Preparing a Learning Activity
Topic: Saving plan through home cooking
Cooking is a skill that subsists among arts acquired from the ancient days and is still appreciated to date. You must acknowledge that there is no such thing as perfect food –only the idea of it-and that making people happy is the only reason why people strive towards perfection in cooking (Thomas, 2105). Broadly, when we reflect on the art of cooking, the reason we cook and the various sub-cultures and cultures of food that exist globally; that reason simply is nourishment. It is only through cooking that lasting memories are formed for instance, a memory as humble as wonderful cherry or a beautiful piece of toasted bread (Thomas, 2015). Home cooking, moreover, balances the nourishment and food memories with excitement and joy. Despite the excitement one gets in mastering the culinary art, home cooking allows a family to enjoy numerous health, life style and financial benefits.
Firstly, home cooking improves and enriches an individual’s life. Once you start making meals in your home, you attain organizational skills, time management skills, good planning skills, and confidence and creativity skills among others. Also, home cooking gives you control over ingredients and thus allowing you to evade unhealthy preservatives and additives used in fast and processed foods (Pujitha, 2014). Additionally, it offers you the chance to more nutritious recipes and control over the quality of your diets which are critical contributors to good health. Further in improving ones health, home cooking renders the chance to regulate not only quality but also the quantity of food you take. In that light, having complete control over the type and amount of food you eat, cooking at home helps you in weight management since you will tend to stick to more reasonable quantities (Pujitha, 2014). In comparison with eating out, making of home meals is very convenient and the food if well prepared with required ingredients is more tasty and safe. The reason many people prefer eating out is because they are lazy to cook, they think their food is not tasty or they do not know how to make good meals. However, we have videos, books and articles that counter these excuses through teaching individuals how to make delicious homemade cuisines that are cheap and easy as well as training them to cooking proficiently (Pujitha, 2014). Lastly, home cooking can be deemed a saving plan as it is cheaper than eating out. When eating from a restaurant, you not only pay for the food you eat but it also drags other payments along such as for the services, the building and staff. Again, in the case of frozen and packaged foods, alongside the cost of the food, you are charged with extra costs of shipping and packaging as well. Through appreciating homemade meals, these food expenses can be cut down and only part of the money spent when eating outside could be used to make delicious and nutritious diets while the rest saved to be used on other things.
Outline
- Introduction and overview of the topic. (4mins)
- Ask for two volunteers who will be asked a few questions on daily expenses, health benefits, and comparison between eating out and making homemade meals. (2mins each)
- Show two videos covering the questions one on people who eat out and the other on those cooking at home which includes health records and expenses.( 3mins)
- Brief discussions with the next person on where you place yourself in line with the videos.( 1min)
- Go to teaching the main topic giving examples while engaging them.(6mins)
- Allow them to ask question and allow answers to come from among them too. (3mins).
- Have them form random groups for accountability, give an assignment, and an evaluation template as you wrap up the learning (extend a little).
In enhancing the audience motivation to learn, there is need to incorporate the Wlodkowski’s five pillars of, enthusiasm, expertise, clarity, empathy and cultural responsiveness. On expertise, after introducing the topic, examples will be obtained from a sample of students testimonies in preceding classes on the amounts of money saved by cooking at home, health scales and how it has improved their lives as well as from the tutor’s own example. Through the volunteers and responses from the discussion after the videos, a tutor will evoke experiences, attitudes and goal perspectives. This takes us to empathy where the tutor will identify with the various attitudes and experiences through examples from personal experiences or those of the previous class to augment the learning session (Tubarks, 2011). Further, enthusiasm requires that the tutor walks the talk meaning that as a tutor one should be the best example. Hence, as a doer, the tutor should have a template showing how much she has been saving from eating homemade meals, her family’s health record that would depict home meals effect on health and the various culinary skills they have acquired which led to improvement of their meals and themselves. The tutor should articulate the topic in terms understood by everyone in their class. In clarifying, the sentences should be simple; questions and examples given should be easy to comprehend and straight to the point so that everyone is able to grasp the concept (Tubarks, 2011). Additionally, the tutor should be able to demonstrate step by step how to fill the template and record the number of times they eat out, how much they spend, the number of times they have cooked and how much they have saved. Also they should have a record on the number of times they have had hospital visits and if home cooking has improved their lives or not in the remarks column. Since every class represents diverse culture, economic strata, race and ethnic groups, it is important that the lecturer creates an environment that is culturally responsive. The tutor will achieve this by using examples that cut across these various groups and respecting the diverse opinions and perspectives, attitudes and experiences even in the event where they disapprove or disagree. A tutor through creating random groups renders a platform for the students to respect one another, appreciate their differences, to participate and to ask questions.
One of the tools that could be used to ensure inclusion of diverse culture is active participation methods (Linda, 2012). This could entail, asking them questions, allowing them to ask questions as well as getting answers from themselves before finalizing the topic. Students could also be called forward to demonstrate and explain their eating habits, show how much they spend on eating outside or how much they save from eating homemade meals and how cooking has enhanced their health and aid in begetting personal skills. Active participation without any prejudice will create a free spirited environment where students are directly involved. Hence, the tutors through engaging them and giving examples from their various cultures will not only appeal to their conscious on diversity but will also enhance effective learning (Linda, 2012). Moreover, cooperative learning and interactive approaches could be another critical tool in a classroom setting of people from diverse culture (Linda, 2012). In ensuring effectiveness and efficiency of this tool, the teacher should create a classroom where students are safe to contribute to discussions as well as ask questions. By respecting the views, opinions and attitudes of the students toward cooking and its importance, the lecturer will be at the forefront in demonstrating respect that the rest of the class will adhere to. The interactive sessions should be spontaneous such as after the video the lecturer could encourage them to speak to the person next to them on their views creating a rapport between them.
Reference
Thomas Keller. MAD: What is cooking? April 11, 2015.
Pujitha Reddy. ListCrux: Top 10 Reasons Why you should learn to Cook Today. October 4, 2014.
Linda Dusenbury. Education World: Creating a Safe Classroom Environment.2012.
Tubarks-The Musings of Stan Sktabut : What makes a motivating instructor? 19 January,2011.