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When Recipes and Sketchnotes Collide!

7/13/2018

Sketchnotes have changed the way students take notes in my culinary classroom. It’s been a powerful shift as students have come to understand the power of connecting their text to images and making their learning meaningful. In Culinary Arts it has been especially powerful when giving food demonstrations. As students observe the steps to the culinary and baking methods, they make connections to the terminology and ingredients being discussed by drawing the images and text on paper or a digital app like Paper53. In an elective class, this form of visual notetaking has been especially helpful as my students have a wide range of educational needs.

At the end of the demonstration, students have a recipe sketch that they can refer to when they transition to their culinary kitchens to practice what had been demonstrated. The beauty of these recipe sketches, is that they can use them to reflect, study, and can continue adding to them as they practice the methods themselves. Some have found as I have, that adding color, text, and images after the initial sketch helps further cement the learning.

Students enjoy this visual note taking method so much that I decided it would be awesome to create a Culinary Mission aka Side Quest (for my gamification friends) where students create their own recipe incorporating any of the methods learned about in the unit and turn it into a recipe sketch. I announced the mission and posted it on Google Classroom. Students could choose to accept or decline this mission, and as I do with all of my Culinary Missions, included an expiration date and time. (expiration dates sounds more exciting than due dates and giving a time like “midnight” sounds cooler too.) Students who completed the mission in time earned 1000 XP. Not everyone accepted the mission, but those who did had a blast creating their own recipes and sharing it in the form of a recipe sketch.

This month, as I was scrolling Twitter I saw my friend Stefanie Crawford post this:

Inspired by Michael Matera and Carrie Baughcum and their #five4five challenges, Stefanie Crawford decided to join in with 5 days of recipe sketches. Monica Spillman joined in the fun too and even created a digital deck for ebook of all the recipe sketches being created! She took it to another level and called them #sketchipes. WHAT?! Genius...why hadn't I thought of that! Click HERE to view this beautiful Sketchipe book.

Being the lover of all things culinary, challenges, and sketchnotes, I couldn’t let this opportunity pass me by... I had to create a sketchipe too!

Taking part in this fun challenge made me reflect on how powerful this activity was with students and inspired me to think of other ways to take it to the next level. How fun would it be to compile all of my student's sketchipes in a digital collection as Monica shared and have students share out on Twitter! Even better, what about launching a global #sketchipe challenge with culinary classes from across the world and create a digital collection on Padlet, Book Creator, or Google Slides! So many possibilities!

Want to give #sketchipes a try?! Please post on Twitter and tag me (@tishrich) on your creations Also tag, @MrsCford_tweets, @mospillman, and @heckawesome and @mrmatera! In fact, make sure you are following them....they all ROCK!

Have any other ideas for incorporating #sketchnotes or #sketchipes into the classroom? Please share! We are all #BetterTogether.

Learn more about how I've used #sketchnoting in my class here:
Introducing Sketchnoting to Students
Hooked on Sketchnoting

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Don't Listen to Fear. It's a Liar.

7/7/2018

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I’ve had my share of paralyzing fears over the years. They are stealers of joy, preventing me from enjoying the many blessings in my life. On my recent trip to #ISTE18, I thought about this as the airplane captain announced on the intercom that we were at cruising altitude and that the seat belt sign had been turned off. For years, I had an incredibly intense fear of flying. So much in fact, that my stomach would be in knots weeks leading up to a trip. Any thought of getting onto the plane would nearly make me hyperventilate. In fact, my plane ride would be so miserable that I would have to take anti-anxiety medication prior to the flight and force myself to sleep so that I wouldn’t be overcome with panic. Noise cancelling headphones would eliminate the sounds of the engine that made me all too aware of how high up in the sky we were. This sounds dramatic, but it was real. So real that it nearly prevented me from taking on new opportunities and experiencing the things that brought me joy. I used to be so envious of my friends and family that could enjoy the anticipation of an upcoming trip; I desperately wanted to experience that same level of excitement, but couldn’t.

To add an element of irony, many of these plane rides would take me to conferences where I would be facing another fear...public speaking. I had found tremendous joy in sharing my passion with educators from around the world, but the anxiety that lead up to the session would be crippling. My stomach would churn and threaten to revolt as I made my way to the front of the room. Luckily, the moment that I began speaking the fear melted away and I was able to share from the heart.

As I was scrolling through Facebook yesterday, a former student posted this song by Zach Williams that caught my attention.

