Well?

Please imagine Carol Burnett saying that…

I’ve avoided stopping by my own blog due to blog shame. I haven’t posted in months…going on almost a year. I am not sure what my role in teacher blog land is – and if I am really cut out (hah, sewing pun intended) to devote the time and effort required to do a blog justice. So, avoiding logging on has kept the guilt at bay.

The real blog people are dedicated, clever, creative, and apparently don’t require much sleep. That’s not moi.

So, there it is. I don’t know what the next step is, but I’m going to hang on to this site for now – I do love the name! In the meantime, you can find out what is happening in the FCS Lane on twitter @lifenthefcslane – follow me!

Standards Based Grading and My Light Bulb Moment

A question often asked during an interview for a teaching position usually includes something along the lines of “what do you enjoy most about teaching?”  For me the answer has been when I see my kids having a light bulb moment – when something I’m trying to help them learn and understand suddenly clicks and they get it. It’s those little snippets during the day that make it real, reinforce (for me, at least) that I did something right, and I do make a difference.

Today I was going to share some of the baby steps I’ve taken toward embracing technology and social media as a day-to-day part of my classroom – but I had a light bulb moment of my own! If you’re a teacher, and Standards Based Grading gives you the willies or just doesn’t make sense, keep reading and click on the links ahead. I promise you, it will be OK.

In order to expand my horizons and keep up with up-to-the-minute ideas in education, I seek out information online through blogs, list serves, and online publications. While searching for information about Interactive Student Notebooks earlier this month, I came across Sarah’s Blog – Everybody is a Genius. She won my heart with the bulletin board post  showing the SBG process and today I became a disciple as she explained how mastery of a concept works with SBG.

I was struggling with how to help my students who have a hard time learning all of the “math” in the measuring unit we do prior to the food preparation labs in our Foods classes. While many kids “get” fractions and are able to demonstrate understanding of how to use them in recipes (for doubling/halving the yield or using equivalents) many of them look like a deer in headlights when they see fractions. In the past, I would allow them to re-test until they passed. But passing didn’t always indicate understanding or mastery and as they progressed through higher level foods courses, the understanding was there just for the test in Foods 1. This year I don’t want them to leave my class without KNOWING these basic concepts. With Standards Based Grading this is an expectation and in a “win-win” method; however long it takes, I want them all to be able to demonstrate that they know this and can use these skills when working with recipes. It is going to take some creative differentiation on my part, but I have some ideas that I think may work, I’ll keep you posted.

I did have some fun with my Foods 1 students last week…to help them understand the value a well-written recipe, teamwork, and efficiency in the kitchens, I gave them a rather poorly written recipe for Gobbly Gooks – basically the “no bake” chocolate, peanut butter (one group used Wow Butter – turned out great!), oatmeal confections. The problem was that the recipe does not use any standard measurements – just blobs, scoops, dit dots, dribbles, and the like. It was a fun experience for all of them and everybody’s end result was edible. Maybe not a state fair competition winner, but edible. Here is a short clip of one group trying to determine just how much is in a scoop of brown sugar and 4 dribbles of milk.

Have a great rest of the weekend – keep cool – we are pushing 100 here in St. Louis!

What a Week!

Last week was the first week of school for us – lots of tired folks on Friday afternoon – but what a great tired. I have to say I believe this was the BEST first week I can remember! It’s wonderful when everything falls in place, and if it doesn’t, no one knows and it works out anyway. I tried several new things with my students – a new folder system, my YouTube channel, a flipped classroom lesson (that will be tested on Monday), and Interactive Student Notebooks. Whew.

 My goal this year (part of our new Teacher Evaluation Instrument for this year) is to be intentional in my use of technology for my students. They LOVE their phones – but I’m setting and maintaining some important guidelines for them in my classes this year. Following our district BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) policy was a challenge last year – it’s so easy to just let them have them out when their work is finished. I’ve had conversations with teachers who decided to “not fight that battle,” and I get that. But…it’s not the phones themselves – I figured out what bothered me is the lack of acknowledging there were other HUMANS around them who deserved their attention.

