Blog #1 October 11th 2011
My workplace is called Y.E.P and it is at Loren Eden Elementary School. It's a youth enrichment program designed to give students time to complete
homework in a safe environment and to give students the opportunity to learn about multiple activities. It is a large cooperation that is used in a lot of
schools around the country. My workplace is in Hayward and it is an elementary school. During Y.E.P there are about eight to nine adults working on
campus involved in Y.E.P. People that work there have all graduated college or are in college. My workplace serves parents that sign their kids up from
Y.E.P meaning that the children can stay until six o'clock so the parents do not have to leave work in a rush. It also serves students because they are being exposed to new homework strategies and also to new skills such as culinary skills, or physical education skills. A strength that my workplace has is that it has all kids are assigned into a group according to grade level so that the kids are well supervised. A weakness would be that my workplace does not need me until 1pm to 6pm so I would not get all 75 hours.
homework in a safe environment and to give students the opportunity to learn about multiple activities. It is a large cooperation that is used in a lot of
schools around the country. My workplace is in Hayward and it is an elementary school. During Y.E.P there are about eight to nine adults working on
campus involved in Y.E.P. People that work there have all graduated college or are in college. My workplace serves parents that sign their kids up from
Y.E.P meaning that the children can stay until six o'clock so the parents do not have to leave work in a rush. It also serves students because they are being exposed to new homework strategies and also to new skills such as culinary skills, or physical education skills. A strength that my workplace has is that it has all kids are assigned into a group according to grade level so that the kids are well supervised. A weakness would be that my workplace does not need me until 1pm to 6pm so I would not get all 75 hours.
Blog #2 October 18th 2011
My mentor's name is Mishana Mosley and her job at Y.E.P is to organize and direct the development in Y.E.P and schedule/conduct a variety of after
school functions that provide a safe environment for students and all after school activities. She is also a student teacher working to gain her teaching
credential. A typical week in Y.E.P is described as busy and also very schedule based. There are four groups that are assigned by age/ grade. Each group
is given a schedule that keeps them on a specific activity until it's time to switch to another activity. Activities that the groups have are culinary skill
workshops, physical education class, and also homework time which gives the students quiet time to complete their homework. She desired this job because she loves to teach. My mentor realized that she would have to have a bachelors degree.
Blog #3 October 25th 2011
My main responsibility is to create a culinary program that would expose the children to new cooking skills and also healthy recipes. My title would be the
Student Nutritionist. Each week I am needed to create flyers for parents to know what ingredients are in the recipes I will help their children cook and I also help students with their homework once in a while. I spend time with each group teaching them how to make healthy easy recipes that they could make themselves at home. Usually I would come to work at 1pm and make flyers until school got out. Then I would at my ingredients ready that I would need for the recipe that week and figure out what exactly I would have the kids do. Once the group I would be cooking with is ready /done with homework time, I would bring the ingredients to the classroom with the help of a helper and start my lesson. If I was needed to do something else for another adult such as get something from another room after my lesson was done then that would be another assignment I would do. This one time I had to teach a certain group how to make Halloween Trail Mix and I did not have enough time to really think about what I was going to do so it was kind of a mess when the kids got started. There was popcorn on the floor, kids were not getting the right amounts and I think some kids got more then other students which was not fair, but now I know that I need time to think about how I want the recipe to be carried out. Another time I was kind of nervous because it was my first time teaching the youngest group how to make fruit salad and I was afraid that the kids would hurt themselves, and that they would not listen, but it was so cute because they were all very respectful and only two kids had minor accidents. I was very proud of my kids, and the recipe turned out so good.
