s face it these are the days where individualized anything is better, you need to try these mini versions.

You melt your brown sugar and butter until caramel-like, and fill your muffin tins, then add the pre-coated with cinnamon and sugar biscuit pieces. Bake until golden and bubbly and slightly crispy. Top with cream cheese glaze/frosting of your choice. I usually whip cream cheese, confectioner’s sugar, vanilla, and milk to desired consistency. These are super easy and there are never left overs. As in, never.

I hope you enjoy this recipe and as always, thank you for coming to the table. To my Big Cats, Friday breakfasts aren’t forever gone, just postponed for now. 🙂

Chrissy

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