Category: Technology

“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!

Whole Grains: Group Assignment using Google Forms & Zoom

I had the privilege of meeting Darci Friberg in person, last summer while presenting at the Missouri FACS Conference! Darci uses a lot of technology when teaching her students and she shared back with me a way to take a traditional group activity and turn it into a digital activity using Google Forms and Zoom breakout rooms. The whole grain group assignment using Google Forms & Zoom is an alternate way to complete the original group assignment in the Whole Grains lesson in case your school is going virtual or blended with teaching in the future.

Cross Stitch Unit

During COVID-19, April Dull of Pennsylvania presented a webinar: “Using Canva to Inspire Students to Think and Express Themselves Creatively”. After participating in her presentation where the cross stitch unit was introduced, I knew I had to feature April on the website! Read on to see how a cross stitch unit was taught virtually to her students. While this unit was taught E-learning style, it can be used within a traditional or blended classroom.

Friendship Lesson

This lesson comes to you from Katelyn Propper….once again, THANK YOU for sharing and helping us all be great together! The Friendship lesson can be taught as an E-Learning assignment, but also would be a great addition to the traditional classroom if you teach about healthy interpersonal relationships. I know I intend to incorporate Katelyn’s Friendship lesson into my Individual & Family Studies class in the next school year!

Kitchen Tools E-Learning Assignment

Since no one is quite sure what the next school year will look like, I’ve been working on updating some of my lessons for remote learning…just in case! This Kitchen Tools E-Learning Assignment comes to you early as I had a teacher request for some engaging ways to teach kitchen tools remotely. Not only can this Kitchen Tools E-Learning assignment be used in remote learning, but could also be used in the regular classroom.

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.

Nature & Outdoor Play

As children, my siblings and I played outside everyday mostly because we loved it and wanted to, but sometimes because our parents insisted that it was too nice a day not to! I know, I know…it was a different time. But sadly, have you ever noticed how few children you actually see playing outdoors anymore? I decided to poll my students and see what their thoughts were on the subject and then take a hard look at why we need to bring nature & outdoor play back and get children engaged on a regular basis!

Delayed Gratification, Patience & Consistency

In a world of “instants” does patience still exist? And, should we be teaching children delayed gratification skills and how to be patient instead of immediately giving into their every “whim”? This lesson explores this topic and demonstrates to students why being consistent and teaching children to be patient yields greater success later on in life.

Starter Pack Meme Ideas

My son recently introduced me to “starter pack memes” which I had to look up! He had to create one for a college “get to know you” activity and once I knew what it was, I thought it would make a great, fun and interactive activity. So, below you will find my starter pack meme ideas for topics that can be used in a variety of different content areas along with instructions for creating.

Kitchen Hazards Flipgrid Style

Before I even think about letting my students into the kitchens to cook, I want to be sure they have a good working knowledge of the do’s and don’ts associated with kitchen safety. Kitchen Hazards Flipgrid Style is just one of the activities I use to convey and reinforce that concept. There are a lot of things I like about this activity. First, it’s mostly student-directed, secondly, it uses technology and third, it involves a variety of the 4 C’s: collaboration, communication, creativity and critical thinking.