PROFESSIONAL
Rigor, Relevance, & Relationships
A Lifelong Project
Dawn Lewis
"Seek support from textbooks that already integrate the required standards."
--Dawn Lewis, FACS educator, Douglas, GA
What does it mean to commit to rigor and relevance? As the new school year begins, demands on you as a FACS educator are greater than ever. How will you meet the terms required by the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Improvement Act of 2006 (commonly known as Perkins IV)? What measures can you take to integrate and reinforce academic competencies in your FACS classrooms? How can you continue to make those all-important connections between FACS subjects and the real world?
Integrate Academics
In her 12 years working as a FACS teacher in the Coffee County School System in Douglas, Georgia, Dawn Lewis has taught classes in Parenting, Introduction to Interior Design, and Family and Consumer Services. Today she teaches Foundations of Family and Consumer Sciences I, and serves as a member of the School Leadership Team, Graduation/Leadership Team, and chairman of the Data Collection Team for her school. For Lewis, FACS has never taken a back seat in any curriculum. She speaks firmly and confidently about the future of FACS in preparing young people to become successful and productive in the work world.
"Many teachers are struggling to find ways to integrate academics into vocational education because of having to be responsible not only for vocational standards but academic standards as well," Lewis acknowledges. "They are spending hours of precious time searching for all of the standards and then trying to figure out which ones they can weave into their courses. My advice to them is to seek support from textbooks that already integrate the required standards, which will actually enable them to plan lessons that are relevant to their topic and to the real world."
Project-Based Learning
Lewis is a strong proponent of project-based learning, and finds that Glencoe's textbooks serve as an active partner in her efforts. "The research-based programs fully integrate academics and real-world relevance directly onto each page," she notes, citing the new Food, Nutrition & Wellness, as an example. "The course allows students to research current career opportunities in the field and create projects that simulate real world experiences". Activities such as job shadowing at real businesses, or listening to onsite guest speakers from the food, nutrition and wellness industry helps bring the material to life.
Every chapter in Food, Nutrition & Wellness includes a relevant section on real world skills.
Using textbook ideas as her springboard, Lewis develops projects in her FACS classes that take real world relevance to the next level. Throughout the semester, each student in her class builds a career portfolio that includes resumes, job applications, cover letters, thank-you notes, and career research. In addition to that ongoing project, Lewis' students work on mini-projects such as restaurant planning, advertising, business plans, and other similar real-life preparation assignments.
Grab Students' Attention
Lewis takes pains to grab students' attention from the moment she introduces a topic by tying the material to something she knows is already of interest to students. "For example, if I'm teaching Food, Nutrition and Wellness but I know my students are very interested in soccer, I'll research soccer before the lesson so I can tie it in and surprise them with my knowledge of the sport as well. Maybe I'll discuss the nutritional needs of athletes," she says, adding, "It is amazing how much students will pay attention if the subject you are teaching can be related back to their own interests."
