1

Assignment 12- Assessment and Analysis Essay

WFED-495C-2 Observation and Practice Teaching: Action Strategies
Claire E. Dacko
November 7, 2015

Abstract
Over the course of the past semester, a variety of instructional strategies and teaching methods
were applied to and taught in my Level 3 Culinary Arts classroom. The implementation of these
lessons helped to increase student engagement and enhance the comprehension of occupational
theory. Through the use of brainstorming, journaling, role playing, cases studies and simulation, I
was able to create activities that focused on independent, collaborative and experiential learning.
The use of these active teaching strategies allowed my students to reach new levels of higherorder thinking and move beyond the traditional lecture method of learning in order to form
lasting connections to the lesson content.

Throughout the semester I have used several new instructional strategies and teaching
methods in order to improve student engagement and understanding of lesson content. As I
continue to develop my curriculum and improve upon my teaching practices, I hope to
incorporate a variety of strategies in order to facilitate higher-level learning and reach all of my
students equally. By designing and practicing the delivery of these strategies within my lesson
plan content, I have been able to see which strategies meet the different needs of my students as
well as measure their growth and comprehension as a result of the different method applications.
The group of students in my morning class this year, to which I introduced each of the
new strategies, is a small but diverse class. The group consists of ten junior students who are in
the culinary program for their third year. Due to some recent curriculum sequence re-alignment,
the group is very small. Going forward in subsequent years, the lessons that are designed for this
course level will be taught to a group of up-to 25 students. This particular class is comprised of
students with many varying backgrounds, skill sets and abilities. In the group of ten, there are
five males and five females. The students come from four different school districts, in both rural
and urban areas. One student has a behavioral IEP, while two others have IEPs for learning
disabilities. Three students in the class are native Spanish speakers, with two in the ELL
program. During the semester, each lesson was taught in a typical classroom setting, with some
time spent in the culinary kitchen and dining room space. The lessons also made use of the small
demonstration kitchen that is located in one of our classrooms. The instructional strategies I used
were each designed with the diverse group in mind and take maximum advantage of the physical
resources available.
The first strategy that I chose to utilize and teach this year was the use of brainstorming
(both individual and group) to solve a problem or series of problems. I chose this strategy to

incorporate as part of my kitchen measurement essentials review because not only had the
students had prior knowledge of the lesson content, but I also assumed that many or most of the
students in my class would also have prior exposure to brainstorming as a strategy (either
informally or as part of instruction in other classes). I felt that this was a good place to start,
building on prior knowledge and comfort levels, while introducing a new strategy. The students
were given a scenario and asked to first brainstorm solutions on their own and then as a group, in
order to come up with the best solution. Brainstorming this way helped solidify the measurement
review because there were many different ways to solve the problem and the students had to use
information from their previous years studies to come to a class conclusion. This strategy also
emphasized teamwork, collaboration and the importance of valuing the ideas of others. I feel that
my goals were met during this activity, because the students worked well together, had a
respectful and productive dialogue and came up with some solutions to the problem that even I
didnt originally think of.
The students responded well to the delivery of this lesson, and seemed to enjoy doing an
activity that involved both individual thinking/work and group collaboration. They were excited
to share their solutions and to hear the ideas of their peers. One small drawback of the delivery
of this method was the time it took to explain and teach the method itself. I didnt think it would
be a good idea to assume that everyone knew exactly what brainstorming was, so I felt it was
important to create a handout and PowerPoint to outline what I was going to be asking the
students to do and how they can use brainstorming in the future. This took a good chunk of time
to explain, but now that they understand it and have used it, I hope they will be more comfortable
and quick with this type of activity in the future. When I use this lesson in subsequent classes, I

may need to break the activities up over a few class periods, or have the students work in small
groups to maximize efficiency with future (larger class size) groups.
The second instructional strategy that I have implemented this semester is the use of daily
journaling to promote self-reflection and improvement, independent thinking, and to enhance
writing and comprehension skills. At the beginning of the year, the students were assigned a
writing journal that is kept in class, as well as a set of guidelines for their journal entries. Each
day the students are assigned a reflection question to write about. Some of the students are
natural, gifted writers and took to this activity right away. Other students needed more guidance
and corrective action to achieve the minimum goals of 5 lines per entry, complete sentences, neat
handwriting, etc. The students each write a private entry in their journal but are also encouraged
to share their ideas verbally with the class. This creates an ongoing discussion and reinforces
prior learning. The topics are always content related but also sometimes draw on personal
experiences, creative thinking, soft skills and goals/values. Although this activity takes up some
valuable time each day, I think it has enhanced a lot of the other lessons that I have designed by
getting students to think about and express their ideas in relation to the topics as we move
through them. It also opens up the lines of communication between me and each individual
student by providing a concrete resource for feedback. However, when my student group is
larger in the future, I may only be able to do a few journal entries a week, instead of daily, in
order to save time.
A third strategy that I successfully implemented this quarter was the use of a case study to
help students learn about the processes and procedures of making culinary stocks. After a
number of theory lessons (and pre-reading) on stock making, the students were presented with a
hypothetical case. In the scenario, the students were asked to identify a number of mistakes that

