Experiments in Food and Learning

There are two basic ways of capturing the attention of the American teenager: sex and food.

- Frank McCourt, Teacher Man

The experiment has begun. Tomorrow will mark the end of the first week of my latest pedagogical brain child: Food and Literature. The verdict: so far, so good. Fried chicken, ham biscuits, cream cheese bread, and Indian curry have already been topics of conversation. Also on the agenda: exploring cookbooks as a literary genre, asking about the purpose of recipes and rituals, and of course, writing. Is it "rigorous" learning? I'm not sure yet. But it is keeping things interesting - for me and (I hope) the kids.

So what is Food and Literature?

C, a student in my 6th period class, apparently still wants to know. In response to the question, "What would you like to learn in this class? " he replied, "I would like to learn how food and literature connect with one another to make a class."

Ouch.

Oh well. Like I told him, I'm still trying to figure it out myself. Hopefully we'll have a better idea - the both of us - tomorrow.

Or Monday.