Desi’s 1/28/08 blog on ‘It’s not a new thing’

Leanne’s 1/20/08 blog about ‘Outdated buildings, out of the question!’

Travis’ 2/25/08 blog on ‘Jumbalaya’

Brad’s 1/30/08 blog about ‘The Killer F’

Jeremy’s blog on ‘Local Michigan community backs author Chris Crutcher’

Laura’s 1/30/08 blog about ‘Coach resigns after high school bans pregame prayer’

Allie’s 4/11/08 blog on ‘”Thin” is not in for Seton Hall Schools’

David’s 3/27/08 blog about “Faculty Breakdown”

Jack’s 3/12/08 blog on ‘Republican’s push for “safer” internet’

Molly’s 2/27/08 blog about ‘Encouraging writing in our students’

    As the semester comes to an end, so does my topic in concern (at least for now). Learning more about what schools are doing wrong, what some have done right to change the system, and how this could all end for obese children, has taught me a lot as well as confirmed my initial hypothesis; that proper nutrition in schools is extremely important.

There is a real danger of a higher percentage of our future generations suffering from obesity as well as side affects that can come from that like heat disease and diabetes. However, the problem doesn’t get a lot of attention and is instead placed on the back burner. Schools tend to be more concerned about how they can get that extra money now from promoting Pepsi or selling Doritos, instead of taking a hit and providing students with whole wheat snacks, water, fruit, and yogurt. What we often forget is that even though it may cost money now to change food alternatives to healthier ones, we will end up paying more in the end for not promoting healthy living sooner.

I have always been passionate about getting exercise and eating healthy (although I will admit to being a fan of sweets) and felt that in today’s society most of us have lost that. We are always in a rush and we (teachers) have a tendency to rush our students, cutting time from things like exercise (gym class) and eating time. I’m not saying that everyone should take four years of gym in high school or that we all need an hour to eat, but by maneuvering a few things around, we could allow for more flexibility in students schedules to be well balanced.  

I haven’t talked much in the last posts about connecting this topic back into the classroom. There are many writing prompts that you could use to see students perspective on the issue, but how would you introduce a topic like this one? Well the best that I have seen so far is by showing the movie Super Size Me and then have your students write about their feelings from watching it. Here they could write about where they think the future of America is heading in their obesity problem, facts that the movie brought up, or even why they think the movie is wrong. The majority of high schoolers will have an opinion on weight, whether positive or negative, but it would be quiet interesting to see what solutions they can come up with for schools and nutrition substitutes.

Using RSS feeds, I have been able to easily access news articles about my topic- which are all sent right to my google email account. Before English 310, I didn’t even know RSS existed, or blogs (wow I was technology naïve). Now, I can’t wait to implement them in a future class. I think the handiest way for students to use technology like this is a blog, instead of the typical diary project, and RSS for an opinion or other type of paper. By introducing these materials to students at an earlier age, they will be getting a step ahead for college. Many older teachers won’t touch technology with a ten foot poll- and nothing good can come from that. I think that when students my age become teachers, schools and students will be using technology like never before, and exploring how things like blogging can create a new, fun way to write.

 Reference:

Youtube.com

Recently, I attended Dr. Anne Curzan’s, from the University of Michigan, lecture on slang entitled, ‘Sticking up for slang: Why language authorities cannot stop language change.’ Although it was only an hour long, I gained a different perspective on slang and its use, while also trying to figure out my future stance on slang in the classroom and in writing.

Curzan began by posing a question to us similar to this, “The neighbors upstairs had just moved in and their boxes lay on the floor unpacked” and then asked us to tell her what was incorrect about it. Many said lay should be lie, maybe something was wrong about ‘neighbors upstairs,’ and then someone mentioned the ambiguity in ‘unpacked.’ We use it to mean that they boxes are still full or that the boxes are empty, and from this stance ‘unpacked’ can be considered slang.

This led her into the discussion of dictionaries. We are taught from a young age to question things like science and books that we read, but why do we never think to question the dictionary? It is because we see it as a fact, the know-all book, and as English teachers- a Bible like substance. But lexicographers, dictionary makers, are stuck in the middle of slang makers, which are mostly the younger generation, and prescriptivists, people who try to enforce the rules and standards of language.

