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Here is a link to the SIE web page.

http://www.vcc.ca/programscourses/program-areas/program-highlights/sie/

Here is another link to the SIE facebook page is you feel incline to go there!

https://www.facebook.com/VCCSchoolOfInstructorEducation


Both of these websites have a ton of stuff and useful information for anyone thinking of taking the PID course that is offered at Vancouver Community College.

Hi bloggers

Here is a few blog addresses of my fellow students from the 3240 on line course for the Provincial Instructors Diploma

There is some insightful readings here from some of the students currently enrolled in the program and thank you for visiting my blog. I suggest to you to go to some of these blog sites and take a moment to read them. If your hunting around for PID information because you are thinking of taking the course, this part of the course 3240, is as good as an on line course can get. It's very self directed, requires you to set times for your scholastics( kinda like exercise for your brain). I highly recommend the PID course if you are thinking of entering the world of education. To be honest you must have a PID in order to work in a college or school of any kind, although there are a few exceptions out there. Take the course and get smarter, you won't regret it

Paul


   : https://vivianachiorean.wordpress.com

    Anu Kumar Blog

    nursed-media.tumblr.com

If you have kids, then you need to watch this, its all good!!

This young fella Ramsey Mohsen make sense. Give him an ear for 5 minutes.
People get fired everyday for not knowing the proper ways to use social media
Is Ramseys idea something that you will see at your kids school someday? Maybe there are schools already doing this.


https://youtu.be/eCbuP1CywEc


Paul

Here my podcast about a topic on the Biotechnology in the food industry. Its only 5 minutes and a bit It's just me going in a few directions on this topic. Have a listen

Cheers,

Paul

http://my.brainshark.com/Podcast-Biotech-in-Food-969105445

Pecha Kucha Power Point on how to make a Chateau Potato

If you have never heard of a Pecha Kucha Power Point it is a Power Point that has voice over it instead of the written word. Pecha Kucha is Japanese for Chitty Chat. If you have never tried to make one, you should give it a go. Have a look at mine. Let me know what you think.

Thanks Paul



http://my.brainshark.com/Potato-Pecha-Kucha-807367927

Technology is in schools now...big time. Colleges better be really ready for these students when they arrive!!

Here's a look at what the kids are learning. If higher education is still resisting then they should see what the kids are up to these days. Technology is soooo here to stay. Forget all of that paper and pencils and rulers and well you get the idea. Ipads, PC's, Laptops and all that stuff are part of the new age of Tech. Got yours?

Looking at Assessments from my point of Teaching

                                               ASSESSMENTS IN A NEW LIGHT

          Abstract                       

My second journal is based on the focused conversation for chapters 4 through 8 on the book Teaching Naked, How Moving Technology Out of Your College Classroom Will Improve Student Learning by Jose Antonio Bowen.


Keeping the focused conversation in mind I am to express my feelings and gut reactions on a topic, sentence or phrase that catches my attention as I read these chapters and put them into 4 categories. The line that I gravitated to was on page 95. “Assessments that promote learning combine low stakes- and high quality feedback.”


These are the parameters of what my journal will be written on.


1. Objective, something factual, what did I read, see or hear that caught my attention and write about it.

2. Reflective, what was my gut reaction to the piece I read


3. Interpretative, to reflect on my gut reaction, why did I have this gut reaction


4. Decisional, what will I do as a Teacher because of this reaction.
　

Objective

(Fact) Assessments that are done well need to motivate students, but motivation is complex, variable, situational and personal. Motivation varies with our interest but also with our expectations of success, effort, and intrinsic value of the task (Pintrich, 1988, 1989; Wolf, Smith, & Birnbaum, 1995). As a group , faculty are highly motivated by intrinsic value of a task (Froh, Menges, & Walker. 1993) and feelings of competency (Blackburn, Lawrence, Bieber, & Trautvetter, 1991) but it may also be useful to remind ourselves of the importance to our students of other types of motivation　


Reflective

     Our entire culinary arts program is based on many sets of assessments while attending the college program. For every student that makes it to the end of the course they will write a final exam to get their diploma that allows them to continue with their career path. They come back for their 2nd and 3rd year assessments, both times it requires the students to be in class for one month, learning what is being asked of them, how the assessment will be scored, how to do it properly through Chef demos and flash tests that are basically spur of the moment questions to keep the students on their collective toes. They end with a final cooking assessment at the end of the month that they are marked on. The Instructors address everything from how they are dressed, their setup, how they are performing throughout the assessment and then the final products are tasted by the |Instructor and the predetermined timing pieces that go along with that assessment are measured. When it's over, we talk to each student individually and ask them; how do you think you did?

     This is not only a great ice breaker for the student and the Instructor, it invariably makes the student do a self assessment of their day. They are assessing themselves as they are working too, by checking the time frequently, looking at each others work to see where they are in their mis en place (having everything in it‘s place). You even see them standing in one place staring off into the far reaches of the galaxies wondering to themselves; have I forgotten something? How do I do this properly?