So – as I explained my classroom policies/expectations I let them know that their phones were not to be out unless I specifically decided they were useful for that lesson. I shared the problem I have with their phones – and that I consider it rude when they have them out when I am teaching and ignoring the people who were physically THERE in the room was rude as well. So, on the basis of human interaction and “presence,” phones are not welcome.

Of course – there was a freshman (anyone surprised??? I have all 4 levels in my Foods 1 classes) had his out – and he sits 5 feet from my desk – I reminded him about the consequences and asked him to put it away. My plan to increase student interaction by reducing phones worked. For the next 10 minutes or so he was engaged in a conversation – with 4 upper class girls! Tell me, isn’t that better than an inanimate text with someone, especially for a freshman boy?

On the other hand – I DID promise to provide them with opportunities to use them as an extension of what I was teaching. So….drumroll please.. enter my YouTube Channel! Anyone can create a YouTube Channel – where you create or save videos you find on YouTube to share with others. Educators can create one for their students to access and watch video clips at home or as a part of a lesson in the classroom. Our district blocks YouTube via the building wireless – but if a teacher creates a channel and it goes through the YouTube education filter, it is accessible. So – my proud Techno-Teacher moment (I graduated back in the chalk/blackboard/lucky-to-have-an-overheadprojector-days) happened on Tuesday – here are my kids watching a kitchen safety video on my channel. It’s the little things…

 

Folders, Flipped Classroom, and FACS – Oh, My!

I am really, really, REALLY going to try to keep up with my blog this year. For me, keeping up with this is not unlike my experiences with plans to “eat healthier” and “do exercises for my upper arms”. We all know where THAT well-paved road leads. However, each day is new and each school year provides opportunity to improve and do better than the last (a benefit for those of us in education – we get TWO “New Years” a year).

In my last post, I mentioned how Google Drive and available apps will help me to become better organized, save time, and hopefully enhance what I am doing with my students on a day-to-day basis. In both the classroom AND outside of the friendly confines of MHS (have I mentioned what a great high school I am lucky to be associated with before?).

A few wall decorations in our cafeteria…

Last week I attended a workshop learn more about the Flipped Classroom. If you have not heard of a “Flipped Class,” I encourage you to check it out here. To those of you who know me, this idea could go the way of my last 5 attempts to join a gym (my last experience was great – foiled by a strained calf muscle the first day of summer Zumba) or how many times I havebeen determined to count my calories on Monday (the wisdom of my friend, Chris, was that a Tuesday is a much better day to start a diet, I agree!) or, well, fill in the blank with my good intentions. But, I am going to give it a try – I think my students will enjoy having more time to work on their projects and less time doing seat work. I will post lessons on my You Tube Channel here,  if you subscribe, you can keep me accountable!

This class is totally flipped!

Another thought floating around in my head has been a way to encourage my students to assume more responsibility for their own learning. The number of times I have had to replace worksheets or heard “I lost my notes,” and “my mom cleaned out my binder” (I’d like to meet a mom that has time to do that) would equal the stars in the sky. Many of us were not born with the organized gene, me included. How I have yearned to be the one who naturally organized her closet by color/garment type or knew where her birth certificate was at the drop of a hat (I do organize my closet now, but the birth certificate?). Knowing it isn’t natural for most of us, and understanding it is important for my student’s success to be able to find what they need when they need to, I have slowly moved toward providing them with an easy way to “keep it all together,” so to speak.

On sale this week!

Today I found it! Thanks to Denise at FACS Classroom Ideas, I now believe I can easily implement a new level of accountability for my students. I toyed with the idea of doing Foldables, but my perfectionist tendencies would likely get in the way. (I may still try this with my Fashion Construction students…) Please check out Denise’s post from today – and if you see me in the aisles of the local mega-mart, don’t be surprised if I am purchasing LOTS of 2 pocket folders in various colors tomorrow! Heck, they are on sale and 0.15/kid is worth it.

