As a trained educator using Multisensory Methods to teach, you would think that I could go "back to school" and take a class in which I could instantly "ace", right? I am a typical teacher, always "telling - showing - doing" until I am put to the test in a real class, with real students, and real learning objectives. Let's just say that tonight was a great night, but unlike high school, I did not "break the curve".
Yes, after two years I finally decided to take a cooking class (despite the fact that it took me two years after recovering from the pizza class that I took that resulted in my tenth - hard as a rock pizza crust) that began with the basics of knife skills. I thought that I arrived early but ironically, I was one minute late and in true procrastinator style all the seats at the front were taken. I knew that this would pose a big challenge for me because I would need to listen, look, and repeat all of the information that this "master chef" was giving to our class of 12. Sad to say, I found myself almost convulsing in my seat because I could not really make sense of the terms that he was telling us and needed to ask the student next to me, "Is that the second knife that he told us we needed or the third... I think that I am missing a bullet point here...."
Regardless of what had happened, it seems as if learning how to cook is more challenging for me than, doing math. Moving the German made knife back and forth in a see-saw fashion without harming the appendages that help me in creating this blog entry is rather terrifying and requires "skill". I know that most home cooks have a good set of knives - I won't tell you what I have but I will say this, sometimes it takes me longer to chop up a bag of carrots than to watch a Bollywood movie (that is a long time).
The conclusion that I must draw after taking this three hour knife class is to do the following: just because you don't go to school everyday doesn't make you a different learner. What I had done in school to be successful (sitting in the front, taking notes, making friends with all of the individuals that were as ambitious if not more ambitious as me) is something that I must always do to ensure that I am successful. I also find it very beneficial to have a teacher that I can respect and look up to. In school, I was blessed to have had some of the teachers that I had. They seemed like Deities in the different subjects that they taught. This evening, I was lucky to be in the presence of a passionate professional in the culinary world. Sometimes when you meet someone who has that commitment and passion in what they love, it is easily a recipe for success!
Yes, after two years I finally decided to take a cooking class (despite the fact that it took me two years after recovering from the pizza class that I took that resulted in my tenth - hard as a rock pizza crust) that began with the basics of knife skills. I thought that I arrived early but ironically, I was one minute late and in true procrastinator style all the seats at the front were taken. I knew that this would pose a big challenge for me because I would need to listen, look, and repeat all of the information that this "master chef" was giving to our class of 12. Sad to say, I found myself almost convulsing in my seat because I could not really make sense of the terms that he was telling us and needed to ask the student next to me, "Is that the second knife that he told us we needed or the third... I think that I am missing a bullet point here...."
Regardless of what had happened, it seems as if learning how to cook is more challenging for me than, doing math. Moving the German made knife back and forth in a see-saw fashion without harming the appendages that help me in creating this blog entry is rather terrifying and requires "skill". I know that most home cooks have a good set of knives - I won't tell you what I have but I will say this, sometimes it takes me longer to chop up a bag of carrots than to watch a Bollywood movie (that is a long time).
The conclusion that I must draw after taking this three hour knife class is to do the following: just because you don't go to school everyday doesn't make you a different learner. What I had done in school to be successful (sitting in the front, taking notes, making friends with all of the individuals that were as ambitious if not more ambitious as me) is something that I must always do to ensure that I am successful. I also find it very beneficial to have a teacher that I can respect and look up to. In school, I was blessed to have had some of the teachers that I had. They seemed like Deities in the different subjects that they taught. This evening, I was lucky to be in the presence of a passionate professional in the culinary world. Sometimes when you meet someone who has that commitment and passion in what they love, it is easily a recipe for success!
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