Student Nutritionist. Each week I am needed to create flyers for parents to know what ingredients are in the recipes I will help their children cook and I also help students with their homework once in a while. I spend time with each group teaching them how to make healthy easy recipes that they could make themselves at home. Usually I would come to work at 1pm and make flyers until school got out. Then I would at my ingredients ready that I would need for the recipe that week and figure out what exactly I would have the kids do. Once the group I would be cooking with is ready /done with homework time, I would bring the ingredients to the classroom with the help of a helper and start my lesson. If I was needed to do something else for another adult such as get something from another room after my lesson was done then that would be another assignment I would do. This one time I had to teach a certain group how to make Halloween Trail Mix and I did not have enough time to really think about what I was going to do so it was kind of a mess when the kids got started. There was popcorn on the floor, kids were not getting the right amounts and I think some kids got more then other students which was not fair, but now I know that I need time to think about how I want the recipe to be carried out. Another time I was kind of nervous because it was my first time teaching the youngest group how to make fruit salad and I was afraid that the kids would hurt themselves, and that they would not listen, but it was so cute because they were all very respectful and only two kids had minor accidents. I was very proud of my kids, and the recipe turned out so good.
Blog #4 November 1st 2011
I am thinking of setting up a culinary arts program for the students so they will understand the importance of eating and staying healthy. I feel like kids do not have a good idea of what is healthy and what unhealthy foods can do to your body. Children now in days grow up eating McDonald's food and oer
unhealthy fast food that is in no way healthy. A statistic shows that there is a growing rate of obesity and diabetes in America which is why I chose to create my project to be a healthy learning experience. I am excited to do this project because it is a way for me to learn how to work with kids in a
professional way. It teaches me responsibility because if a kid gets hurt while participating in one of my recipes it is my job to see that they are okay. When I grow up I will be a culinary professional and this project give me a chance to demonstrate my skills in culinary arts for the future. In order to accomplish my goals for this project, I will need to get recipes that are safe for kids to make and I will also need to prepare a way I will teach them how to cook the recipe I choose. The most difficult thing I have had so far in my project is planning they way that the children will be organized during the lesson whether it would be in groups or in partners so I need to work on that.
unhealthy fast food that is in no way healthy. A statistic shows that there is a growing rate of obesity and diabetes in America which is why I chose to create my project to be a healthy learning experience. I am excited to do this project because it is a way for me to learn how to work with kids in a
professional way. It teaches me responsibility because if a kid gets hurt while participating in one of my recipes it is my job to see that they are okay. When I grow up I will be a culinary professional and this project give me a chance to demonstrate my skills in culinary arts for the future. In order to accomplish my goals for this project, I will need to get recipes that are safe for kids to make and I will also need to prepare a way I will teach them how to cook the recipe I choose. The most difficult thing I have had so far in my project is planning they way that the children will be organized during the lesson whether it would be in groups or in partners so I need to work on that.
Blog #5 November 8th 2011
Today at my WLE, I taught a lesson to the oldest group (5th-6th) about how to make home made Pico De Gallo which is Spanish for salsa. My mentor and I talked about somehow having some sort of Family night at the school at which I would teach students and their parents how to teach them the last
healthy recipe I will teach at the school. I haven't accomplished much on the project because my mentor needs to set up a date it can happen, then we
have to make flyers and I still have to come up with that recipe. The difficult part is going to be guessing how many parents show up and how much of the necessary ingredients we have to get.
healthy recipe I will teach at the school. I haven't accomplished much on the project because my mentor needs to set up a date it can happen, then we
have to make flyers and I still have to come up with that recipe. The difficult part is going to be guessing how many parents show up and how much of the necessary ingredients we have to get.
Blog #6 November 15th 2011
The leadership skill I think I use the most would be Collaborating Productively because I am needed to not only lead the students through the recipe but
also encouraging them to try something new and hope they gain good culinary skills. I think I am using this skill well because I constantly make sure
students know what they are doing and so far, a lot of students at least try the recipe. I could improve in my leading skills because I often let the students talk after the recipe and there have been a couple of times where students have talked over me which was irritating. This leadership skill helps me do my work because when I am working in a group and my grade depends on the groups effort: I will be able to not only regain the group's focus but also encourage them the work at a better work quality. My mentor used Collaborating productively because she is needed to schedule events with other staff members. She also has to lead the entire program with a positive attitude to create a positive atmosphere.