FEAR IS A LIAR

When he told you you're not good enough
When he told you you're not right
When he told you you're not strong enough
To put up a good fight

When he told you you're not worthy
When he told you you're not loved
When he told you you're not beautiful
That you'll never be enough

Fear, he is a liar
He will take your breath
Stop you in your steps

Fear he is a liar
He will rob your rest
Steal your happiness

Cast your fear in the fire
'Cause fear he is a liar

-Zach Williams

As I let the words penetrate my heart, tears began to fall. Too often I have believed the lies of fear and let them stop me in my tracks, literally taking my breath away. More times than I can count I’ve let fear rob my rest and steal my happiness. Fear truly is a liar preventing us from experiencing the joy that life’s adventures can bring. The good news is, I’ve also experienced what it feels like to throw fear in the fire. It didn’t mean that the fear burned away immediately, it took time. But each time I accepted a speaking engagement or walked through the airline security line, a little more of the fear began to smolder and I could feel the victory of facing my fear head on letting him know, he wasn’t going to win.

The beauty of letting my fear turn to ash, is that the very things that have threatened to steal my happiness have become my greatest source of joy and strength. I now absolutely love the adventures that my airplane flights take me on and the incredible feeling of speaking to a room of educators hungry to learn and be inspired. The number of friendships that have been established and opportunities that I’ve been gifted because I faced my fear, are too numerous to count.

The truth is, fear will continue to raise it’s ugly head and tell me I’m not…

Good enough
Strong enough
Worthy enough

They do every day. But, I can look back at my past experiences and know that those are all lies. I will continue to cast my fears in the fire, because I know that...

FEAR IS A LIAR

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It's You I Like...Lessons From My Childhood Hero.

7/3/2018

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Last night as I was walking out of a restaurant with my husband, I looked at the “Now Showing” poster at our local movie theater and stopped dead in my tracks. In fact, I may have screamed loud enough to startle the sweet couple that was passing by. My childhood hero Mr. Rogers, was staring back at me beckoning me to drop everything to see “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”

Knowing what a huge fan I was of Fred Rogers, my sweet husband says without hestitation, "it starts in 20 minutes, let's watch it!" It didn't take more than the opening segment for the tears to start rolling, and for the memories to come flooding back. You see, Mr. Rogers was a huge part of my childhood. Over the years I've tried to articulate to people why and I've never been able to adequately put into words the difference this public television show made on my life. When I sat in front of the television each day as a child, it was as if Mr. Rogers stepped through the screen and spoke directly to my highly sensitive Tisha heart making me understand that my feelings mattered and that I was special, just as I was. It didn’t matter that he wasn’t face to face with his television audience, his genuine love for children was evident; he was the ultimate “kid connector”. The topics he discussed were real and difficult, and delivered in a way that children could process them, and feel normal and valued for the feelings that they were experiencing. He understood the emotions of a child and the importance of curiosity, play, and make-believe in a child's development.

My mom loved Mr. Rogers too, and would often sing songs from the show to me at night. The one song that holds special value to me is "It's You I Like".

It's you I like
It's not the things you wear,
It's not the way you do your hair,
but it's you I like.

The way you are right now.
The way down deep inside you,
Not the things that hide you,
Not your toys, they're just beside you.

But it's you I like, every part of you,
Your skin, your eyes, your feelings
Whether old or new.

I hope that you'll remember
Even when you're feeling blue
That it's you I like,
It's you yourself, it's you,
It's you....I...like!

-Fred Rogers

I’m fortunate I came from a home where those words were sung and spoken to me often, yet so many live in homes where they don’t know that their feelings matter or that they are special just the way they are. There are a multitude of lessons I’ve learned from Mr. Rogers that I’ve carried into adulthood, but the lesson that stands out above all else is….love people. Whether you lead kids or adults, help them feel valued and that their feelings matter. Take time to build relationships. Listen...really listen. Show gratitude and appreciation. Be kind. We all want to be liked and to feel loved.

This connected world we live in is amazing, but sometimes we get lost. We compare and think that who we are isn’t good enough, or special enough. Watching the story of Mr. Rogers was a beautiful reminder to love each other and recognize the unique and special qualities in the people we care for. Thank you Mr. Rogers for making a difference in this little girl’s life and so many others from around the world. You left an incredible legacy and I will be forever grateful.

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When Recipes and Sketchnotes Collide!

Don't Listen to Fear. It's a Liar.

It's You I Like...Lessons From My Childhood Hero.

Tisha Richmond

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