Changing School Nutrition Programs.

I came across an article called “Feeding Hungry Minds” in Canadian Living, November 2007 edition, that gave me some interesting insight into major problems facing Canadian parents and educators.

In the past, school breakfast and lunch programs have been seen as charity endeavours, meant to improve the learning abilities and attention span of children suffering from poverty. While in the past, this program may have fulfilled a much needed demand in Canadian schools, this need is changing and expanding. The article states that “the philosophy of feeding children in school has evolved to meet the changing needs of Canadian families”. While lunch programs do address child poverty, there is a growing need for schools to address the overall nutrition of all students. With the norm being two parents working full-time jobs, kids are often responsible for packing their own lunches, or parents simply rely on packing unhealthy pre-packaged foods for snacks and lunches. Additionally, school facilities are still built to be incapable of housing large amount of students for lunch, cramping them in classrooms, hallways, and gyms where there is little supervision of what kids are eating, much less providing them with a comfortable space to enjoy a well-balanced meal. The article sheds light on this issue, saying that we need to realize that the “1950s mom-will-pick-up-the-kids-for-lunch mentality” is no longer a reality for most families.

The article goes on to connect school nutrition programs with child obesity. Studies revealed that children with a fully-integrated nutrition program had the lowest rates of obesity and also had positive effects on school community, health of students, and levelling out differences between the socio-economic status of students in the school. The article suggests that school nutrition programs become possible with parent and community volunteers, food donations, additional funding, and monetary contributions by parents able to pay for their child’s lunches.

While some may see nutrition programs as an additional expense for both parents and the system, a well-balanced, hot meal may be provided for as little as $3.00 a day, often less than what parents would spend on the lunch they send to school with their children, especially with so many kids eating out of vending machines or confectionaries throughout the day. It seems to me that while this ideal may take time to become fully integrated in our schools, it is definitely a goal to work towards. School nutrition programs have benefits for all children — working against the extremes of both obesity and child hunger, as well as meeting the needs of a changing society.

Why I Want To Be A Teacher….

 There are no words to describe…. I can’t wait to get away with this sort of fun at work!  I am SO going to be this teacher.  Check it out!

University in Five Minutes

The video that Alec showed in class today has a lot of truth to it. In response to “Father Guido’s Five Minute University”, I thought…. “I Wish!” Well we know the five minute university degree isn’t ever going to happen. But this video presents the point that the way we have been teaching, just isn’t clicking with students today. It’s not that the information isn’t valid or important, it’s just that teachers have been failing to connect with their students in ways that are meaningful to them. It’s up to us as teachers to change the ways of knowing and learning that our students are going to walk away from school with.

Time to Reflect.

I have just finished all of my projects and papers for the semester and it is such a great feeling! For those of you who have a few more things to wrap-up, hang-in there…. it will be done before you know it, and it will feel as good as you think! Now all I have left to prepare for is my ED PSYCH final, but that isn’t for a couple of weeks, so I’m definitely just going to take some time to relax before I look at that!

As this semester is coming to a close, I wanted to take some time to reflect on the most things I have developed ideas about over these past few months. There is surprisingly more than I would have even expected, but I will try to just mention a few that stand-out in my head.

- I think anyone who is taking ED PSYCH this semester would agree that our prof definitely has a great teaching style. For a class that is largely theory-based, he is always finding ways to liven things up with jokes and ask for us to share our own related experiences. It is also impressive that he managed to learn our names, even though we only meet once a week and there are probably around 75 of us in the class. I say all of this to point out that what I am going to take away from this class is not the psychology theories, but rather I have come to understand how important a teacher’s interactions with students can be in creating a positive attitude towards learning.

- In my Early Childhood Education class, I discovered and have come to value the notion of a child’s work being the play that they engage in. Before this class I never would have considered “mindless play” to be beneficial to the child’s cognitive, physical, and social development. Yet as children engage in make-believe play and interact with others and their surroundings, they are eager to make discoveries and learn about people and situations taking place around them. If I teach in the early elementary years, I will not consider child’s play to be a time-filler, but rather one of the many ways that young children are capable of independent learning.

- I really enjoyed my ELNG class this semester because we had a lot of opportunities to share our ideas, gain the perspectives of others and be challenged by one another in a safe environment. In the class we discussed issues of language — learning a lot about how language is connected to culture, identity, school power structures , and social power. This class has challenged me to look at how the privelege I have in society has little to do with what I have earned. Rather it has a lot more to do with the social structures that support middle-class whites. Mostly I have learnt that there is no point feeling guilty about who I am or that I potentially have more power over others in many situations. Instead, the most important thing I can do with my power is to educate others about class injustice and shed light on issues that tend to be silenced.

