Understanding Autoresponder And Function: Halloween Hungover????

I hope all of you had a fabulous Halloween yesterday. And I hope that your classroom isn't suffering from the Sugar Hangover too badly! Somthing happened today in our classroom that really started me thinking...so I decided to share, and I'd love to hear what your thoughts are about this...

I have really mixed feelings about this issues around Nut allergies. As a parent whose child is NOT allergic to nuts, I somtimes resent the fact that when I am packing his lunch, I need to steer away from things he loves (like peanut butter) and find nut-free alternatives, as there is a child in his class who has a severe nut allergy.

However, as a teacher, I often work with children who have severe nut allergies. So I am aware of the consequences that a reaction can have. And I am careful to keep my classroom nut-free.

This morning, one of my students came to me with his Halloween candy. I mean, ALL of his Halloween candy. He wanted to share it with the class. It was full of chocolate that contains nuts. What would you do??? I decided that I would throw it all out. This might seem very severe, but I could not let him keep it in his backpack. There was sooooo much of it, that I was worried about the allergic child reacting to the smell (I've seen this happen, so it's not a myth). I couldn't keep behind my desk as the children often come up to my desk for help, and the allergic child could be exposed. So where else was I supposed to put it???

I teach in an inner city community where most of my students do not speak English at home. It's very difficult to get the message across about nuts, especially when there are cultures that use a lot of nuts and nut oils in their cooking. It's not like I could call home and tell the parents that they needed to come and pick up their child's Halloween candy. Finding an interpreter is not easy. Most of the parents in my school speak some English, but I knew that this child's parents did not speak it well enough for me to communicate over the phone. So I threw the candy out.

Fortunately, the child who brought the candy, understands English well enough that I could explain to him that I was going to make sure that he got more candy to take home. He didn't seem too upset about it, but you never know if some kids are simply putting on a brave face. My plan is to run down to the drug store at lunch and hopefully find some candy on sale.

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Anyway, on to a happier topic. I hope you all enjoyed your Halloween last night. If you have small children, I hope that they are recovering from the sugar overdose from yesterday. (I know that mine are) Here are some photos from my neighbourhood last night.

Does anyone know how to make one of these???? My neighbour told me that she bought it at a craft fair.