Some of my readers know that I retired early from my position as a FACS educator in Minnesota.
I decided to continue my connection to education as a substitute teacher. I am subbing mostly in the school that I was employed by, for 14 years.
I enjoyed my co-workers and when they need a sub I try to make myself available to sub in their classrooms. The school is over crowded so when the teachers I sub for have prep their room is most often being used by what we call a "traveling teacher." So....I sit in the FACS office and read or talk to my former co-workers.
Today I got a belly laugh that made me literally cry!
I pretty much hand picked my replacement. Sara was a teacher at our school and was moved out of her position with seniority but she was and is great. She has been having an interesting year battling to keep one of the programs that is near and dear to my heart. We have had many text and phone conversations.
Today she says, "Have I told you about the potholder situation in clothing and fashion?" I said, "No." She said I would not believe it and she really wants to start a photo book for me titled, You are not going to believe this.
We have an activity for student to get to know their sewing machine. They make a pot holder. She told them to make a 9 x 9 pattern out of paper to keep their cutting straight. She saw a line of kids waiting at the paper cutter and asked what they were doing. A girl said she could get a straighter cut with the paper cutter. Thinking they were cutting their paper pattern she went over to check on them thinking someone would chop their fingers off.
She got there and said, "WAIT, what are you doing?" They were lined up ready to cut their fabric with the paper cutter. Sara said her first thought was, "Jane is not going to believe this." Unfortunately, I do believe it.
It is so funny. In reality, we have gotten so far away from such basic tasks. Simple things, like cutting fabric, are so far removed from every day activities that students don't even get they are a million miles away from how to use a basic tool.
I realized this several years ago when students didn't know the difference between a pin, needle or safety pin. I never thought that I would ever have to demonstrate how to use a stick pin until I saw girls pinning their patterns by poking the pin in the fabric standing up. (Another chuckle)
Today I showed a video about memory in a Psychology class. One thing that I know for sure is that if someone took a FACS/Home Ec course in high school they have a memory of that course. It might not be a good memory but they have one. You rarely hear these kinds of stories about Algebra II.
This in fact is more evidence that learning by doing and application will stay with us for a much longer period of time. Tech Educators got this concept a long time ago!
Please share some of your FACS/Home Ec stories because, I know, they are most often fun and really create a good laugh!
With Love from your retired FACS teacher, Jane
Great post! I can comPLETEly believe all of this, I see these things all of the time! First of all, it is absolutely ridiculous how poor scissor skills have become amongst high schoolers. In just the eight years I've been teaching I have seen a DRAMATIC decline in this ability. I now have kids who don't even realize they are holding the scissors wrong, let alone using them incorrectly. As for cutting a reasonably straight line, oh my goodness it is bad. It's so sad.
ReplyDeleteAnd as for the pinning, I laughed but was also saddened by the stand-up pins reference, as I have struggled with this for years. Even after demonstrating (multiple times), I still had difficulty getting kids to grasp the concept. The biggest sanity saver ever was when I came up with the phrase "Tuck tuck pin stuck" - for whatever reason that enabled them to get the idea and remember how to properly use a straight pin!
More validation for FACS programs.
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