Teaching Moments

I have not done very well at keeping up with this thus far this year.  So here's an update of what happening in the FACS realm at my school.

Foods class is finally cooking.  We've had some really good labs, and some not so good ones.  We're still working on time management.

Foodservice is learning some important lessons.  The first being how important flour is in cookies.  In case you're wondering, it's pretty important.  And here's a picture to prove it.

They did put some flour in, just not enough.  These were supposed to be for the hospitality room for our volleyball regionals.  This is exactly the reason I keep some cookies in the freezer most of the time.  

They've also learning that too much cooking spray on the pan can be almost as bad as not enough.  We're also working on learning to do things as a group and figuring out each other's personalities.

The girls in Adult Living are very excited to start on their Wedding Books.  They've been bugging me about it for weeks now, but we weren't quite ready for it.  Today we began and they're realizing just how much work  they have to put into these things.  Plus, I'm pretty sure they're in for a surprise when they find out we're still talking about more chapters and the wedding planning is done on the side - just like it is in real life.  It should be interesting.

Finally that brings me to Orientation.  We've started sewing.  The first week is horrible.  There are so many questions.  It doesn't seem to matter how well or how often I've explained something before we start sewing, I still have to explain it again later.  The second week goes much better and I have a nice stack of pillow cases to grade in the next week.  I'm pleased with most of them.  The kids picked out some really cool fabric combinations.  One of the best parts of making this project has been the moments when I'm busy with someone else and another student steps in to help someone who's waiting with a question.  They're teaching each other, which is great!  We're also finally developing relationships in my first section of the class.  This is the group that was so incredibly quiet with me at the beginning.  They're finally catching on to my sense of humor and getting a little more relaxed with me.  It makes sewing so much easier.  I also had one student out of each section thank me today for the extra help I gave them or for taking time to explain things to them.  It kinda made my day.  

Passing the Test

I actually wrote this back in September, but for some unknown reason didn't post it.  So here it is, better late than never I guess

I have a short devotional delivered to my school email every day.  The goal is that when I sit down to open my email after I get to school, I will start my day out with that devotional and hopefully keep it in mind as I teach my students throughout the day.  Some days it works, others it doesn’t.  This morning’s devotion was titled “Passing the Test.”  It was talking about character and integrity and making decisions that are pleasing to God.  It was a great message, one that I took to heart for myself, but I got something a little different out of it too. 

The story the author started out with was about a boy who was terrible at spelling making a bad decision to cheat on his spelling test.  The teacher was shocked as she saw what he was doing, but said nothing.  As he got up to turn in his test, he paused in front of the trash can and slowly started tearing up his test.  He had made the honest decision in the end to take a zero on the test instead of using someone else’s work.  As I was reading this several things went through my mind.  First, my heart went out to the student who struggled with his test.  I have lots of students who struggle, not all of them with school work.  The things that some of my kids have to deal with breaks my heart.  And what gets me even more are the poor decisions that so many of them make that make their situations worse.  Secondly, the cheating is something that I’m battling right now.  I wish that some of my students could be as honest as the kid in the devotion.  This too, goes back to poor decision making. 

In three of my classes, we’ve been talking about lifestyle choices, the consequences of those choices, and taking responsibility for our actions.  I realize that most of them that already make poor choices will probably not listen to me or take any of what I say to heart.  But if I can reach one.  Just one.  Then I will have made a difference.  Isn’t that why we teach anyway, to make a difference?