Monthly Archives: November 2024

How to Have a Great Field Trip

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Do you remember when you were a kid, excitedly stepping onto a great big bus early in the morning, headed off to a field trip? Field trips mean new and exciting experiences for students, so they can leave long lasting impressions. It is the perfect time to make the subjects they are learning about come alive, and to show them just how fun learning about the world around them can really be. Here are a few tips on how to make your next field trip great.

Be Prepared

Well before the exciting day arrives, do your research and write up a list of everything your students will need to do and know in order to arrive prepared. This list may include suggestions for proper attire, including weather appropriate clothing and footwear that will fit the planned activities, suggestions for lunches to pack, and what is OK to bring and what must be left at home. For example, some trips might be a good time for cameras, but for others, like museums that do not allow photography, cameras should be left at home. Depending on your destination, you may want to give a special talk about the right kind of behavior for the trip as well. Making it very clear what is expected of your students before you are out and about will help to ensure that the day goes smoothly.

Make It Memorable

The best way to ensure that your field trip will really stick with your students is to have them truly engaged in the place that you are visiting. There are some destinations that will create this engagement naturally. For others, however, like a walk through a forest or other natural setting or a trip to an art museum, you may need to help them keep their focus. You know your students best, so plan for what you know will hold their interest. If they are mature and already interested in their destination, a simple worksheet might be enough. For a rowdier or more easily distracted crowd, consider something a bit more exciting, like a scavenger hunt.

Transportation

One last critical step that you need to remember is to secure a good source of transportation. When you are choosing a bus service, be sure to take the time to seek out a reliable company that you can trust to get you and your students where you need to be, comfortably. It can be difficult to feel quite as excited about a trip after you have just made a long, uncomfortable journey. By choosing a bus service that offers climate controlled buses, you can deliver your students to their educational destination feeling fresh and ready to learn.

How Would a Vacuum Food Sealer Be a Benefit for You?

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Vacuum Food Sealers are devices that every modern homemaker should have in their kitchen. They are available in either battery-operated hand-held models or nice looking units that plug-in and sit on the countertop. In short, they remove air (oxygen) from plastic bags of food and seal them shut. Easy to use, just divide the food into the bags that come with the unit, insert the neck of the bag into the sealer, push the lid closed to lock and push a button to operate. The air is removed by vacuum and when the proper pressure is obtained, the heat sealer is activated to seal the bag closed.

These bags of food can then be stored in the freezer for up to three years before using. The Vacuum Food Sealers are lightweight, sleek designed quality apparatuses that are easy to store or take up limited space on the counter. Quite a bit of time and money is saved when food can be purchased in bulk quantities, and either separated into prepared portion sizes and stored in large quantities that won’t spoil.

The modern homemaker can save money with Vacuum Food Sealers by shopping less often and buying food in economical bulk prices. By shopping less, the economic advantages start to multiply into other areas like saving money on automobile costs. You are driving less, buying less gasoline, causing less wear and tear on the car and keeping the mileage figure on the car lower.

The average family throws away 25% of purchased food monthly, from not preparing leftovers and/or fresh foods properly. By storing leftovers in bags sealed with Vacuum Food Sealers reduces food waste to zero. Frozen foods packaged in sealer bags that are devoid of oxygen will avoid freezer burn and will not lose their taste or nutritional value.

Vacuum Sealer accessories include containers to seal fruits and vegetables in to keep them fresh longer without crushing the contents. The containers can also be used to marinate meals by opening the pores of the meat to let the marinade penetrate deeper into the meat for a better flavor. The containers can also be used for storing dry food items such as tea, flour, cereal, noodles, chips, crackers and rice.

The home Food Saver Sealers are perfect for families that grow their own fruits and vegetables. They are not restricted to eating these quality healthy foods just during the growing season, but can package them with Food Saver Sealers and store them in the freezer cheaply to enjoy all year-long. What a delight for the family to have garden grown tomatoes and corn on the cob in December!

The concept of vacuum sealing for food has been used in commercial packaging for years to maintain the quality of the food products and now is available for all conscientious homemakers. These same devices can be used for storing non-food items as well. Sealing items to keep them dry for camping or boating trips is a big plus. Because all the air is removed from the bags when sealing the amount of space that items take up is an added benefit for packing.

Restaurant Dining Room Service Improvement – Staff Scheduling Tips Part 2

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Proper staff scheduling is extremely crucial for providing excellent restaurant dining room service. There are 2 basic concepts that can improve restaurant service immensely. In every way, a balance must be achieved by matching labor needs to the forecasted business.

The first concept is the “on call waiter” who can be scheduled for any shift necessary. The “on call waiter” function is to call the restaurant about 1/2 – 1 hr. before the work shift commences food service to see if he/she is needed to come in and work that particular shift.

The “on call” function is useful in many ways in the case of outdoor dining where business literally depends on the weather. If the weather is right for outdoor seating, the “on call waiter” will be asked to come in to work. If it’s raining, then the “on call waiter” will not be asked to report to work — though the phone call to the restaurant should still be made. Basically, if the staff is sufficient for that particular restaurant shift, then the “on call waiter” will not be needed.

Another useful function for the “on call waiter” is when there is an extremely important event scheduled. In this case, there can be absolutely no staff shortages for that event. Simply by communicating properly and timely over the telephone, the dining room will be covered completely saving the service staff time and the restaurant wasted payroll.

This system is flexible, and should be used with common sense, not haphazardly. Depending on the situation, there can even be more than one “on call waiter” for a shift. By the same token, you may not even use an “on call waiter” for many of the slower work shifts. Every restaurant must figure out what system works best for them, and make the adjustment.

The second restaurant service staff scheduling concept is the “maintenance runner” which works best when there is more than one food runner working per shift. Once again, this concept will prove how proper staff scheduling is directly tied to improving dining room service.

In a small restaurant, there may be only one food runner needed for the shift delivering food from the kitchen areas to the dining room areas. The runner is responsible for keeping those dining room areas and floor areas clean, since it is usually part of the sidework.

If this sidework doesn’t get done, it is obvious where the blame lies. (Technically it’s everyone’s job to keep the restaurant clean, but it ultimately should be the food runner’s job to keep the service/ kitchen areas, waiter food prep areas, and floor areas clean.)

Now, on the other hand, a large restaurant that uses 3 runners per shift is definitely transporting a higher volume of food from the kitchen areas to the dining areas. Therefore, things will get a bit messier because of the added food traffic. To compound the problem, with more than one runner, things will get confusing as to whose responsibility it is to keep the above restaurant areas clean.

The solution to this headache lies within the restaurant service staff scheduling. Simply place “maintenance runner” on a pre-designated schedule spot, and rotate fairly. For easy labeling on the schedule, a simple MR abbreviation next to the name or shift— and it’s good to go for each needed shift. The “maintenance runner” will ultimately be responsible for the sweep up and wipe-up jobs-especially before and after each shift. Cleanliness, especially floors, will also lessen the risk of bodily injury such as slippage from an unclean floor.

These simple dining room service scheduling concepts will help ensure that the restaurant is properly staffed and maintained with regards to safety and sanitary guidelines.