Week 3: The Bread Blog Begins

As I actually began the hands on part of this Genius Hour project before the actual writing began, I have lots to catch you up on! I've made two loaves of bread and have quite a few questions I'd like to try and answer as I move forward.

Before I talk about the results of my two "experiments", I mentioned in a previous post that I would be assessing each loaf/recipe on a number of criteria. I have narrowed those criteria down to a few that I feel will allow me to both assess and describe each recipe fairly. These are:
- Flavour
- Crust
- Crumb
- Chewiness
- What the bread is especially great for

After recording each of these, I will consider the loaf as a whole, then give it a rating out of ten.

The first recipe I tried was for a fairly hands off "Heritage Bread" from Michael Smith's Back to Basics cookbook (2013). While the final product was quite tasty, actually making it was a bit stressful. I love descriptions in recipes, especially if I've never made that particular thing before, but it can also backfire if your version doesn't react the same way as they've said it should. When I mixed the ingredients for this dough (which did not require the yeast to proof, something I was both grateful for and skeptical of), the mixture was quite...soupy. Thankfully, this loaf is baked in a loaf pan, so it didn't matter in the end, but it also wasn't what I was expecting when he said it was a "high-moisture dough". The resulting bread was a perfectly respectable first start, with great flavour, although the crust was quite chewy after the first day. Thankfully, I was able to resuscitate it in the form of toast, but I definitely wasn't able to make any sandwiches with it.

Heritage Bread:
Flavour- yeasty and nutty
Crust- very thick and crackly; chewy past the first day
Crumb- fairly dense, small bubbles formed
Texture- nicely chewy, slightly spongy past the first day
Great for- toast or dipping in oil and vinegar
Overall rating- 7.5 out of 10

The bread I made the following week was The Minimalist Baker's "Easiest Whole Grain Seeded Bread". I chose this recipe because if I'm going to buy a loaf of bread from the store, I'm most likely to pick something with plenty of seeds or grains in it. I like texture in my bread, not to mention the health benefits. This recipe also seemed to be a nice step up difficulty-wise from the Heritage Bread. It was, again, a fairly hands-off recipe, but did have a few extra steps that required some attention. While not a mix-it-and-forget-it project, it also was not so difficult that I couldn't see myself making it every week or so. I ran into problems again with the texture of the dough, although this time it was so tough and unyielding that my hands started to cramp during the kneading process. I do feel that I've become better already at judging the right temperature for the "warm" water these recipes always call for. I know enough about yeast to know that the temperature does make a huge difference, and that too hot or too cold can kill the yeast (it is a living thing after all), and given how well this loaf rose, I think I'm coming along quite nicely. This bread was super tasty, and the texture was definitely better than the last loaf.

Whole Grain Seeded Bread:
Flavour- toasty, nutty, well rounded (from the seeds)
Crust- soft, with a bit of chewiness
Crumb- medium to small bubbles, not overly dense
Chewiness- fluffy, with just a bit of resistance
Great for- sandwiches, toast, anything
Overall rating- 9 out of 10

From these two weeks, I have a few areas I'd like to improve in:
- Understanding the effect add-ins (like fats or sweeteners) have on the flavour/texture of the bread
- Making a bread that requires a starter (fermented dough used in place of yeast)
- Trying more "traditional" recipes

Genius Hour Goals- Week 2

I have officially decided that I would like to explore bread making for my Genius Hour!

After discussing what a good genius hour project looks like (takes some research, is shareable, etc.) I felt confident that my idea to work on improving my baking skills, specifically with bread fit the criteria and would be my focus for the next couple of months.

My question, which you can also see in the quick slideshow I've shared on my Genius Hour Proposal Pitch page, is:
"Could I improve my bread making abilities enough that I could stop buying supermarket bread?"

I have a few goals in mind for this project:
- Become a more confident bread maker/baker in general
- Develop a better, more technical understanding of the science behind bread making (ie. what is the deal with yeast??)
- Be able to make high quality bread based on a number of predetermined criteria
- Keep the cost and difficulty of the recipe down as low as possible, so as to keep weekly bread making a realistic end goal

I am very much interested in healthy eating, and have become concerned with the amount of preservatives and sugar especially that supermarket bread can contain. I also feel that I tend to take bread for granted, not concerning myself too much if/when part of a loaf goes bad, and I would like to be less wasteful. Making my own bread will help to make me more invested in consuming my food before it spoils, as well as ensuring that I have control over what I'm putting into my body. I am motivated to eat smarter in general, and I hope this genius hour will help me to accomplish this!

