5 Simple Ways to Teach Expectations when Cooking with a Guest Chef

Too often we think by junior high and high school, our students should have mastered manners and etiquette. We think they should understand how to behave when there is a guest speaker or chef. However, it doesn’t take long to realize our students are not coming to us with manners, etiquette, and experiences as they […]
Mastering Kitchen Systems: 3 Ways to Prepare Students for Successful Cooking Lab Days

Cooking lab days are another level when it comes to chaos, stress, and they can even be full of magical moments. Mastering kitchen systems and preparing students for successful cooking lab days can be attainable. If you’ve spent any time in a FACS classroom during a cooking lab, you know how some groups bicker and […]
5 Effective Kitchen Systems During a Cooking Lab

Cooking lab days, you know, one of the main reasons our students sign up for FCS classes. They are the days that can make you feel confident about your classroom management or make you question what full moon, severe weather, or solar flare is throwing your students’ self-control out the window. Let’s be honest, even […]
4 Easy Routine Classroom Systems AFTER a Cooking Lab

The cooking lab is over, but this can also be where new learning can occur. Just because the lab finished, doesn’t mean you can’t have strong systems in place to continue learning. I love a good cooking lab day, but I also really enjoy the reflection piece. It might seem easier to move on and […]
Semi Homemade Cooking Labs in the Family and Consumer Classroom

Finding ways to create semi-homemade recipes in the Family and Consumer classroom can seem time consuming or costly, but the experience and the outcome proves its worth. For many of our students, they haven’t taken the time to create something from scratch. Sometimes it’s the time, or the money, or lacking the resources. I would […]
Using Grills in the Family and Consumer Science Classroom

BBQ grills in a Family and Consumer classroom. Maybe you also have courtyard space at your building? Maybe you also want to think outside the classroom walls? If you are looking for ways to take your Family and Consumer Science cooking labs to a new level, maybe grills are an idea! (It should also be […]
Using Restaurant Inspections to Increase Awareness

Picture this: Your students are in the middle of a cooking lab when you notice small, clean up tasks being overlooked, such as spilled spices on the floor not being cleaned up. After the lab, you notice a kitchen sink is clogged due to food in the drain. Another kitchen has enough crumbs left on […]
5 Things I Learned from Culinary Arts Cooking Labs in the FCS Classroom- Valuable Feedback

Junior High culinary arts cooking labs in the Family and Consumer Science classroom can be a bit of chaos. Here are 5 things I have learned from food labs with 7th and 8th-grade students. 1. Be prepared I firmly believe it is better to spend more time before cooking and going over specifics. Determine what […]