     We are not allowed to give any assistance or guidance what so ever, so it makes it difficult for me as an Instructor to plainly see a mistake and not to be able to tell the student about it. We will give them timing countdowns so that they are aware of the exact time, but that is about all we can do, after all it’s their assessment. not mine.

     After coming across this piece on page 94 of Teaching Naked by Antonio Bowen, it was apparent to me that I was going to write about assessments as my entry for my 2nd journal. I have been through several tough assessments in my career. I know how this feels! I know how it is supposed to work! I know what the benefits of being assessed are! But the question is, do I really know all this stuff? I have never had a terrible life shattering bad assessment. How less motivating is a bad assessment? Why do we even need to be assessed? Will this assessment even help me as I go through my career? Am I going to quit because of a bad assessment? These are a few of the thoughts that ran through my brain as I came across Assessments. 　

Interpretive

     My feelings towards this topic are strong. Of course we need to be assessed. How are the students or anyone for that matter ever going to know how they are really doing if they are never assessed? Are they following the set schedule? Are they meeting the parameters that were set for them by the Instructor? Do they have the passion to see it through? How will they work through their problems?

     These are good questions to be asked. In the big picture there are certain questions that will be asked upon the success or failure of each of these students from their assessments. In fact if there is an overwhelming failure or success rate, then the questions begin about the quality of the program and the assessors or the content of the assessment itself, the validity of the assessment is also questioned. How often are these assessments updated? Whom is responsible for these updates? The Industry Training Alliance makes sure that these are kept updated as each of the students assessments are forwarded to the I.T.A. along with the Instructors names and their signatures.

     All of the Instructors take these assessments very seriously. In fact the Province of B.C. and the Faculty at V.C.C. takes these seriously. We hold the students future in our hands based on one month of practice and one final cooking lab performed by each student. When I sit down with each student I have so say it is a bit nerve racking for me as well, especially if I am about to fail a student based on a poor performance. It’s much easier if I am passing a student, even though we might put them through the mill about their day. Where they can improve and how to improve. Using different and more useful methods to attain the preset out come. In the long run, telling a student that they have passed and they will receive their Red Seal is a wonderful feeling for the student and for the Instructor as well.

     To tell a student they have failed and need to redo the program can be a traumatic experience for them. How I handle this part is a practice in sensitivity training. We don’t want to completely blow the student away with negative verbage. Instead we revert back to the self assessment they talked to us about in the beginning. We will go through many parts of the day and query them as to what they were doing. An example would be as I was watching them put a consommé together and the consommé started to boil like mad and it inevitably split open and the consommé was a failure, I would ask them about the tasks they were performing at that moment. How did they let the consommé get away on them? Did they practice making this recipe. They would all come back with, yes Chef I know I messed it up, I didn’t practice making in a while, but I put it up for assessment any way; it is better than nothing they would say. These types of students get it! They know they didn’t do very well and have accepted their fate. The tough one can be the ones who think they did really well. These students are the ones that are tougher to evaluate. There is always an air of I deserve it. By the end of the interview they understand what has transpired and either reapply to do it again or they don’t. We can only grade each plate as it’s presented to us. Simple.

Decisional

     Moving forward with this new knowledge of assessment I am asking myself, in what ways can I make this assessment or any assessment the best overall experience for the students? When I say the ‘best’ I mean how will the students benefit from being assessed by me?

     Assessment should be viewed as a tool to measure the effectiveness of teaching and learning processes and should not be interpreted as the objective of a students learning experience. (Yong and Lim, 2008). Wise words that apply to the majority of my assessments. It isn't the end of anything but    a beginning to a new and more enlightened learning experience. That's life! Looking back at the students that have had to come back to be re-assessed is an area that concerns me. Some of the responses to questions I have posed to them during the feedback portion of their final cooking assessment are easily fixed. It's usually timing issues or they don't know the equipment that well or they forgot to turn the oven on. These are all excuses for the non prepared. Sometimes their cooking just isn't very good. When a student comes in prepared and listens well to all directions, understands the theoretical and the practical part of their assessment and has a very good grasp of their timing, as all dishes are time based and have to be presented in there best form at a predetermined time that is shared with the students.

      A majority of the students that have struggled, all say similar things, that they lacked the time to study, are too busy with work or they have external issues that has hindered their thought process. When the assessments for the students that performed poorly come to an end. I will go over some pertinent points, with a caring attitude and a bit of humour. The influx of something humours or maybe a real life situation that I was involved with that didn't turn out so well could help them feel a bit better. An obvious training point for me that I will use from now on is that all the students get the same amount of time to prep for the assessment. Also the Chefs put a lot of energy into making these assessment go as well as they can. Perhaps connecting through email or twitter for help might be an avenue worth looking at. Does it look good on the Instructors when they have an entire class that performs well and passes their assessments, maybe it does and maybe it doesn't. I will try my best to teach the way I was taught, instil in them the profound career path they have chosen is full of adventure and promise as long as they are willing to be taught and learn, and have a better understanding of what the critical factors of passing a Red Seal Culinary Assessment done by Chef Paul really is.