- As a result of taking ECMP, I feel much more competent about the ways in which technology can be used in the classroom. Even more importantly, I am able to recognize the need for technology to be in the classroom in order to support New Literacy development that will enable students to participate in a rapidly changing society. I am grateful that I have been exposed to many useful resources that will definitiely be a great asset once I begin teaching. I also hope that this professional portfolio will be a tool that can demonstrate to a wide range of audiences, my committment to learning and professional development as I continue through school and enter the profession.

Blogging Mentorship Project.

Throughout this course I have enjoyed the opportunity to participate in mentorship blogging. I appreciated being able to mentor, and even more so being exposed to the blog posts from different grade classes. I regularly looked at Mrs. Cassidy’s grade one/two blog, Mrs. Berchard’s grade four blog, as well as Mr. K’s grade high school consumer math class.

I enjoyed reading posts from all three of the classes, and found it beneficial to be exposed to each grade levels different capabilities when it came to writing and posting blog entries. I noticed that I tended to feel most comfortable making comments to the grade four students. Because I have worked with this age of students a lot in the past, I had a good idea of what sort of comments I could leave to get them thinking more about what they were learning.

On one post in particular, one of Mrs. Berchard’s students was discussing her thoughts on unpredictable weather. I noticed that she was talking about types of unpredictable weather that do not usually happen in Saskatchewan such as hurricanes, tornadoes and tropical storms. I wanted her to think about how Saskatchewan’s weather compares to the types of unpredictable weather, so I mentioned that day’s high winds and rain as being unpredictable, given that by mid-Novemeber it is often snowing already.

Another post that I made to Mrs. Berchard’s students was when she was discussing her thoughts on the changing nature of farming. The student mentioned “more education” as being a pro for the life of a farmer today. I recognized this point as valid and important, so I suggested to her that farmers today are more likely to have the choice of whether they want to continue the family tradition. I wanted to point out to her that in the past, a child’s future career was likely determined by the family trade, but now people have more choice to have a career in what interests them.

I also commented on the student’s posts in Mr. K’s classes. One of the students made a brief posts about the most important things he had learned in the Spreadsheets Unit that the class just completed. I wanted to challenge his thoughts of Spreadsheets and I did this by asking him what uses he will have for Spreadsheets in his personal life. I hope he can make the connection between his school work and what he does in his every day life, both now and in the future.

You Know You’re A Student When….

You Know You’re A student When….

Your mom asks what you want for Christmas and on the list you give her, you write the following items:

- facewash

- ink cartridges

- monthly desk calendar

- undershirts

- blistex (cooling blue & berry)

- shampoo

Sad to say, this is actually the list I came up with and gave to my mom. She laughed at me and said “This is not a Christmas list!” If I try really hard, I might be able to come up with one or two things that are a bit less… needed. But I will stress that those things only come in addition to the list I originally gave her. By no means should the other frivolous stuff come in place of the essentials!

I just thought I would share this, because I had a laugh over myself. If anyone has any “You Know You’re A Student When….” stories feel free to add them in the comments. I would love to know that I’m not the only one out there!

Blogging Mentorship Project.

Establishing mentoring relationships between our students and other people who can offer encouragement and educational support, is immeasurably valuable to the development of young people. Mentorship is important to children because as they have the opportunity to share who they are and what they are learning, that learning is validated and furthered. There is perhaps nothing more influential to a child’s success in school and in life, than the encouragement and support they receive from a wide range of environmental supports. Traditionally, these supports could include family members, friends, and teachers. If the teacher was highly motivated, this kind of mentorship could also be extended by inviting community members to partner up with children that share similar backgrounds or interests.

The Blogging Mentorship Project that I have been participating in during this course has changed my understanding of how mentoring relationships can be set up between students and the greater world. There is still much value attributed to real-life, person-to-person connections that a teacher will set up between students and mentors throughout the course of the school-year. But I have also come to appreciate the personal and educational value that can occur when students are virtually connected to mentors. As students make blog entries about what they are learning, their ideas are instantly shared with peers, family members, and society at large. Mentorship Blogging takes the concept of mentorship relationships to a new level because it is highly on-going and students can receive almost instant feedback.