Curzan writes in “Opening Dictionaries to Investigation,” “In the face of language change the dictionary seems a stable authority for determining what a word “really means,” even if we as speakers are all using it to mean something else… recent work in sociolinguistics has addressed speakers’ desire for authority in language and their natural tendency towards… “verbal hygiene,” or the regulation of other people’s language.”

Here Curzan is saying that we like to have a guide like a dictionary to tell us what words are considered “real” in English but sometimes how we use them isn’t included in there. In Curzans speech she brought up that as far back as you can go in the English language, there has always been someone saying that the words are improper or incorrect. In Beowulf and Chaucer’s Wife of Bath aks is used instead of the now used ask. However, now we associate ‘aks’ with African American English and say that it is ungrammatical, but how can we say that when it was used before ‘ask’ was?

“Speakers trust dictionaries to tell them if semantic change has “really happened,” of a word is standard or slang- in other words, if a word or a meaning is legitimate, rather than a “misuse” by “lazy,” “uneducated,” or otherwise “unworthy” speakers,” writes Curzan.

Prescriptivists and older generations tend to stereotype slang as lazy and incorrect in all senses but legitimate words are created everyday by clipping, compounding, affixation, and other methods, its here where we question what makes it into the dictionary. Typically, it is done by tracking- looking in popular magazines, newspapers, and TV to see how often a word arises and what the chances are of it sticking around. For example, in a popular Seinfeld episode Elaine uses the term “yada, yada, yada” which people started using like crazy. This leaves lexicographers wondering whether it should be included or not.

Everyday we use words that we probably don’t even know are considered to be slang. What we should keep in mind as future English teachers is that English isn’t decaying by using slang, it is just changing. We should trust the speakers of English because they will not lose something that is needed, however, they may just change it.

References:

Curzan, Anne. Language in the Schools. “Opening Dictionaries to Investigation.” London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publisher, 2005.

Youtube.com

So far I have only manly touched on the many negative sides of obesity in children and how schools inhibiting the crisis. However, today I would like to change my focus to how some schools are moving towards a healthy education.

The Department of Agriculture has changed the students and teachers diets of Como-Pickton, Texas school district. The district takes the money provided from the Texas Department of Agriculture and purchases fresh veggies and fruit to supply to the students and teachers throughout the day. As an added bonus these treats are free, due to the agriculture grant. This means that about 930 students and staff can partake in the eating and this is just one of the twenty-five districts participating.

“The goal of the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP) is to create healthier school environments by providing better food choices, expand the variety of fruits and vegetables that children experience, increase the children’s consumption of fruits and vegetables, and ultimately make a difference in children’s diets to impact their present and future health,” commented Lydia Walden, the assistant superintendent.

This is a perfect example of the type of change our schools need to consider. This project was authorized by Congress in 2002 and because of its success it has become a program under the National School Lunch Act. Most of the schools selected have 50 percent of their students receiving free or reduced price lunches. Although, quiet obviously this program hasn’t been inducted into most schools across the US, it is a positive way to fight childhood obesity through practice (and we all know that practice makes perfect J). Another positive side is that most kids don’t step outside their usual eating practices and by providing a variety of fruits and veggies they will experience new tastes and hopefully change their eating habits.

No more than 10 percent of the total grant can go towards administrative costs, which I think is a great restriction to place so that the majority of the money can go to fresh produce.

“’Fresh’ is a vital word. The program will not allow schools to use the funding to purchase processed or preserved fruits and vegetables.”

This means that canned and frozen items are out along with other fruit alternatives such as fruit leather, fruit pizza, and dips.

“Instead, new and different types fruits and vegetables that students would not normally have access to — such as kiwi, star fruit, pomegranate, rutabaga and kohlrabi — are encouraged, as well as other fresh favorites.”