also encouraging them to try something new and hope they gain good culinary skills. I think I am using this skill well because I constantly make sure
students know what they are doing and so far, a lot of students at least try the recipe. I could improve in my leading skills because I often let the students talk after the recipe and there have been a couple of times where students have talked over me which was irritating. This leadership skill helps me do my work because when I am working in a group and my grade depends on the groups effort: I will be able to not only regain the group's focus but also encourage them the work at a better work quality. My mentor used Collaborating productively because she is needed to schedule events with other staff members. She also has to lead the entire program with a positive attitude to create a positive atmosphere.
Blog #7 November 22nd 2011
One thing I learned about myself during this WLE is that I really work well under stress. One challenge I faced was time management because I
sometimes miscalculated the time needed for the recipe and cut into another groups cooking time. A life lesson I have learned throughout the WLE was
that as children grow up, it gets harder to make them listen. One way I was creative during my time at the Elementary was how I had to improvise with
some of the ingredients We were making apple dippers one time and I wad kids make sauces to dip apple pieces into and all we had cream-cheese but we needed yogurt so what I did was substitute the cream-cheese for the yogurt and add whip cream and brow sugar. It turns out that the "Cream-cheese Surprise" was the classes favorite.I like to believe that my culinary classes have an impact on how the students think about eating healthy food. I used to think that teaching was easy , but now i see that teaching is so hard because not every student pays attention and I had to repeat myself so many times. If someone asked me why what I was doing at my WLE was important I would say that it's important that kids know when they grow up they do not have to depend on fast food places because it is really unhealthy. I have learned that not everyone you cook for is going to like the food you make and it's just something you can not evade.
sometimes miscalculated the time needed for the recipe and cut into another groups cooking time. A life lesson I have learned throughout the WLE was
that as children grow up, it gets harder to make them listen. One way I was creative during my time at the Elementary was how I had to improvise with
some of the ingredients We were making apple dippers one time and I wad kids make sauces to dip apple pieces into and all we had cream-cheese but we needed yogurt so what I did was substitute the cream-cheese for the yogurt and add whip cream and brow sugar. It turns out that the "Cream-cheese Surprise" was the classes favorite.I like to believe that my culinary classes have an impact on how the students think about eating healthy food. I used to think that teaching was easy , but now i see that teaching is so hard because not every student pays attention and I had to repeat myself so many times. If someone asked me why what I was doing at my WLE was important I would say that it's important that kids know when they grow up they do not have to depend on fast food places because it is really unhealthy. I have learned that not everyone you cook for is going to like the food you make and it's just something you can not evade.
Blog #8 November 29th 2011
In order to find a WLE I had to research online about specific job sites and if they had internships. I also had to ask around the family so that I could find out if anyone knew about potential opportunities. The best way to get hired is to be professional and know how to respond to questions.I think being a professional means that you are very responsible. You have to know what you want and be confident that you will achieve your goals.
Blog #9 December 6th 2011
Today I helped Ms.Melinda teach the youngest group how to personally make their own gingerbread men. I was able to help kindergarteners and first graders spread their frosting and help they decide how to decorate the gingerbread men. One way I have improved as an intern is that I am more independent. At first I needed my mentor every minute to answer my questions , but as the weeks went on I needed her less and less. Now I am able to start my lessons without her. What makes my workplace so great is that the kids are so nice and they really make it worth coming to work.
Blog #10 December 13th 2011
I'm going to miss the kids at my wle. I have grown attached and I feel like once I finally got the hang of things it feels kind of wrong to leave. I think next year I want to work with adults because working with kids stresses me out and they need to be under constant watch which is very difficult when you are trying to teach a lesson. I still want to be in the culinary arts field so I can see other opportunities it has. This wle made me start thinking about all the different positions the culinary arts profession has for example a caterer or a restaurant manager.
