# Handout 06.16: Cook Day Duty List and Pre-Flight Check

Station: ______ Dish: ____________________ Day: 1 / 2 Date: __________

Lesson 6.16, both days. Page 1 is the pre-flight check. Page 2 is the student duty strips (cut apart, one per student, pocket size). Page 3 is the two-things-that-go-wrong card (one per station, posted). Page 4 is the station check sheet. Page 5 is the teacher's own minute-by-minute duty list (teacher copy only). Page 6 is teacher notes.

* * *

# Page 1. The Pre-Flight Check

Twelve items. Items 1 to 8 are the teacher's, done before the bell. Items 9 to 12 are called out loud in the first four minutes.

| # | Pre-flight item | Who | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Allergy list posted at the front and at all four stations | Teacher | |
| 2 | Station bins portioned and on the right counters, nothing missing against the station cards | Teacher | |
| 3 | Station cards and poster flowcharts taped at eye level at each station | Teacher | |
| 4 | Class master flowchart on the wall with the red collision fixes visible | Teacher | |
| 5 | Pots filled with hot water and covered, burners on, oven preheating | Teacher | |
| 6 | 30 plates, forks, napkins, cups, water, serving spoons, two trivets on the serving table | Teacher (Day 1), service station (Day 2) | |
| 7 | Two thermometers out, oven mitts at every station, sanitizing spray and cloths at every station | Teacher | |
| 8 | Clipboard: four Rubric 01 grids, four station check sheets, the teacher duty list | Teacher | |
| 9 | **Allergy list read aloud at each station. Anyone with an allergen in today's dishes raises a hand NOW, not at the serving table** | Station Managers | |
| 10 | **The six-step sanitation routine: hair back, sleeves up, wash hands, sanitize surfaces, clean as you go, station check before dismissal** | Every student | |
| 11 | **Critical path step confirmed running.** "Station 1, is the water on? Station 2, is the oven at 400?" | Station Managers | |
| 12 | **Every student has read their duty strip line aloud to a teammate** | Every student | |

**Our critical path step is running: YES / NO. If NO, what we are doing about it: ______________________**

**The teacher says one thing when pre-flight is done: "Your plan is on the wall. In thirty-six minutes we eat. Go."**

* * *

# Page 2. Student Duty Strips (cut apart, one per student, keep it in your pocket)

Write your name, your role, and where you stand. Fill the four blocks from your station's flowchart.

## STRIP: STATION MANAGER

Name: ______________ Station: ______ **Where I stand: at the card, facing the burner**

| Block | What I do |
|---|---|
| 0 to 10 | Read the allergy list aloud. Run pre-flight items 9 to 12. Confirm the critical path is running |
| 10 to 25 | **Call the critical path at minute 10.** Read the card aloud when the team stalls. Call the teacher at our teacher-call minute |
| 25 to 34 | **Read the allergen box aloud to the class before the first plate.** Keep the serve order: class, teammates, us |
| 34 to 40 | Run the four clean zones. Bring the station check sheet for a signature |

**My one line to remember:** the clock is not negotiable, the presentation is.

## STRIP: HEAD COOK

Name: ______________ Station: ______ **Where I stand: at the burner or the oven**

| Block | What I do |
|---|---|
| 0 to 10 | Start the critical path step first, before anything else. Water on, oven on, or beans on |
| 10 to 25 | Run the cooking steps off the card in order. Never open the oven; call the teacher |
| 25 to 34 | Carry the dish to the serving table on a trivet. Say "hot" twice |
| 34 to 40 | Zone 3: stove and oven area |

## STRIP: SECOND COOK

Name: ______________ Station: ______ **Where I stand: next to the Head Cook**

| Block | What I do |
|---|---|
| 0 to 10 | Get the tools out: spoon, timer, mitts, trivet |
| 10 to 25 | Stir on the schedule the card says. Watch the timer with the Time Keeper |
| 25 to 34 | Back up the Head Cook. Refill serving spoons |
| 34 to 40 | Zone 2: sink and dishes |

## STRIP: PREP COOK

Name: ______________ Station: ______ **Where I stand: at the ingredient bin**

| Block | What I do |
|---|---|
| 0 to 10 | Open the bin. Check every item against the card. Set out every ingredient and tool. **Tell the Station Manager if anything is missing before minute 8** |
| 10 to 25 | Hand items to the cooks in card order. Open jars and packages |
| 25 to 34 | Help the Plate Builder |
| 34 to 40 | Zone 4: tools returned, bin closed, packaging in recycling |

## STRIP: HELPER COOK

Name: ______________ Station: ______ **Where I stand: wherever the Station Manager calls**

| Block | What I do |
|---|---|
| 0 to 10 | Sanitize the surfaces. Count the portions we need against the plan |
| 10 to 25 | Whatever the Station Manager calls. **SUPPORT DUTY: if our station is ahead, go help Station ______** |
| 25 to 34 | Carry, serve, pour water |
| 34 to 40 | Zone 1: tables and covers |

