Susan Kline

KMS FCS
2013-2014

Portfolio Evaluation
Domain 4
4a: Reflections on teaching
Example 1: 4/7/14 Forty-two or forty-three minutes is really not long enough
to do a cooking class. The class involves preparation of person, gathering of
supplies and equipment, following the recipe and clean up.
I have been using a recipe that requires using sharp knives and each student
cutting some ingredient(s). I switched this lab (pizza) to the first foods lab and the
students are still late getting out of class. I will need to eliminate at least half of
the ingredients. Hopefully that will help get the students out of the room on
time. I do cook the crusts so that all we need to do is reheat and melt the cheese.
As this is the first foods lab, students arent really aware of the consequences
of working slowly. One consequence is that they are late to the next class. The
teacher has to hold up class most of the time until the students arrive. Another
consequence is that the next class for FCS is held up as well which means they
dont have as much time in the room, especially if they are cooking as well.

Example 2: After most lessons, I evaluate the processes that the students used
and what the overall outcome was, how effective was the lesson in teaching the
concept or how well the students got it. I teach each lesson at least 4 times
throughout the year so I can make changes to the way I present or the activities
the students get involved in for the lessons.
An example of this is the lesson on calculating the area of a room. It started
out as drawing several blocks: 100 sq. ft. and 225 sq. ft. I then had them draw
another figure that also had the area of 225 sq. ft., but couldnt have the same
configuration. I realized that the small drawing on the graph paper meant
nothing to the students so I pulled out masking tape and had the students tape
off a 100 sq. ft. space on the floor using the tiles. The next time I presented the
Susan Kline
KMS FCS
2013-2014

lesson, I realized that again, the 100 sq. ft. area meant nothing since it wasnt the
same area we were using in the project. This time I had the students divided up
into 4 groups. Each group taped off a side of a room beginning with 15 feet or
tiles. The next group taped off the second side of 15 feet. The third side found
that the space we were using didnt allow for a third side of 15 sq. ft. so they had
to become intricate and add alcoves or indented areas. The fourth group had to
extend the 2
nd
side in order to have enough tiles to create a room with 225 sq. ft.
The students then had to transfer the room onto the graph paper correctly.
Finally, the students had to draw another room of 225 sq. ft. that had a different
configuration than the one on the floor or the 15x15 square. Attached is a photo
of the taped room.