I did it – wrote another post! (Yay for me.) See you next Sunday.

Google!!

I am getting excited about the opportunities for this baby boomer in the world of education and technology, Google Drive to be exact.

When I became a teacher, life revolved around the intoxicating smell of a freshly printed purple ditto, chalk dust (perfecting my not slanting upward writing technique … baby boomer teacher friends will relate) and hiding behind a podium (in high heels AND hose, yes, pantyhose!!!)  If I was lucky, an overhead projector was included. When I joined my current district there was even more… how can I describe the thrill of having a white board where I could use ANY color of Expo Marker (purchased on my own…and would have micro-chipped each one if I could, somehow they disappeared frequently), well, I wasn’t sure there was anything better!

Until online grade books. ‘Nuff said.

Here is what is coming our way this fall – sign me up!

It hasn’t been released yet, the reason I think it will work for me is that it is so simple – as bells and whistles (and other tech-y stuff I don’t know the name of) are added, I will be able to infuse it at my pace. Isn’t it cool?

I’m almost able to walk by the neon markers in the back to school aisle now.

As I share with my students at the end of every week…make good choices!

 

 

Here Come a Couple New Ideas for Teaching FACS!

I have been out of town for the last several days at the annual Association for Family and Consumer Sciences (AAFCS) conference. Well, not real far out of town…the conference was in St. Louis this year! I always enjoy my time with other FCS (Family and Consumer Sciences) professionals and come home with a revived passion and pride in what I do as an educator and member of this organization.

For several of us, our day started at 6 a.m. for a 3 mile walk downtown. I live in suburban St. Louis, 30 miles west of the city – so being in charge of leading the walks was a challenge and wonderful way for me to learn more about this historic city. This map was an important tool in preparation:

The program was full of several workshops and programs, it was frustrating to not be in two places at once. I always come back with lots of new ideas and things I can do to be a better teacher. Ideas for sustainability in the fashions/apparel classroom, using social media in and out of the classroom, standards based grading, common core/literacy in the FACS classroom, and opportunities for my students after high school.

Many school districts are moving (or have already moved) toward the use of Standards Based Grading. I’m not going to try to explain how it works and the impact it has on assessment of students (if you want to learn more, you can check it out here and here), let me just say it is a challenge to rethink how I assess my students. Adlai E. Stevenson High School FCS department teachers to the rescue (I just checked the link this evening, they have not uploaded the PowerPoint from their presentation last week – keep checking!) I am excited to implement lots of their ideas for both my Foods and Fashion Construction courses.

A second idea I can’t wait to try are LiveBinders. LiveBinders are a way to organize and control all of the websites/online videos/pdfs and other resources we use in our classrooms each and every day. Cindy Miller, FCSE, Texas Tech University captivated dozens of FCS teachers during her presentation about this wonderful tool. Here is a link to her Family and Consumer Sciences LiveBinder – check out the plethora of ideas and links!

No rest for the weary – tomorrow I will be spending the day learning more about Google Drive…maybe THIS time it will stick! Or maybe I’ll spend some time doodling…

How Procrastinating Can Help You Sew More…

Yes, it’s been a while. How many times have I said that in this little blog? Um, let’s leave it at several.

I have struggled with a focus for what I should write about – there are lots of bloggers out there who are VERY good at what they do and seem to make it look effortless – no effort of mine would even begin to compare (perfectionism -> procrastination). I kind of like the “that was then, this is now” thing I had going, but that topic can only last so long, and really, who (other than me) is really interested in what I was doing 40 years ago?

In case you ARE interested, on June 22, 1974 I had recently graduated from high school and attended the wedding where I had been “hired” to make all of the bridesmaids dresses – my first REAL, PAID, sewing job! After that, made a futile attempt at getting tan, which doesn’t happen easily in the Pacific Northwest) and tried to play tennis. I still can’t do 2 of those things very well.}

Something else I over-thought was how cute, young, and creative these bloggers were! How could I, practically a senior citizen with no thigh gap, find a place in blog land? Nothing I had to say could be anywhere as compelling as the stuff they were writing about (hmmm…perfectionism ->procrastination again??)

