Class Synthesis

This class has been very eye opening for how to incorporate literacy. Being in FACS, I didn't think I needed to teach my students to read a write but I realized that my content is actually very difficult literacy-wise. There are recipes, patterns, and theories that are all very different from regular schooling. I didn't realize how much vocabulary could effect literacy. As a teacher I will now be sure to go over specific vocab words and make sure the students understand them. I will also incorporate a lot more writing than I originally was going to because I had the common thought that they get it in all their other classes. I don't have to have them write essays necessarily, but I can have them write reflections and I will correct grammar and give them feedback. One thing I think would be fun would be to have a class magazine that they put together. A lot of careers use writing more than they realize. The people who write articles for food and design magazines are chefs and designers. I think the students would have fun creating a class magazine featuring their food and an article about it.

I will be a lot more deliberate about incorporating reading, writing, and technology in my classes now.

Reading!!!

I started reading when I was about 4. Once I started I never stopped. One of my friends in my kindergarten class remembers that while he and all the other kids were sounding out words I brought my chapter books (usually the Bobsy Twins) and read feverishly. My mom tells me that I would constantly ask her for books and I read anything we had. I was fortunate enough to have an English teacher for a mom who collected books as well as a smart dad who made us enough money to live in a house with a huge library. Two walls were floor to ceiling shelves and held the many books we owned. To teach me how to read, my mom taught me letters and their sounds. She would read out loud to me, even when I was too young to understand what was going on. I loved to sit close to people and be held so reading was one of my favorites because I got to sit on my mom’s lap and cuddle up to her while we read together. Before I could read she’d show me the pictures and I would make up a story. I would read any chance I got, even if it was just a page or two at a time. I learned to read fast so that I could get more reading in a short amount of time. Every car ride I had a book to keep me company. I soaked in everything I read. If my mom asked me about what I was reading, I could give here almost verbatim what the book said. I liked to pretend like I was the main characters in the books I was reading. I remember in 2^nd grade I tried to read Little Women. I had the idea to write down every word I didn’t know the meaning of. When the list got to be an entire page I decided it was probably above my reading level. 
     Being an avid reading and writer helped me greatly in school. I was the 4^th child in a very academic family. My dad has more degrees than I can count and since my mom was a teacher she thinks school is the best thing in the world. I grew up with very positive experiences at school and a very supportive family. Because my reading level was so much above my grade level, I easily understood directions and never struggled in elementary school. However once I reached middle school I went to a new school with kids a lot smarter than I was. I quickly lost confidence in myself. There was finally someone who was a better reader than I was and the whole school knew Bryce Young’s homeroom would win the book challenge because he read over 40 books a quarter. I associated my self worth with my reading ability so much that to not be the best anymore was a serious blow to my ego. I transferred that to all areas of my life and I suddenly felt as though I was the dumb one in class.
     I think reading in the classroom is imperative and I hope that help students love to to read again. Too often students get turned off to reading because it is their "punishment" in school. When it's assigned it's not nearly as fun as choosing it yourself. I plan on having a bookshelf full of books and magazines regarding my content that students can peruse as they please without feeling forced. This is a lot of fun in my content because that means fashion and design magazines! There is also good literature out there regarding clothing, textiles, and child development. I hope that my students will enjoy the reading in my classroom!

Affective Dimensions of Writing

I have always considered myself a writer. I have always been a story teller. There’s a video of me when I was only a few months old and I am babbling like crazy to my dad, very intently telling him a story. This never ceased. I continued to write stories and poems until my sophomore year in college- life just got too busy. In high school I loved writing stories because I could make the story go anywhere I wanted it. Usually my writing reflected what I was going through and how I wanted it to end up. I wrote down everything I could. I still have my first grade notebook with my journal and writing assignments. I loved writing notes and letters. I find writing to be incredibly personal. I love how writing solidifies a thought. I like journals better than photo albums because writing allows for much more depth and meaning. I love struggling to find the perfect words to make a great sentence or to express a strong emotion. I love the challenge of packaging one emotion into a short poem. When I discovered poetry I ran with it. I’m not sure where I was exposed to poetry other than Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes but I had an incredible knack for rhyming (my large vocabulary from all my reading helped) and my rhythm was impeccable. Unfortunately I stopped improving in about 8th grade. I wish I had received more training in writing poetry and short stories.

Currently, my writing includes many e-mails to my family a day, lots of texts to my husband, the occasional blog post, and many Facebook statuses. I actually started to think in Facebook statuses for a while. I still love to write letters, but I don't have anyone to write right now. I do leave notes for my husband all over. Occasionally I will be inspired to write a poem, but it usually doesn't go very far. When I'd write in high school it was usually about a boy who had done something stupid but ever since met my husband I haven't had anything to complain about in a poem.