I have been enjoying the opportunity to mentor students by responding to their blog entries. I particularly enjoy encouraging and asking additional questions to the grade four class. I have also made a few comments to Mr. K’s students, but will have to try to come up with some questions to challenge their thinking.

This project has exposed me to the range of possibilities that exist to further student learning, when they can take their thoughts to a personal blog. When I set up my classroom, I plan to use blogging mentorship as a way to challenge and encourage the learning that my students are eager to share with others.

Life ‘Round Here

Telecollaborative Web Projects are powerful ways to connect students and allow them to engage in authentic learning.   I particularly found  the  Life ‘Round Here  project to be a rich learning opportunity for students to participate in.  In the project, students have the opportunity to create videos that talk about things that are important to their life and put it in a video format.  The videos are then selected to be put on the project Wiki for people around the world to view.

It is so encouraging to see that these students, aged 10 to 12, are given the opportunity to speak about what is important to them.  When students are given the opportunity to create meaningful work, they do.  These young students talk about issues of freedom, peace, war, peer pressure, friendship, self-worth, and religion.  This project is a great example of demonstrating what students are possible of thinking about and creating, when we give them the chance to do so.  I believe the key is allowing our students to share their thoughts and learning in ways that are personally meaningful to them.  Telecollaborative projects is one of the ways that we can encourage them towards this goal.

Check out the Life ‘Round Here Wiki to learn more about the project and view the completed projects!

Check Out Starfall.

I  was looking around on Irma’s final project and I decided to check out the Starfall resource that she suggested as a valuable tool in helping children who are beginning to read.  I spent some time exploring the site and suggest that if you plan on teaching primary years, you consider this as something that could greatly enhance children’s learning.

Children can learn anything from letters, letter sounds, letter rules, and also follow along in stories with audio.  I first thought that children could do these exercises individually, but with SmartBoards coming into classrooms, and even computer projectors, some of these interactive lessons could also be done in a group setting.  Alternatively, children could engage in these activities at home to complement what is being taught in the classroom.

The site also has teacher print-offs of letter activity pages if the teacher wanted the written curriculum to line up with the online activities.  In addition to learning isolated reading skills, reading is related to learning about music, exploring the identity of children, an even learning sign language. Children can also read stories on their own, but have the option of listening to the pronunciation of individual words or sentences they may be struggling with.  This is a great way to learn as it is almost as though the teacher can be with each student, working on their individual challenges, all at the same time .  I would recommend this site to be used from Pre-K to Grade three, and would also be a great resource for ESL students.

Enough of my findings, check it out for yourself!

Behind Every Child is a Story.

Throughout this semester I have been volunteering in the ESL program at an elementary school in Regina.  When I first began my experiences in this setting, I was not sure of what to expect or what I would learn from this new teaching situation.  However, one of the most important things that I will come away with is having seen firsthand the different stories that each child in the program has.

One of the students I have worked with almost every week was born in Afghanistan and raised in Russia.  As a result, he is fluently bilingual and is quickly learning new English skills every time I see him.  Yet you  know there is a deeper story that lies beneath the surface when this adorable seven-year-old child sees an American flag on one of his worksheets and says, “Can I cross this off?  Because I hate Americans.”

Another student is a native of Thailand but in his young life was displaced to Burma to live in a concentration camp because their tribe was being persecuted in their native country.  This student is twelve-years-old but because of the insecurity of his life, he was prevented from being educated in any language at all.  Now he must struggle to learn a first language when he is past the critical period — This is a great challenge, but he expects great things from himself.

Yet another girl came from a country lacking much formal education.  She is in grade seven, and even writing out numbers after considerable instruction is a great challenge for her.  As she struggles to learn the basics, it is so clear that she has a desire to learn.  Even more evident is her caring smile and actions that show her genuine appreciation to learn and hope for the future.

It is in my teaching experiences with these and other children that I have learnt how critical it is for teachers to get to know each student on an individual basis.  We must recognize that children cannot be lumped together as being at the same learning level, nor can they be categorized by learning type or potential.  Every child must be viewed as unique and valued for the capabilities that they bring to the classroom, no matter what level they may be at when compared to their peers.

Behind every child is a story, and it is our job as teachers to add a chapter to their book of life that will build them up as people and as learners.  As we build onto their story and see them continue on their journey, it is our hope that they will be more able to continue successfully because what we did as teachers validated the people they are, and are becoming.