THE COFFEE SHOP

Similar to the previous section, the description of the coffee shop setting will begin with two vignettes to sketch a picture of the daily activities that occur in the coffee shop.

Coffee Shop Vignette 1 – Doubling the Recipe for Blueberry Orange Muffins

According to the job chart, Marion and another student, Leila, who is in the lower level group, have signed up to bake muffins. Although they have both baked muffins before, this is the first time either has attempted to double the ingredients in a recipe. Neither seems particularly concerned about this new challenge when Fran briefly explains what doubling means.

The students are each responsible for their own batch of muffins but work along side e ach other to share tools and ingredients. Leila collects all the food ingredients while Marion assembles the tools such as bowls, pans, spoons, and measuring equipment. Leila said that she no longer reads the posted job list to remind her what to do when baking. She referred to it only once, the first time she did the job, and now she says she can remember all the steps to prepare for baking.

Fran stands to the side of the two students and makes her presence known only when the students face a problem that they can't solve on their own or with each other's help. Her interventions are most often related to doubling the ingredients and the reading of abbreviations in the recipe. She will remind a student to double the amount or asks how they plan to double. To solve the doubling problem, the students simply fill their measuring cup or spoon twice for each ingredient. Although with a whole number amount, such as one cup, they double mentally and fill their measuring beakers to the two–cup mark.