In school I loved to be creative. Even when I was assigned a formal essay I still managed to work in my voice and make it more conversational. I loved being able to choose my own style and express myself that way. I can use this with my students by allowing them choices on how to format writing assignments. I never really disliked writing. Writing was the best way I could express myself. I could get done all m thoughts and then refine them over time- something I wish I could do when talking.

All in all I love writing. My dream would be to publish something as big as Harry Potter, but my writing talents are more in the capacity of short stories. Maybe one day I'll publish a collection of my stories, but for now, journaling satisfies my need to write.

If I Could Say (written my senior year in high school)

Oh if I could say the things I feel so strongly now,
I’d shock your mind; I’d break your heart-
…You’d feel my wrath somehow.
I’d build you up, let you plummet down
You’d choke up blood…suffocate to death

Blindly you’d see the glories in heaven
Then I’d inflict all the glories of hell
You’d feel my furious winter flames burn
And wither in the drought of summer.
You’d smell the rain and anticipate relief-
But only rancid rank would fill your mouth.

My words would make you drown!

Oh, If I could say the things I feel so strongly now,
I know they would slit your precious throat.
You’d feel my wrath, I know.

Ah, but it is late and I am tired.
I, too, need my rest.

Goodnight.

Connecting Home and School Experiences

Though I didn't realize it at the time, I had many experiences with my content as a child, even if the experience was a lack of experience.

Foods and Nutrition: My mom cooked dinner almost every night. While I didn't help her cook very often she set the example of having family dinner every night. My sister is a registered dietitian and she would teach me about health and nutrition.

Child Development: Being the 4th of 5 and being quite a bit younger than the next oldest sibling meant that they were married and had kids when I was fairly young. I'd tend their kids and listen to their conversations about raising children and loved every minute of it.

Financial Literacy: Oh boy! This has to be the content I was around the most! A few of my Dad's degrees include an MBA and CPA. He is a mortgage loan officer so money is what he does best! Add that to growing up with a Mom who only sees clearance racks and you get a very money-conscious little girl! I was taught very strictly not to be frivolous with money. However I feel that their methods were sometimes stringent. I've enjoyed my financial freedom lately.

Interior Design: My mom gave permission for me to paint my closet door once. It took up most of the wall it was on. Fortunately for the value of the house we never got around to buying the pink and purple paint I so desperately wanted to paint hearts and flowers with. I didn't really have an eye for decorating and we spent more time out on a soccer field so our house was usually left a tad dejected.

Sewing: The extent of watching my own mother sew was hanging up a damaged article of clothing on the "to be mended" rack in the craft room and then never seeing it again. I once tried to work the machine without ever even watching someone do it and got a great mess of thread on my project. My grandma did sew us pajamas most Christmases and my dad taught me how to sew on a button when one fell off my favorite pair of olive corduroy pants. This was something I really wanted to learn though and was excited that in order to graduate I had to take a CTE course.

How this affects my teaching: I wasn't exposed to many of the areas I will be teaching but I was always drawn to them. As a teacher I will be more understanding of the students who take my classes to learn something they aren't learning at home. It took me a long time to become proficient at these skills and if I'd grown up being good at them I might not be as understanding of my students who are trying.

Introduction

My name is Aimee Payne. I love sports, cooking, and reading. Random fact: I dislike more vegetables than I like.  


What is FACS to me? FACS teachers teach in 5 disciplines: Foods and Nutrition, Clothing, Interior Design, Financial Literacy, and Child Development. To me, FACS is the way we live. All other subjects mean very little if you don' know how to survive. FACS is the basic knowledge that everything stems from. Food, shelter, and clothing are basic needs, the bottom of the Maslow's hierarchy or needs. Without it, we cannot progress to become successful in anything else. FACS classes teach students how to be successful in life.  


What drew me to teaching FACS? When trying to decide what to major in, my older sister kept telling me that I should do Family and Consumer Sciences Education and I wanted to do it but I when I looked into changing my major during my freshman year the guy I was dating told me that boys would rather date a chemistry major (what I was before) than a FACS teacher so I put off switching. At the beginning of my sophomore year I knew I needed to change my major and went back to the FACS major requirement sheet and I was excited to see all the classes I needed to take. I always wanted to learn how to sew, cook, take care of children, and teach so this major was perfect for me! I switched to this major, dumped that guy and then met my husband right after, so I feel that both decisions were great!