Classroom Management

FERRIS STATE UNIVERSITY

Jennifer Dulecki | EDGP 288 | Hallmark Assignment

An Introduction:
My name is Jennifer Dulecki. I am a chef instructor and Skills USA
advisor at the Warren Consolidated Career Prep Center (CPC). I have been in the
food service industry for over 20 years. I have not always worked at the high end
trendy places, I have had a well-rounded career. I have worked in fast food, little
mom and pop diners, new restaurants, established restaurants, high end
restaurants, private clubs, and I have also worked in catering businesses and have
catered private parties. I have plenty of industry and real life experiences that I am
excited to impart to the up and coming students.

I graduated from a local community college with my culinary degree and

my career has been even more exciting since then! I am currently attending a
university to learn all the ins and outs of teaching so I can make sure that I give my
students the best chance possible at an awesome future! I have also received my
certification from ServSafe and am a Certified ServSafe Instructor and Registered
ServSafe Examination Proctor.

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One of my goals, is to be an "intentional teacher." That is to say, I want to

be the teacher that the students remember, that has changed their life for the
better. I am confident that I can do this! I am a caring individual. I am skilled, and
I continue to hone my skills by still working within the restaurant industry to learn
new tips and tricks to stay fresh. I am enthusiastic! Cooking is not only my passion,
it's my life!

My Teaching Background:
I have never thought that I would be a teacher. I know that growing up, I
used to teach the local Sunday school class and absolutely loved it. I was a Sunday
school teacher for most of my youth, then when I was older I became a youth
leader.
Throughout my career, as I grew into working age, I was a team trainer and
then team leader. My employers kept training me and when I turned 18, they asked
me to take the "coveted" management job. They recognized some things in me
that I don't feel that I recognized myself. I had a knack for training people, I was a
hard worker, and I managed well. They could count on me.
I feel that growing up I have been a leader to youth, and then had 5 of my
own (plus their friends in the house!), I was busy. But everything in me has always
had a passion for teaching, even if I didn't recognize it myself.
I actually fell into this job of teaching by accident. I am in my third year of
teaching, and I have loved almost every minute of it! Of course I have obstinate
students that make me try harder to reach them, but I enjoy it. The only thing I
would change, is the politics. (Doesnt everyone feel that way?)

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My Classroom:
My specific Career Technical Education (CTE) program is Culinary Arts. We
are a multi-faceted, fast paced program that utilizes a state of the art commercial
kitchen and equipment to teach our students several different styles of cooking
and baking as well as several business forms. Our kitchen runs on a brigade system
encompassing the kiosk, restaurant, garde manger (cold foods), hot line, bake
shop, dessert station, dish station, pots and pans station, and a newly added bread
station.
We teach them how to run a business by having a special project where the
students are to create a culinary business complete with flyers, an order form and
business cards. They are to market it and actually bake or cook and sell their
product.
Another way that we teach them how to run a business is by having them
run our restaurant. We sell to the general public in this restaurant and hold the
licensing and certificates to do so. Our restaurant can hold approximately 70
guests. Here students learn professionalism, serving, menu planning, costing, how
a restaurant should run, as well as career readiness.

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Our restaurant has a banquet area where once a month we have the
students plan and hold a buffet. These banquets can be teacher appreciation,
school official meetings, senior center luncheons, veterans day events and much
more. Students learn batch cooking, teamwork, and again professionalism from
our banquets.
This program accepts catering orders so students can learn another facet of
the culinary industry. They can be anything from small parties to just a special
occasion cake or cupcakes. Some years we have had large cookie orders as well.

We have a kiosk that sells to the approximately 1100 students we have daily
in our building. Our kiosk is located right outside of our restaurant, where
students learn professional behavior and money changing skills.

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Utilizing our greenhouse, we teach farm to table, allowing students get the
concept of sustainability, as well as learning how to take care of plants.

Another piece that we offer in our program is culinary competitions.