the characters made, what problems were caused by the mistakes, and also how the students
would correct and prevent the problems in the future. I also again presented the students with a
brief overview of what a case study is, and how and why case studies can be used to analyze and
learn from different scenarios. The students responded very well to the use of this case study and
I will be sure to implement additional cases into my future lessons. Using the case study was a
great way to have students test their knowledge in a safe environment and work with their peers
to come up with solutions, before even setting foot in the lab kitchen. The students were also
asked to act out the solutions to their problems in a short role-playing skit, which got them
thinking about what they would say and do in real life.
I thought the delivery of this instructional strategy was successful because the students
appeared engaged and were able to come up with some great ideas and solutions. They were
also able to clearly apply what they had learned later on when they were actually making the
stocks themselves in lab. I even heard the students saying things like well, I already know the
next step without having to look at my recipe, because the cook in the case study forgot to do it.
Some students were hesitant to act out their skits in front of their classmates, but each seemed to
understand that it was a safe way to make mistakes before doing the work in the kitchen.
The final method that I practiced using this semester was the use of simulations and role
playing in order to emulate real-world situations. For this method, I used actual data from our
most recent health inspection to emphasize the importance of food safety and sanitation. The
content that was used in this lesson is built upon each year, culminating with the examination for
ServSafe certification at the end of senior year. It is important that the students stay current and
aware of the important details for safe food handling throughout their time in the program. For
the simulation, I asked students to access the PA Department of Agriculture website using the

ipads and research answers to several pre-activity questions. I then provided teams of two to
three students with a blank self-inspection form and asked them to pretend to be health
inspectors. The students used the forms to guide them on a walk-through of our physical space
and to evaluate sanitation and food safety violations. Each pair of students was then asked to
analyze and report their findings, paying special attention to any critical or repeat violations, and
provide corrective action. This activity allowed the students to look at sanitation from a different
perspective than they were familiar with. Instead of the student or employee perspective, they
were now using the owner/manager or inspector perspective. This not only emphasized the
details for proper food safety practices, but also the reasons of importance behind each item.
I believe that this lesson delivery was successful because it got students up out of their
chairs and actually applying what they have learned to a real-world situation. Ironically, we had
just had a real inspection by the state two days earlier, so I was also able to tie this in as a true
example of importance. The students were able to ask questions, test their knowledge and hold
each other accountable for individual and group success. Having students work in assigned
groups also improved collaboration and solidified the overall teamwork. The students truly took
ownership of their inspections and were invested in the overall safety of the kitchen and the
culinary program. One drawback of this lesson was the time it took to do the initial research
using the ipads. The technology hang-ups took more time than I expected, and some of the
students are still not as comfortable using the ipads as others. As I continue to incorporate the
use of the ipads and other technologies, the students will continue be more comfortable and
timely completing these types of activities.
In general, I think that taking the time to thoroughly plan each of these lessons made for
successful delivery and maximized student comprehension. I also feel it was important to use

additional class time to fully explain why I was using the methods and strategies I chose.
Explaining each method generated a certain amount of buy-in from the students that helped them
understand the instructional goal. As I practice using these strategies more, and students are
better acquainted with them, it will become more natural for all involved. I also believe that
having well-designed handouts and presentation materials made the activities more successful.
This provided a reference tool for students who are visual learners and also kept everyone on
track with the assigned tasks. I feel that each of the methods and strategies that I tried could be
applied to many different units of study and provide opportunities for individual, small group
and whole-class learning.
Overall, the use of these different strategies made learning (and teaching) more
interactive and increased student engagement. I felt very comfortable trying and using each
method because I saw the value in adding the strategies to my regular methods of delivery. Each
of the strategies that I chose apply especially well to C&T education because they emphasize
experiential learning in real-world scenarios. These strategies have helped to teach me a variety
of ways to bridge the theory content of my classes to the hand-on practical portions. I feel that
including these strategies in the future will increase student engagement, and will reach a diverse
group of students on many levels.
The use of the various methods we learned about this semester will help improve my
teaching practices by strengthening the clarity of my delivery and improving the organization
and scope of my lessons. Differentiating my instruction allows me to better reach all of my
students through activities that are interesting, engaging and that encourage active participation.
Using a variety of tools will help ensure that students are able to retain and apply lesson content
to their hands-on practice in the classroom, and continue to prepare them for the real world.