This year, I had students choose many of their own cooking projects and gave them choice in how they showcased their work.  Videos were a popular choice.

I had never heard of Four Corners, I like that idea.  SWOT is familiar and a useful activity in a variety of scenarios.  Entry and Exit Cards are familiar and seemed to be the same as Bell Ringers and Exit Tickents?  It is good to be reminded of the importance of focusing on the process rather than the outcome.

Giving students choice is one way I plan for engagement.  Building a culture of learning which emphasizes putting in the work and engaging in the struggle, where failure is an opportunity not an ending point is very important.  In culinary, I always stress that if a student does not reach the desired product goals, what is important is to learn from that experience, figure out why/what went wrong.  Learn from our mistakes.

Making activities relevant is so important.  When students know how a skill will be useful and connected to their life, they are so much more eager to engage.  

Can't help but think that the world in general could use this knoweldge, a reminder that people around us can be going through and reacting to trauma that we are unaware of.  We could all use reminders of just how important it is that we be as humane to one-another as we can.  Self-care is something that I feel gets mentioned in education often, but that it tends not to be genuinely prioritized.  The culture of education could be improved by really putting in the work to ensure a healthy culture of self-care.

Our brains are developing until we are 25 years old, so students we often think of as young adults do not always have the physiological tools to reason and react in they ways we might hope.  Dysregulation can lead to behavioral choices which are not always in a child's best interest, it is imperative that we are on the lookout for signs of trauma so that we can help support students when they experience this.

75% of teachers experience some level of vicarious trauma due to their work in schools with students. Wow.

I knew that students in our schools experience varying ranges of challenges.  I admit I was suprised to read that we should assume that there is a student in every class who has experienced PTSD and/or Trauma.

I utilize technology in the classroom daily, there are many benefits.  I also operate a catering company and a coffee shop with our students, the relevance and importance are immediately obvious to students and this keeps them engaged.

Lesson planning and curriculum mapping must be processes, they need to be changed and adapted as we observe how students engage with each lesson/unit.