Merricks Art – this girl is DARLING, talented, skilled and a creative inspiration.

But, I have found some really wonderful women who are close to my generation, who sew, and who probably have no idea how they are motivating me to kindle the passion I had for sewing 40 years ago. When I read those diaries, I realize how much of my clothing I made for myself then. And really want to do again. 

So, while I still follow some of these darling young things, and am inspired by them, I have made an effort to find some “kids my own age” to play with. My current favorites are Talk of the House (she’s a mom, teacher and loves to share her love of homes – hers and others she finds on the web and in “real life”), Goodbye Valentino (a Mood Fabrics Sewing network blogger, inspiring seamstress – I live vicariously through her and her sewing!), Outfit Posts (granted, she is young enough to be my daughter, but I’ve learned to shop my closet and create some wonderful outfits from her), Tea Time With Trina (just found her this week – I think I want to be her friend!), to name a few.

So the result of my blog-posting procrastination? I really have been sewing a lot more in the last year than I had in years. I will be sharing some of the results of my time with my Pfaff and challenging myself to do more. Two projects I am particularly proud of were making my daughter’s wedding rehearsal dress and my MOB (mother of the bride) dress for her May, 2013 wedding. Here are some pictures…

I refashioned my wedding dress for Kate to wear at her rehearsal.

My mother-of-the-bride dress.

{I am struggling with formatting so pictures are side by side…help!!}

So, here I go again – am going to try to keep this updated, share what I’m up to in FACS land and weave in (hah, pun NOT intended…) the projects I take on. There are some things I really do want to do – and just need a push – or two.

Susie

Fashions!

No, I don’t think I could possibly even begin to jump into the fashion blog world. There are so many really wonderful fashion bloggers out there, I love to see what ideas I can find to use my own wardrobe in new ways. One of the first blogs I found was Outfit Posts, she searches for inspiration online for outfits and creates a similar look with things in her closet. I have found some new ways to use my own clothes from her blog, I think you will, too. One of my favorites is below – jeans tucked into boots has become a “uniform” of sorts for me.

Cute and comfy.

Merricks Art is another fashion blog I love, she is so cute! Although a generation or two separate us (not to mention a few pounds…), I love her approach to mixing and matching texture, color and print. I found a darling long-sleeved casual tee at Target thanks to Merrick, I wear it so often and wonder how I ever got along without it! She also is a sewer and does some amazing re-fashions with things she finds. Check her site out – her two little boys are darling and dressed for success themselves.

Love this combo!

The third blog I want to share with you is one I just found today. The blogger is a little bit closer to my age…and I have had some fun this afternoon searching through her archives…since she lives in the south seeing the green in the background of her pictures gives me hope that the cold weather in St. Louis will go away soon! s e e r c u c k e r + s a d d l e s is where you want to go. Her clothes have an easy style, ideas I can incorporate using the stuff in my own closet and some inspiration for adding pieces to mix and match without breaking the budget. This is the outfit where she had me (maybe not the heels for school…)

Stripes + stripes!

All of this brings me back to the title of my blog – Life in the FACS Lane…For those who may not know, FACS is an acronym for Family and Consumer Sciences (old school Home Economics). One of the motivations for me to move from teaching at the middle school to the high school was the opportunity to teach the Fashion Construction classes. This year I have been blessed to have Fashions 1 and 2 both semesters – and am hoping to add Fashions 3 next year. Working with these kids (yes, I do have BOTH sexes in Fashions!) has inspired me to rediscover my sewing machine and the joy it gives me to create and sew AND pass my love of all things fashion/sewing to a new generation…here is what we did Friday:

In Fashions 2 there is a unit on textiles and fibers to be covered;  the content is essential for anyone who is interested in clothing (and who isn’t?) and sewing. To give the students a context to remember the boring notes they had taken, I had them do a burn test with various samples of natural and manufactured fabrics and they LOVED it! Here is a link to one lesson plan in this area you may want to try from the Utah Education Network. It takes a bit of pre-planning to get everything ready and do remember, safety first!!