I am going to evaluate my progress as objectively as possible, by rating and describing each loaf of bread on the same set of criteria:
- Flavour
- Crust
- Crumb
- Texture
- What this loaf is good for
- Overall rating out of 10

I will reflect on the techniques I used and any areas I would change the next time I tried the recipe. If I feel it is necessary, I may revisit a recipe later in the project, using the skills I've developed to improve upon my original results.

Each week I would like to try a new recipe or technique. I have already started this actually, and will report on the results of my experiments later on this blog. I will continue these weekly bread making sessions until the week of March 29.

I can't wait to get started, and I know some of my friends who have heard about this project are anxious for me to start as well!

Copyright or Wrong? Definitely Right!

This week, we were assigned reading concerning copyrights with regards to digital material. I have to confess that I was a little dubious about the necessity of this topic for our students, but when put into perspective, it makes a lot of sense. 

My first reaction to the idea of teaching about copyrights was that younger students especially wouldn’t have to learn that, at least not right away, and that for the purposes of a small in class activity or assignment, would it even really matter? The answer, I now realize is yes! Of course it matters! 

Respecting the creators copyright over their work is respecting the fact that they produced and chose to display their work with the rest of the world. They are allowing us to see what they created, but that does not mean they are necessarily giving it away, or that we have the right to claim it as our own. Digital media, as Dr. Figg (2013) discusses in her article for us, is everywhere. We see it every time we go online, and we often use it without thinking to jazz up our documents, presentations, etc. As educators however, what example does this set for our students?

San Jose Library. (August 7, 2008). Children using computers. (photograph). Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/sanjoselibrary/2839901913/in/photolist-5jXeU6-2RYxn-pRr7ZD-9es4mr-8vBVVr-8vEXcj-ehBnRE-4JX9-pa1tU5-5JnWNz-o3wN4Z-abfPT5-28rtGN-fvT5PN-5b495D-pyrM81-e2QMHQ-8vBVTe-8vEXjo-bFrCvg-4m5ojv-8vEXd9-8vBWaH-6Wp8Nk-e2QMS5-5r6ss8-8Jzfg7-8Vy1nk-3oxYh-bqVQtj-6WtbrL-9iEkhF-8vEXtU-8vEXmG-8GmvbX-68mS5h-CH3be-6wnx18-6wo5vG-sjCDK-62Y6XP-8vBVWt-5mP2XB-eenL8S-hcbzps-62Yv2h-99XWwh-8uVTTM-8vEXvJ-8uVpXv

I found it interesting how the suggestion was made to carry the point across to a class of students, to have them consider the issue from the creator’s perspective. How would they feel if someone took a drawing of their’s without asking? And what if that person claimed it as their own? Even if the person didn’t mean to do it, it’s still a problem. I see this as an excellent opportunity to talk about the issue of respect and responsibility. 21st century values or ‘character traits’ are very popular in many school boards today as must-teach topics, and this lesson ties those in nicely. We have a responsibility as digital citizens to respect the work put on the internet by others. The best way to demonstrate this respect, is by giving credit where credit is due. This is not a difficult concept for students to grasp, and I realize now that yes, this is important to teach younger members of our classrooms. In fact, it’s probably better to teach this early on, as the more practice they have in recognizing the creator’s copyright, the easier it will be to remember to do. 

Ribeiro, Lucelia. (June 30, 2008). Children at school. (photograph). Retreived from https://www.flickr.com/photos/lupuca/8720604364 

Welcome!

Hello everyone and welcome to the blog!

I am a teacher candidate in Ontario, Canada, sharing my thoughts about education, tech, and everything in between. It's been a long road to get here, but I can't believe in a few short months I'll be a fully certified teacher! Primary/Junior grades are my preferred teaching area, but who knows where I'll end up in the future!

A bit about me: I love reading and creative writing (any NaNoWriMo participants here?) and hope to instil this same love of literature in my students. My favourite way to destress, however, is cooking. I love food, and in the past few years while I've been away at school, I've been able to stretch my culinary muscles. I can't say that my roommates complain too much when I ask them to be guinea pigs for my new recipes either!

I'm excited in my education technology course for a project coming up that I will be writing more about later in this blog, namely our Genius Hour. I'm still bouncing around ideas, but I have a feeling it'll have something to do with baking... Stay tuned!