Category: Consumerism

Festive Table Decor Project

Doing so much of my job virtually makes me crave working with my hands, creatively, in my down time (what little of it there is)! Not only do I get to work with my hands to make something creative, meaningful, useful and/or beautiful, but I get a much needed reprieve from screens…for which my eyes thank me! This “Festive Table Decor Project” is one that students can personalize to make whatever they want, around the theme of the assignment, using materials they have on hand. In addition, I want my students to feel connected to what they create and have a greater understanding of what’s involved in DIY projects! Read on to learn more and let your students release their pent up creativity!

Repurposing the Necktie

A while back, I read an article in the Wall Street Journal about old ties. What was once an everyday staple of many a man’s wardrobe may now be hanging dust collectors! Because more workplaces are moving to casual attire, the tie rarely surfaces on a day to day basis. So what does one do with a closet full of dormant ties? Afterall, how many does one man need? Enter the FACS classroom! Clever and creative FACS teachers, teaching any kind of sewing unit, would benefit from the donation as their students work at repurposing the necktie into another functional piece of fashion or art!

“UnBoxing” Video Topics for the FACS Content

I recently watched an episode of Adobe for Education and Matt Miller author of Ditch that Textbook (affiliate link) was on as a special guest. This episode focused on being creative while teaching remotely. His advice was to think outside the box, provide a fun twist when asking students to recall or share what they’ve learned about a particular topic. He suggested students share what they’ve learned in an unboxing video! How creative is that! My wheels started turning and I thought of so many ways that this could be used in our content. So join me, if you will, as I share “Unboxing Video Topics for the FACS Content! As always, if you have other ideas or you develop a specific project or assignment, please share and I will add them to the list!

Inflation & Savings Scenarios

When teaching about the importance of saving money at an early age, many students don’t see the value in it at this stage of their lives. They think because they are teens they’ve got plenty of time to build their savings account and investment portfolio and it’s not something their inclined to do or worry about as young adults. This lesson introduces students to several “Inflation & Savings Scenarios” showing students the value of saving over time using a variety of investments from safe to higher risk.

Promoting STEM: Role Models & Activities

There are tons of articles about including and promoting STEM to our students. I decided to add this “STEM: Role Models & Activities” lesson and project into my child development class. I want my students to not only understand what STEM is, but why it’s important to expose and encourage it with young children.

Identity Theft E-Learning Assignment

Katelyn Propper (THANK YOU) and I virtually collaborated to bring you this Identity Theft E-Learning assigment. It combines some of the concepts and resources from my “Activities for Teaching About ID Theft” with Katelyn’s addition of real identity theft stories where students apply what they’ve learned. So, together we bring you a new identity theft E-learning assignment.

Shopping Spree: Children’s Clothing

During this COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve been encouraged to create and assign lessons on topics within our content area that we’ve wanted to teach, but never really had time to because of state testing. In addition, the lesson(s) still had align with state standards. So, I decided to create and share this Shopping Spree: Children’s Clothing E-learning lesson. Please note that this lesson could easily be assigned in the regular classroom and fit into many different content areas.

Advertising Part II: Food Themed Sneaker Project

Thanks for checking back in for the Advertising Part II: Food Themed Sneaker Project. This project gave students an opportunity to build on their advertising knowledge and apply it in a fun and creative way. Afterall, who doesn’t love fun, food inspired footwear!

Advertising Lesson: Part I

One of the special topics I like to teach when time permits is a mini-unit on advertising. This Advertising Lesson: Part I is the lesson before the project. It introduces students to a variety of information they need to know about advertising before they can complete the project in a very interactive and hands-on way. The project will be shared next week as this post would be ginormous if I didn’t split it up. So, please check out both weeks to see the entire mini-unit and project.

Plotagon Credit Card Scenarios

Scenarios are great tools to engage students! However, sometimes you have a group of students who love to role play and perform skits and other times you have groups that are as quiet as church mice. When that happens let Plotagon Story, a free animation app, come to your rescue. Sharing below how I incorporated it into a Take Charge Today credit card activity titled “What Would You Do?” into Plotagon credit card scenarios.