Category: Uncategorized

Family Strengths: Game Night

Family Strengths: Game Night is a great way to teach your students about components that make up a strong family!  Not only does it get the entire class involved, but it’s a lot of fun! While many students may have grown up with a night set aside for games, many  don’t get this opportunity for “community” in their own homes so this exposes them to it as well as a variety of board games that have them communicating, collaborating, thinking, practicing patience and good sportsmanship among others.  It’s also a great lesson to do around the holidays as it is a pretty low prep lesson on your part, but engaging enough to keep students interested.

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Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays

Wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holiday and Wonderful New Year! May you take this time this season to reflect over the past year, relax doing things you enjoy or nothing at all and rejoice in time together with family and friends. Wishing you much rest, peace and joy as we move into the new year! Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for all of your visits, lesson contributions, collaborations, comments and conference requests during this past year! It’s been a great one! Looking forward to an awesome 2024!

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Regifting: A Talking Points Lesson

Who hasn’t received a gift that simply “wasn’t you” and needed a gift, but didn’t have time to go to the store so you ended up giving that “unyou” gift to someone else? This
is called regifting and the concept became popular during the 1990’s in a Seinfeld episode, although I imagine it began long before then! This Regifting: A Talking Points Lesson explores this controversial concept in a variety of ways! It’s the perfect time of year to give it a try!

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30 Days of Holiday Fun Project

December is a hectic time for most families making it even more difficult to spend quality time together. This 30 Days of Holiday Fun Project is a great project to help promote family bonding when schedules are busy and harried! Add diversity by incorporating many different holidays.  Read on to learn more…

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NEAT=NON-EXERCISE ACTIVITY THERMOGENESIS

It was so much fun collaborating with Darci Friberg, a Missouri FCS teacher, on this NEAT=NON-EXERCISE ACTIVITY THERMOGENESIS lesson!  I can’t encourage peer collaboration enough as each person brings so much to the table in the way of ideas and perspectives!  I truly believe that we are better together. This lesson would be a great addition to a Food & Nutrition class, Health & Wellness class or even as part of a FCS Comprehensive class as it’s a topic we can all relate to even if you’ve never heard of it!  Keep reading to learn more about this concept and let me know if you want to collaborate!

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Child Safety: Mystery Powder Identification

When teaching about safety in child development, it’s important to discuss mystery substances that may or may not be toxic, but look like a variety of possibilities. The Child Safety: Mystery Powder Identification is a quick little activity where students observe substances via pictures and try to identify the substance.  Not as easy as you might think! Read on to see how this works…

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43 Minute Lab Series: Puppy Chow

After noticing continuous requests for lab suggestions that are doable in 43 minute class periods, I’ve decided to do a recurring series, featuring recipes that can
be completed from beginning to end in a 43 minute time frame. In some cases, longer recipes will broken into two day labs. In addition, I will include my pre-lab review questions that pertain specifically to the recipe. This helps to ensure that students are reading the recipe. It also allows me time to show any videos that may demonstrate the product or specific techniques. So, without further ado, I present the 43 Minute Lab Series: Puppy Chow!

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Off to College Series: STRESS

This past spring, I put a post on Facebook as to how I could help teachers and one of the responses I received was to add more lessons to the Off to College Series. The
wish has been granted! This Off to College Series: STRESS lesson explores the concept of stress as it relates to first year college students.  However, even if you aren’t teaching it from this perspective, there are a lot of engaging activities that can be used or adapted for other lessons about stress!

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Bacon Lesson & Labs

My students would always tell me that bacon makes everything better and I agree!  There’s just something about bacon that amps up the flavor of
whatever it is paired with! I created this Bacon Lesson & Labs to help students learn more about bacon; where it comes from, cooking techniques, seasonings and even some fun, tasty labs!

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First Impressions: Job Interview Attire

It may be difficult for students to know that dressing for an interview may look different than workplace attire, with the prevalence of casual dress. First
Impressions: Job Interview Attire is a hyperdoc that explores the concept of “first impressions” as well as what job interview attire looks like for men and women. This self-directed assignment also includes an engaging, creative, realistic assignment for students to explore the costs of curating interview attire at various budget points. Continue reading to learn more!

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