Today we were split up into 4 groups, and asked to send one person to select two tools from a selection laid out on a table. The only thing we knew, was that we were going to have to make breakfast for the class with the tools we chose. After we chose our tools (plate and meat tenderizer), we found out that we were going to have to spread butter and jam on bread, while somehow making it presentable.
However, regardless of our lack of resources, we still managed to complete the task while also managing to make it decently presentable (given the circumstances of course).
At the time I did not know that we would be relating this to Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge also known as TPACK, but looking back, this is a great example of the process. We started with our tools or “Technology”, which typically you wouldn’t do, but in this case, its better that we didn’t know what we were going to be doing for the sake of the experience. Many times teachers do not have resources/technology that would be most helpful for the content they are teaching, so we have to get creative. Also, many technologies are not typically designed for educational purposes, so repurposing is important (Mishra, Koeler, 2009).
We then received the content knowledge that we needed to “teach” or make; which in our case was to spread butter and jelly on the unsliced bread we were given. How in the world are we going to not only slice the bread, but also spread butter and jelly onto it afterwards with a meat tenderizer?! This “How” is where the Pedagogy comes into play; how are we going to meet the content with the tools or technology we were given. This was not an easy task, there were a few road blocks that we had to adjust to in order to reach the ultimate goal.
We started this process by carefully ripping the bread into “slices” which didn’t seem to be too difficult, but then we had to figure out how to spread the butter. Taylor then discovered that since the butter was not too soft, if she ripped the wrapper of the end, she could “color” the butter on the bread (not the easiest task but it worked). Now, spreading the jelly onto the bread with the meat tenderizer wasn’t too difficult at first, but then we got to a point where the tenderizer wasn’t small enough to reach the jelly in the jar. At this point, we got to the trial and error portion. First, we tried to pour (and by pour I mean slam the bottom of the jar till the jelly came out) but this didn’t seem to be very efficient. Then, we realized that we had the ends of the bread that weren’t going to be part of our plate, so Taylor dug right in using the left over bread to scoop out the jelly, and I used the tenderizer to spread the jelly.
I must say that this entire process was fun! The mystery of what we were going to be doing with the tools that were laid out, made me anxious to find out and start. Then, there was the challenge of completing a task that would typically be done without any thought. If we were asked to spread butter and jelly on some bread, and given the normal tools, this activity wouldn’t have been nearly as exciting! The fact that we got to explore these new tools or technologies, and figure out how to solve the problem on our own, made the experience way more engaging and exciting. “Teacher need to develop willingness to play with technologies and openness to building new experience for students so that fun, cool tools can be be educational” (Mishra, Koehler, 2009).
Below, are the other groups’ challenging cooking tasks.
Mishra, P. & Koehler. M. J. (2009). Too cool for school? No way! Using the TPACK framework: You can have your hot tools and teach with them, too. Learning & Leading with Technology, 36(7), 14-18.
hayteacher 
This was a really fun blog post to read! I can really tell by your “tone” that you were engaged and enjoyed this Quickfire. Your post is very detailed in explaining the experience you and your group had throughout the activity, and the pictures add an extra layer of detail that help me envision your descriptions. I can easily see/tell that you ripped the bread, buttered it, “jammed” it, and served it. Sounds like success to me! It was really interesting to read this blog post of yours because my group was also given the bread and jam when our class engaged in this Quickfire. My group had a plate, paper towel, a spoon, and a potato masher. We originally thought to rip the bread the same way you did, but then we realized we could use the potato masher to slice the bread (in a similar way you would push a shovel into the ground with your foot, only we used our fist and dug it into the loaf of bread). Once all the bread was sliced, we poured the jam onto the bread (ours must have come out a but easier than yours) and spread it with the back of our potato masher. Then it was ready to be served! We did not have to spread butter so we had one less element to add. I enjoyed reading this post, and continue to let your voice shine through your blog, it really adds character to your writing! This was a fun blog post to read, thanks for sharing!
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