Students can compete in a dessert competition with other local high schools, or
they can compete in Skills USA. This year we are intending to add the ProStart
knowledge bowl to our competition list. These competitions teach the students
teamwork, leadership, and also allow them to hone their culinary skills and learn
deeper concepts.
Our program does not only stop there. Students enrolling in our program
learn how to compete with the current job market today, by learning how to do job

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searches as well as completing cover letters, resumes and thank you letters to
assist them in their future careers.
Our students are high school students, grades 10-12, so the ages range
anywhere from 15-18 years old. Here at the CPC we have a very diverse group of
students. In our classes there are different age levels, different skill levels and that
also includes English Language Learners (ELL) students. We also follow the
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and have found ways to accommodate any
and all students that require accommodations.

How do we do all this? :

It takes a lot of time and effort. We have 2 culinary arts teachers and one
paraprofessional and a large support team. We have leaders from the industry
come out and give us advice. We have supportive teachers, principal and counselor
in our Career Prep Center that help and support us to the best of their knowledge.
We have a mentor that not only supports us but supplies us with ideas. We utilize
our professional development to not only to keep up with the culinary industry,
but to teach us things such as inclusive discipline and mental health issues.
This program takes a lot of planning on our part, we spend more than our
allotted prep time every day of every week. But we wouldnt change these aspects
of our program. We want students to have the best chance possible, not only in
our field, but in life.

Philosophy of Education:
I believe that all students should have the chance to go to school. To learn,
to socialize, and to be educated to increase their chances of success in life.
Students come to school with a huge list of problems. We, as educators,
have to help them to look past that, to overcome their obstacles. One of the most
powerful visuals that I have starts with a can of coke. Imagine a room full of a
hundred people. Everyone takes that can, and passes it around the room, and
everyone gives it a shake, some are gentle but some are more vigorous than others.

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Now, who wants to open that can? No one does! That can, represents our students!
Life and problems have shaken them up! We, as educators, tend to put the
students in a corner and pop that tab on that can of coke!
These students will always be shaken up in one way or another. We need to
be better at preventing the explosions way before they happen!
One of the ways that we can help to prevent the explosions is utilizing
Maslows hierarchy of needs. Understanding that students have base needs that
have to be met before they can even learn for the day. Our students are not robots.
They are people that have not learned the skills, nor had the chance to learn the
skills of healthy emotions.
They often come to school hungry. For my class, that is easy to deal with.
Students know that if they are hungry, all they have to do is ask. We always have
food for them to eat and a lot of the time, students are allowed to taste the foods
that they are making. They have to know what it tastes like and also if it is
seasoned right.
The generation of students that are in school now have serious issues with
anxiety and depression. We offer them the school counselor if they need to talk, or
we provide a listening ear for them. We also provide a quiet space for them to
work in or to sit and relax if their levels are high. Most students know the clues
their bodies give.
Some students just require reassuring words. They like to know that they
are on the right track and that they are doing well. Kind words will go far.

Goals:
One of my goals is to have an effective learning environment, where all
students can learn and master the curriculum regardless of how they learn. We try
to cover all aspects and keep things interesting so that students can learn.
We try to make sure we are out there and ready as soon as the students
come in, getting them started right away is important. This allows the students to
see us ready right away and not give them time to act out, out of boredom.

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This year we have had some disruptive students. We have separated the
classrooms to help them focus better, as well as requiring them to fill out a
culinary contract. They were to write a one page paper on how they were going to
improve themselves enough to get back into the kitchen, and then what they had
to do once they got in the kitchen.
This year I did break up some of the longer assignments and did something
fun instead of the long, traditional assignments that we have done in the past. We
have tried to hold the students attention longer with shorter assignments that
build on each other.
My classroom is still a work in progress. Every lesson plan gets a little
easier, and we have had ideas on how to change things around that we have
started to work on. We keep adding in new items to involve the students a little
more in their learning.

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REFERENCES:

Idea.ed.gov - Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ... (n.d.). Retrieved

July 5, 2016, from http://idea.ed.gov/

Raft.net case-for-hands-on-learning February 2013.

Slavin, R. E. (2009). Educational psychology: Theory and practice. Boston:

Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.

Richardson, J. S., Morgan, R. F., & Fleener, C. E. (2008). Reading to learn in

the content areas (7th ed.). United States: Wadsworth Publishing Co.

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