Can’t wait to get them started on their projects…follow me this semester and see what they are up to!

When I Started This Blog…

forEVER ago – I was inspired by cleaning out boxes. Yep, digging through that stuff of mine that has followed me all over the country. We all have them, those childhood memories I need to part with (if I listened more carefully to Peter Walsh) but have decided to leave that task to my children. When I am gone. In a really, really, really long time from now, I hope.

 

Back to the boxes and what I found in them. I was a fairly decent journal keeper in my youth, at least for the summers and also during junior high school. My parents gave me a Peanuts Calendar for Christmas every year, and I would dutifully write down what I had done that day, which, when I look back on some of the “entries,” I actually remember the experience. 44+ years later.

On January 12, 1969 I was a 7th grader at Chinook Junior High in Bellevue, WA. It was also a Sunday. I didn’t do much on that day, but did walk to Brown’s Rexall Drug store, a distance of just over a mile, for who knows what! Brown’s was the best place to get candy, and was the site of my first (and only) criminal activity. Yes, a couple friends and I stole a small rabbit’s foot chain, which at the time was a very important accessory to our favorite activity – hop scotch. Long story short, someone spilled the beans and we had to return them, and our parents even made us APOLOGIZE to Mr. Brown. Can you imagine? (Imagine kids playing hop scotch first…) My favorite candy at the time was  is anything sour – and Jolly Rancher bars, whole HUGE slabs of sour goodness for 5¢. And, being not quite 13-years-old, I probably walked off the entire calorie count with the 1+ mile walk.

Today? Spent some time on the internet (glad it wasn’t around back when I was 12…), catching up with a style challenge I stumbled on, while I am fairly happy with my fashion style, it is fun to try and tweak what’s in my closet to keep the winter wardrobe interesting. Then off to the gym to meet with a personal trainer, who showed me the most perfect little 30 minute “I think I can do this” strength training workout to compliment my other New Year efforts.

The day got even better – had a day date with the hubs to see Nebraska – you must see this movie with Bruce Dern and Will Forte – it is so good, a great story and a valuable lesson in being a good adult child with your very adult parents.

Now I am off to enjoy dinner at the home of some dear friends. The best part is that her daughter is preparing the entire meal – she graduated from the (Portland) Oregon Culinary Institute! My tummy couldn’t be happier. (that’s our chef, isn’t she cute? AND she can cook!)

So, my life in a nutshell. I’m going to try and stick with this, again. IF you happen to make it to the end and want to encourage/motivate me..please feel free to “follow” me (outside of FB). I am trying to figure out my niche in blogland and I love to write…see you next week!

Back to School…and this blog?

Wow, I knew I was really good at procrastination – but I think I have even impressed myself. The last time I posted it was snowing – today it reached 91 with what seems to be an equal amount of humidity here in the ‘Lou. But I never knew a thing…because I was INSIDE AT THE FIRST DAY FOR TEACHERS to be back at school.

Please don’t misunderstand, I am very grateful to have these days to get ready – it’s just kinda like pulling a band aid off really slooooowly. I’m good at that.

I’ve got lots of news to share – Kate got married (what fun, I suggest everyone have a wedding!), I’ve transferred from the middle to the high school (very excited for the new opportunities, and yes, it was my choice to pursue), and our son is back home (no more empty nest.)

This time around I will focus more on things I’m doing in the classroom – and hope to share some of the fun things my more “mature” high school students are up to and looking for input from all of you out there.  After all, this IS Life in the FACS Lane!

Here is a bit of an idea of where I will be spending my time this year – I’m happy to have landed in a great spot with wonderful teachers and new classes to teach. One of the best things is I get to see some of the kiddos I had in middle school finish and graduate! Here is a picture of the banners in the commons – I’m not the only one who thinks Marquette is great!