## STRIP: PLATE BUILDER

Name: ______________ Station: ______ **Where I stand: at the serving table**

| Block | What I do |
|---|---|
| 0 to 10 | Count and set 30 plates, forks, napkins, cups. Water pitchers filled |
| 10 to 25 | Trivets on the table. Serving spoons out. Menu and allergens written on the board |
| 25 to 34 | **Plate 30 covers. Plates down at minute 29 whatever state the dish is in.** Work from one end while the second Plate Builder works from the other |
| 34 to 40 | Zone 1: tables and covers |

## STRIP: TIME KEEPER

Name: ______________ Station: ______ **Where I stand: where I can see the clock and the pot**

| Block | What I do |
|---|---|
| 0 to 10 | Call minute 5 and minute 8 out loud. Start the timer the card says |
| 10 to 25 | Call every block out loud: "minute 10," "minute 15," "minute 20." **Write the ACTUAL time next to the planned time in every block on our flowchart** |
| 25 to 34 | Call minute 27 and minute 29 |
| 34 to 40 | Zone 2: sink and dishes. Hand the flowchart with the actual times to the teacher at closure |

## STRIP: TOPPINGS CHIEF (8th student)

Name: ______________ Station: ______ **Where I stand: at the finish end of the counter**

| Block | What I do |
|---|---|
| 0 to 10 | Set out the last-layer items: cheese, parmesan, garnish, serving spoons |
| 10 to 25 | Add the last layer when the card says, not before |
| 25 to 34 | Keep the serving dish looking right. Wipe the rim of the serving bowl |
| 34 to 40 | Zone 3: surfaces |

* * *

# Page 3. The Two Things That Most Often Go Wrong (post this at your station)

## 1. THE DISH IS LATE BECAUSE THE CRITICAL PATH STEP STARTED LATE

The water is not boiling at minute 10. The oven is not at temperature when the tray is ready. Everything after it slides and the class does not eat before the bell.

**Before it happens**
- The critical path step is in block **0 to 5**. Not later.
- Hot tap water. Cover the pot. Do not overfill it.
- The teacher has the burners on and the oven preheating **before the bell**.
- Pre-flight item 11 confirms it out loud in the first four minutes.

**When it happens (the Station Manager calls it at minute 10, not minute 20)**
Pick one of the three legal shortcuts:
1. **Split the batch.** Two smaller pots or two trays cook faster than one big one.
2. **Move it.** Second oven, toaster oven, or microwave for part of it.
3. **Drop the last optional step.** No second cheese layer, no garnish. Serve on time.

**THE RULE: the clock is not negotiable, the presentation is. A dish served plain and on time beats a perfect dish nobody eats.**

## 2. EVERYTHING FINISHES AT THE SAME MINUTE AND THE SERVING TABLE JAMS

Four dishes arrive at minute 27, one Plate Builder is trying to plate 30 covers, and the bell wins.

**Before it happens**
- The serve times are **staggered in red** on the class master flowchart. One station serves at 24, one at 26, the side and the dessert last.
- The **30 plates are already set during block one** by the service station. Nothing waits on plates.
- **Two Plate Builders**, not one, work the table from opposite ends.

**When it happens**
- The teacher calls "plates down at 29" at minute 24 and again at minute 27.
- At minute 29 plates go down whatever state the dish is in.
- A dish that is still not ready gets carried to the tables by its own Head Cook during the eat block.

**THE RULE: the clock is not negotiable, the presentation is.**

## The third thing, and it is the teacher

The drain and the oven both need the teacher. If two stations need the teacher at the same minute, **both wait**. That is why the master flowchart staggers the teacher-call minutes in red. Know your minute. Do not ask early and do not ask late.

* * *

# Page 4. The Station Check Sheet

Station: ______ Day: 1 / 2 Date: __________ Station Manager: ______________

The station does not leave until every box is checked and the sheet is signed.

