Microteaching week 15 - High fibre Foods

I wonder where I should start. The path to this micro-teaching that I trod is so new and foreign that one cannot determine where it had started and end.
Being a total newbie in F& N teaching has its various pitfalls and disadvantages. The first is the lack of experience in handling a practical class, and the other the general dos and don'ts.
I can say that this practical session was much tougher compared to when I was conducting Biology practical during my contract teaching.

I was handicapped in experience, knowledge and practical skills. All of which were fundamental in pathing the way for a good practical lesson. The amount of times I repeated the recipe to ensure that I am proficient in baking and decorating sponge cake and the effort spent on researching cake decor was mind boggling. Even so, my preparation was still sticks and bones, barely making a fragile framework for me to work on.
Thankfully, my group mates were very helpful and cooperative. The rough patches of my journey towards micro-teaching were considerably smoothened from their help and opinion.
They were also very sympathetic and gracious to my timetable which often clashed with theirs.

All-in-all I am very grateful to Zul, Amanda and Hana for their support and encouragement during this period of time. Though there were occasional miscommunication due to my ignorance of the subject, they were very tolerant and took time and effort to help me produce a decent micro-teaching product. I sincerely think that without their help, my micro-teaching would not have gone as smoothly and I would have "crashed-and-burned".

I am also very grateful to my Home Economics lecturers for giving me their comments and support during this preparation time. To say that I was clueless is an understatement. They were so concerned for me that I kept getting prodded to do more and more. However, I ended up gaining 5 kg from all the experiments. Thankfully, the knowledge I gained weighted more. Now I need to de-tox.

Amelia and Shu En also gave their assistance by discussing with me what exactly I was putting into my micro-teaching, they also had some tips that they gained from their own micro-teaching that they shared with me, which helped to supplement my thoughts.

This micro-teaching has many learning points. Which I think further reflection and action must be done on my part to ensure that the mistakes that I made will not be repeated.

-30-

"Good"? Or "bad"?

Hi everyone!

Just few weeks ago, I believe most of us would have heard on the news about several Singaporeans queuing up for hours for the launch of the new Microsoft Windows 7 Operating System.

Well, what has its launch have to do with us, as FCS teachers?

This video can serve as a sequel to Jeline's Home Economics microteaching (remember the video on the multiple-patty burger?)!

It's a home-made video comprising of several videos I found on Youtube. Made and used it as an opening for Biology microteaching. Hope you've enjoyed it!

It is evident now that fad of selling big-portioned fastfood at affordable prices is no longer restricted to countries in the West, and there is actually a market for such extra-large portion foods in Asia. Obesity rates in Asia are also escalating as the years progress, particularly in China, Japan, the Philippines, and not forgetting our dear Singapura.

Honestly speaking, I think many teenagers today (and I am guilty of that myself) might develop positive thoughts upon knowing about the burger (and likely to want to try it) contrary to what Homec teachers may think, especially meat and fast-food lovers. Also, since the patties look thin and seemingly "harmless", students may not know how many calories they are actually consuming.

What I like about creating videos like this one is that it is current news which upper secondary and IT-loving students will be interested. Also, it is factual which will probably be more impactful to students. (The part where the reporter stated the total no. of calories in this burger which is close to the average calorie intake of a healthy adult.)

The sequence of this video also aids in creating this impact; Students will first get to see the burgers and people enjoying it, and be shocked later to find out the number of calories it contains. The element of surprise may (hopefully) enable them to link facts learnt in their textbook to current affairs/everyday situations, thus making learning more enjoyable and meaningful.

Learning about the total number of calories per burger will also allow students to make comparisons with other types of food (and their total calories) easier, since they are now in quantifiable terms. Ever did I consider making the video more "gory" by showing photos of clogged arteries and obesity, but these plans were scrapped as I was worried about the message I would be sending to my students. After all, eating just one Windows 7 burger, or any other humongous burger in the video, will not directly lead to clogged arteries and obesity.

Also, since this news is closer to home, learning about dietary planning will be more meaningful to students as it is authentic. Above all, the inclusion of popular music in this video in the opening will garner their attention onto the main part of the video, which is the launch of this new burger.

More often than not, people tend to name foods as "bad" and "good". In my opinion, I feel that it is inappropriate to label foods as "bad" or "good", as it is inevitable that we indulge in such foods at times. What is "good" may not be "good" if eaten in the wrong quantity, while what is "bad", well... what's so bad about indulging in such foods once in a while?

Rather, wouldn't it be better if students are informed about what is in their food, so that they themselves decide if they should eat it or not (or how frequent), ie. making informed decisions and learning how to be responsible for their own health?

To be honest (again), despite knowing what fastfood can do to me, I could still not resist participating in the pursuit in winning Sentosa Cove for the MacDonald's Monopoly publicity stint when it was just introduced to Singapore. Much less giving up my all-time favourite McNuggets and French Fries, despite knowing they have been happily deep-fried in litres of hot oil.