References

Jose Antonio Bowen. 2012 Teaching Naked How Moving Technology Out Of Your College Classroom Will Improve Student Learning

Sharan B. Merriam Ralph G Brockett 1997, 2007 The Profession and Practice of Adult Education An Introduction


Yong and Lim, 2008)

http://www.academia.edu/3706290/The_Benefits_of_School_Based_Assessment




　

My blogs purpose

The Purpose of my blog is to have a place where I can post my writings and findings using this form of multi media to help me attain my PID. I am an Instructor in the Culinary Arts and going through this evolution as a person is both exciting and a bit eerie at the same time. All fears aside I am loving my new career choice to take my knowledge and use it to help the young chef of today become even better than they ever thought they could be. Hopefully a few of them will read some of my blog and gain something from it, even just a thought. Afterall innovation and creative thinking all starts with one thought...

Cross functional teamwork in the classroom

Journal 1 3240 Paul Crawford

Focused conversation regarding cross-functional teams is the choice I’ve made for my 1st journal entry.


Objective

      As I was reading the chapters of Teaching Naked by Antonio Bowen, 2007 and anticipating what was going to grab my attention, I was finding myself able to relate to a lot of the content, I could relate to the majority of high tech communications, the usefulness of Facebook as well as the spooky factor with Facebook. Interesting fact is the culinary department does not currently advocate the use of Facebook. Twitter is the mode of choice .I have personally used texting and emailing as tools of communication with some students and faculty members. The choice became easier when I came upon the Cross Functional Teams piece in chapter 3 pg 61. The fact is much like a multiplayer video game, teaching culinary at VCC is designed around the students being placed into groups in order to accomplish the daily lesson plan and culinary tasks whether it be for servicing the guests at the schools food outlets, or if the class is an instructional type where there is no guest services required.

     Similar to multiplayer video games, our classes are diverse. The students can experience a variety of scenarios such as a shortage of products or absenteeism . The curriculum may change on any given day for reasons that can be out of our control. Skill levels, aptitude, culture and attitude all play an important role. Although I have not participated in many on line video game scenarios, our classes are definitely tailored in the mode of a multiplayer game.


Reflective

      As I came across the Cross Functional Team piece I thought to myself, yes... this is exactly what I will write about because it’s my everyday challenge. I enter my week with the students and assign the groups based on skill level and competencies. We want the groups to be somewhat balanced so that the learning experience is evenly distributed. That being said competition is always in the air.


Interpretative 

    My gut reaction to the Cross Functional Teams was interesting because I really enjoy group settings. I can identify with group settings because that is how I was trained and have worked in the field for many years. Within each group, as in a hotel or restaurant setting when there is quite a few employees or in my case now with students. The Brigade will work in different sections either baking, in the preparation area, on the hot line or in the garde manger section.

     A group setting is good for many reasons. Each student within a group is required to pull their own weight. Communication, being accountable for their actions as well as their attitude, grooming, timing and of course quality and consistency. These factors are some of the elements that will contribute to either their success or failure. Without this learned structure it would be mayhem. In a real kitchen setting it would lead to less customers and eventually no employment.


Decisional

      While the mandate at VCC is to put the students into groups based on the enrolment level, the groups can range from 2 to 4 at the most with a total of 20 students per class. An interesting idea could be “best group of the day” based on quality of cognitive skills. The group that performs their learned skills the best such as the best timing, working clean and the quality of food. As the Instructor I perform a plethora of demonstrations on how to make a variety of dishes. The students must pay attention, take notes, ask questions, taste the food and critique it. We give the students a chance to give us some feed back. This creates an atmosphere of trust and respect in an instant. I have tried this a few times and now that I am reliving it, I think it is an idea worth trying more often. The young Chefs take great pride when they are graded on the spot as a group. When the assessment of the groups goes well it really can create a fabulous feeling of accomplishment, reassurance and some satisfaction that perhaps one day they could become Chef themselves. Ultimately as educators we would love for each and every student that enrols in the culinary arts to become a world renown Chef but we know that is a big ask.

April 2015


Now that I am starting 3240 as part of my PID journey, I am back to my blog site that I have been ignoring a bit. I will be posting, writing and anything else that I can put in here to assist with my goal of getting my Diploma.


Since I starting on my quest for higher ed. I have to say that once I have found the MOTIVATION to sit down, turn on the computer, get relevant with where |I am in whatever course I am in, and stay FOCUSED. Libraries can be good but there are a ton of distractions there, coffee shops.....the same thing, distractions are the killer for me!


Now I have made an office at home, it's almost quiet, no TV is a must for sure. Have a beverage and set a time limit for school. SIMPLE.


Lets Blog