## Zone 1: Tables and covers

- [ ] Every plate, fork, cup, and napkin cleared
- [ ] Tables wiped
- [ ] Chairs in

## Zone 2: Sink and dishes

- [ ] Pots, pans, and bowls washed or rinsed and stacked
- [ ] Utensils washed
- [ ] Sink wiped, no standing water, no food in the drain

## Zone 3: Surfaces, stove, and oven area

- [ ] Counters sanitized
- [ ] Stovetop wiped
- [ ] **Every burner OFF, confirmed by the Station Manager AND by the teacher**
- [ ] Oven off, oven area wiped, nothing left inside

## Zone 4: Floor, trash, recycling, tools

- [ ] Floor swept, nothing on it, nothing wet
- [ ] Trash bagged, recycling separated
- [ ] Every tool returned to its labeled place
- [ ] Station bin closed, leftover food labeled and dated or in the trash by the two-hour rule
- [ ] Station card and flowchart still on the wall for tomorrow

## The one question before the signature

Does this station look the way it looked before the bell? Circle: **YES / NOT YET**

**Teacher signature: ______________________ Time: ______**

* * *

# Page 5. The Teacher's Minute-by-Minute Duty List (teacher copy only; carry it on the clipboard)

| Minute | You do this, and only this |
|---|---|
| Before the bell | Pots filled with hot tap water, covered, on the burners. Burners on. Oven preheating. 30 plates on the serving table (Day 1). Allergy list at four places. Station bins on the counters. Clock on the screen at 0. Clipboard with four Rubric 01 grids and four station check sheets |
| 0 to 4 | Call pre-flight items 9 to 12 in order. Confirm each station out loud. Release the room |
| 4 to 8 | Stand between the two cooking stations. Check that the critical path step is actually running. Open and close the oven for anyone who needs it |
| 8 to 14 | **First clipboard pass:** Rubric 01 Objective 1 and the safety row for every student at the two cooking stations. One glance at the prep and service stations |
| 14 to 18 | **Second clipboard pass:** Rubric 01 Objective 2. Thermometer any reheated pre-cooked meat to **165 F**, out loud, in front of the station |
| 18 to 20 | **DRAIN DUTY.** Stand at the sink. Nobody else touches a colander or a hot pot. Call "stand back" before you pour |
| 20 to 22 | **Call the key check** at both cooking stations: "Read me your done checklist" |
| 22 to 24 | **OVEN DUTY.** Pull any tray. Set it on a trivet. Say "hot" twice |
| 24 to 27 | Stand at the serving table. Call "plates down at 29." Enforce serve-others-first |
| 27 to 29 | Listen to the Station Managers read the allergen boxes. **Stop the service if a box was not read** |
| 29 to 34 | Sit down and eat. Ask the two table questions: "Did your flowchart hold?" and "What minute did it slip?" Write the actual times on the class master grid in a third color |
| 34 to 38 | Reset cue. Walk four station checks. Sign each sheet. Nobody leaves on an unsigned sheet |
| 38 to 40 | Closure: one number and one word from every student. Collect the flowchart copies with the actual times. **Turn off every burner and the oven yourself and say out loud that you did** |
| After the bell | Two-hour rule: refrigerate labeled and dated, or discard. Note on the clipboard what to change for tomorrow. Reset the pots for the next period |

**Day 2 changes:** the pre-flight is run by Stations 3 and 4's Station Managers; the key check at minute 20 goes to Stations 3 and 4; at minute 29 to 34 add a third table question, "did yesterday's fix work," and point at the red and the third-color marks on the master grid.

**Three stations instead of four:** Day 1, Station 1 cooks and Stations 2 and 3 split prep and service. Day 2, Stations 2 and 3 cook and Station 1 preps and serves. Every minute above is unchanged.

* * *

# Teacher notes

- **The one instruction that matters most:** put the pots on with hot water before the bell. Everything else is downstream of that.
- Cook day is the period where you do the least talking and the most standing in one place. Pick the two cooking stations and stay between them. The prep and service stations do not need you.
- Never let a student open the oven or handle a colander of boiling water. Say it at pre-flight both days, even to the strongest grade 8 Station Manager.
- Read the master flowchart before the bell and know which minutes you are booked for the drain and the oven. If two stations need you at once, both wait, and the students should see that you knew it in advance.
- If a station's dish fails outright, serve what the other stations made and score that station on the flowchart and the clean check, not on the food. Have them write what went wrong; that is a real Rubric 01 Objective 3 answer and it can still earn a Meets.
- Do not debrief on cook day. Two table questions and a one-word exit. The real reflection is Lesson 6.17 and it is better after a night.
- Write the three objectives from Lesson 6.16 into the left column of `Rubric 01 - Lab Rubric.md` before the period. Do not write a new lab rubric.
- **[Sal: time one full pot on your own stove the week before. If it takes eleven minutes to boil, the flowchart blocks shift and the students should be told the real number in Lesson 6.14, not discover it on cook day. Write your number here: ______ minutes.]**
- **[Sal: keep two shelf-stable alternates in the desk for this unit, one nut-free and one dairy-free, so nobody sits with an empty plate.]**
- **[Sal: your own master flowchart is for a 50-minute period and gave Kitchen 4 support duty after its bread went in the oven. This version is 40 minutes, which means the cook window is minutes 10 to 28 and the eat window is 29 to 34. Confirm those numbers against your room before Lesson 6.14.]**