Guess it still boils down to Variety, Moderation, Balance, and making wise decisions.

**Chief Eric ** Cooking Class!!

Chief Eric Cooking Demonstration Class! 


Chief Eric in the house ~~

 Hillyah and Me.. With Chief Eric..

Two dishes for the day..

Green leafy with fresh water prawns, tangy oranges.

Mustard Chicken with Herb Crust 

Accompanied with Thai Asparagus, Yellow Zucchini & Mashed Potatoes

Some Learning Points..

1st - Introduce the Pink Peppercorns (below)

Many of us are familiar of black & white peppercorns. Pink peppercorns are less seen in any recipes.

So what's is the difference?

In the market, there is a variety of peppercorns. They come in black, white, green and pink. Black pepper is produced from unripe berries of the pepper plant. White pepper consists of the seed only, with the skin of the pepper removed. Green pepper, like black, is made from the unripe berries but they are treated in a manner that retains the green colour. Pink peppercorn consists of ripe red pepper berries preserved in brine and vinegar.

2nd - How to make red bell peppers more fragrant?

BURN bell peppers over the fire.. .. 

Flip the peppers once it turn black

 Once the whole pepper turn black.. place it into a plastic bag and seal it..

   

 The condensation of the vapor from the peppers will allow the black char to be remove easily under running water..   

3rd - Good organization!

Ingredients are all laid neatly on the workbench...

Reflections for DCX 521/ QCX 521 microteaching 2

I would like to comment as the *only* student in the groups to do solo for this mission.
It was a really tough experience especially when the lesson was really packed and stuffed with jobs for students A & B.
In the middle of the 3 hour lesson, I was feeling like this:

The silent screaming in my head can only be adequately described by the painting on the left. Which was done by a rather famous artist, 1893 Edvard Much - The Scream.





Thankfully, by this time, the teachers started to gravitate to my bench and start helping me by demonstrating some stuff using my materials. So I was saved.

My feelings at the end of the lesson was this:

Its like the sun came out. Painting: After Summer Rain - Varvara Harmon

The food came out really well and I really had to work very fast.
So I hope that the teachers will pay attention to the *only* student in the lesson and help them by giving some assistance.
Being the *only* student also made it very difficult for me to attend all the demonstrations. So most of the time I was wondering what's happening in the class and didn't know how to proceed.
It helped very much when the teachers came around to give me some personal instructions so that I can continue with my work.

Overall, this session was a great eye-opener - to the degree of being eye-popping. I'm sure that the teachers are already tied down in observing the class and clearing the tables, so extra attention would make the lesson even more taxing. We will have to think about how to manage this problem without adding too much burden on our attention in the class. Please feel free to comment on suggestions.

-30-

Reflections on Microteaching 2 (QCX 521 / DCX521)

Microteaching did not go too well today, especially the conclusion. Got so darn anxious (and I didn't know for what -_-) trying to wrap up the lesson in time, that I forgot what I have planned to say and threw my brains into the frying pan. Classroom management for homec practical is actually much tougher than that for a normal classroom eg. biology. Am quite disappointed with myself actually, but yea, I am still very thankful for this learning opportunity.

Would like to take this chance to correct what I've said for the conclusion:

Carrots contain beta carotene, not Vitamin A. There is a difference actually. Though these terms are often used interchangably, beta-carotene is actually a carotenoid and one of the precursors of vitamin A (1 beta carotene gives 2 vitamin A molecules and this conversion is done by our body). It'll be better to tell students that carrots contain beta-carotene that will be converted to vitamin A in the body, rather than just concluding that carrots contain Vitamin A.


Yes, canned peaches definitely do not contain vitamin C. Heat sterilization during canning alone would have destroyed every bit of Vitamin C. Even for fresh peaches, if it were to be exposed for 15 minutes in the air, there would be little vitamin C left due to oxidation (vitamin C is very susceptible to light, oxygen, heat and I think metal also). Why did I even say that in the first place??! Sigh.


The other parts... haha forget it. I think you peeps will know clearly what went well and what went wrong.

Am very thankful for having cooperative classmates as students though, I'm sure it was tiring having to cook for 3 continuous hours, as well as patiently listening to stuff which most of you already knew. Thanks girls (and Zul)!

Also, I might have sounded too curt for some of you today. Hope you guys will understand.
(Which was the total opposite of how I was on Tuesday when I practised for this microteaching. I was scolded for being too flippant that day, and yea, I think I was too flippant. So I thought I better be firm today.)


All the best to the upcoming microteaching groups!
Lol, I think some of you might have done contract teaching or probably have more experience teaching in a real homec class situation than me, but I can probably share a little of what I've taken away from this experience, hopefully it will be useful to you:


Do plan early and thoroughly, and keep practising! The more effort you put into practising, the more likely you'll succeed =)


(And now I'll resume my status as a student for this module. Yay.)