Happy Halloween!!

The students made cupcakes this week and decorated them for Halloween! They had some really creative ideas! Here are some of the students costumes as well! Everyone have a great Halloween and weekend!

FAS

The parenting class learned about FAS (Fetal Alcohol Syndrome). FAS refers to the growth, mental, and physical problems that may occur in a baby when a mother drinks alcohol during pregnancy. I had the students compare an FAS baby with a healthy newborn baby. FAS babies can suffer from poor muscle tone, poor coordination, delayed development, significant functional problems in thinking, speech, movement, and social skills, structural problems with the face including: narrow, small eyes with large epicanthal folds, small head, small upper jaw, smooth groove in upper lip, smooth and thin upper lip, flattened cheekbones, lack of imagination or curiosity, poor memory, behavioral problems, hyperactivity, and anxiety.

Next week, the students with create an informational brochure about FAS.

Empathy Belly

The parenting classes had to try on the empathy belly this week. Next week, each student must wear it for a full class period. I had the girls try normal every day tasks to see how it felt to be pregnant. They had to pick things up off the floor, tie their shoe, lay down and get back up, walk up and down stairs, etc. The empathy belly weighs about 3o lbs. There is a rib belt simulating the pressure of the ascending uterus and fetus against the diaphragm, heart and lungs. The torso garment simulates weight and profile of pregnancy, movement of fetus, and enlarged breasts. There is a bladder pouch that simulates the fetal head on the bladder. Two lead balls stimulate fetal knees, elbows, and feet pressing on internal abdominal organs.

Senses Experiment

The nutrition classes did a simple experiment to see how the senses of smell and taste are related. While blindfolded, they sampled small pieces of raw potato, apple, and onion. Then they held their nose and sampled the foods again.

Your sense of smell helps your sense of taste. Some food scientists believe that most of what you taste is really what you smell. You may have noticed that foods seem to have little flavor when you have a head cold.

Sausage Balls

Timmy and I dressed up for western day! Haha He's too funny!

The students in learned to cook sausage balls this week. This is a really easy snack and they are really good!

F.C.C.L.A

The FCCLA members had an appreciation week for the janitors/maintenance crew. We wrote them a thank you card for all their hard work and help and gave them cookies on Tuesday. On Thursday, we had a mexican luncheon for them which was really yummy!

Communication

The pictures above are of my Personal Family and Development class participating in a "Back to Back Drawing" activity. One person had random geometric pictures and had to explain how to draw them to the other people. The other people could not ask questions or look at the person giving the directions.

For real communication to take place it is important to use good listening skills. These would be skills such as eye contact, body language, concentration, facial expressions, etc. To really get your point across you need to utilize these skills in your conversations. When you don't use these skills, communication becomes difficult and understanding becomes impossible.

Pumpkin Seeds

After we carved the pumpkins, we cooked the seeds. We discussed why pumpkin seeds are a healthy snack and the benefits of eating them. Some reasons why they are good for you are:
they promote prostate health, protect bones, helps arthritis, rich source of healthy minerals and protein, and lowers cholesterol. I let the students experiment with different spices and seasonings for their seeds. They chose from salt, pepper, garlic salt, cajun seasoning, cinnamon, sage, thyme, rosemary, etc.

And the winner is.....

The winners of the pumpkin carving contest are..... Chris, Stephanie, and Brenda! They carved the skull pumpkin! I think all the students did a great job carving!