In Edmond, Oklahoma the schools are promoting healthy eating and physical activities starting in early childhood so that students can learn ways of healthy living and carry it throughout their lives. They offer breakfast, which I have always thought to be the most important meal of the day and a way to keep students bellies full and their minds ready to go. Several schools have walking challenges and many of the pre-high school schools require that students participate in a walking or running program.

“At Washington Irving Elementary School, health and physical education teachers receive a $1,000 grant and resources from Schools for Healthy Lifestyles to educate students about things such as muscle strength, endurance and flexibility,” said Shana Classen, a physical education and health teacher.

These districts have taken strides to improve the health of their students. I was surprised to find that Congress had passed such an act in hopes of a long term goal of reaching all of America’s youth. I would consider, as a writing prompt to my students, whether all of Americas negative attention for being the fattest country- with the most means of prevention- is a big enough concern to start implementing programs such as this, or if we will continue to damn our youth into obesity. I think it is a great way to get the inside perspective of the students instead of hearing the information from the “outside.”

References:
“Bringing Schools Better Nutrition”

By Dawn Marks Posted on: Thursday, 10 April 2008

Full article

“Reading, Writing and Rutabagas”

By Faith Huffman Posted: April 10 2008

Full Article

            It’s not just the United States that has to face the fact of childhood obesity. The News & Star paper from England reported:

“A generation of Cumbrian children is facing severe health problems with one in 10 starting school clinically obese.”

            This year they had 500 children start school that qualified as being obese.

            The frightening thing is that if this trend continues, rates will only increase by age, with little hope of the children “rebounding” from their weight problems. Most kids go through that chubby phase, as I know that I did- but that is losing baby weight, if you’d like to call it that, which is just about the time your body starts pumping out hormones so you are bound to gain some weight. However, things settle down and your body “evens” itself out. There is a major difference between putting on a few pounds, to being overweight, to being clinically obese. Taking your height and weight into consideration, you figure out your Body Mass Index (BMI) and if that calculates to thirty or more, you’re obese. The more a child is obese, the less likely it is that they will ever lose the weight and more likely it is to develop “type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, arthritis, sleep apnea, and stroke,” says WebMD.com. Although these are long term problems, there are ones that kids will see a lot sooner, “there are also mental health consequences. There is more possibility of being bullied, affecting self esteem and achievements in school,” says News & Star.

            Simply put, the children are not eating properly. Remember the food pyramid? If you came from a school like mine, I’m sure you couldn’t forget considering we had to do our own diagrams almost every year until high school, and then one more time in health class by senior year. This is a great tool for teachers to have kids make up a daily food triangle of servings and portions you should have, and then next to it have them make an actual one of the things they eat in a day. Not surprisingly, most if not all the students’ work would be nothing like what it should be. It’d be wonderful to start these projects when students are young, while getting them into physical education classes where the fat kids aren’t always picked last and making well balanced meals and choices.

            In Cumbrian they have started the students and their families working with MEND (mind, exercise, nutrition, do it) which pushes them onto the right track of dropping bad eating and living habits. However, funding may be cut because enough families won’t join, but why not? Because the problem starts with not willing to admit that they need help. Kids aren’t to blame because for the most part they don’t know what they’re doing is wrong and hurtful to their bodies, but this is why schools need to integrate more “health conscious” classes.

            “Medics say the growing childhood obesity epidemic is one of the biggest problems facing the county, impacting not only on youngsters’ weight, but their mental health and achievements at school,” comments the News & Star.

            Children thrive much better in an environment where they feel safe and comforted. Surely this cannot happen when they’re out of breath walking from the bus to class, or struggling to write fast enough with their pudgy little fingers- or even worse, being humiliated by a bully. Teachers and families need to work together to get out youth back into shape!

News & Star

Primary Kids Obesity Shock

Feb. 25, 2008. Viewed Feb, 25, 2008.

http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/viewarticle.aspx?id=797211

WebMD

Health and Diet: Obesity Overview

April 20, 2007. Viewed Feb. 25, 2008

http://www.webmd.com/diet/tc/obesity-overview

“Okay team, we want to fund our trip to Florida, well we’re going to need to have a fund raiser. And what do people like most? Well, that’d be good food, so let’s sell five pound tubs of cookie dough or something to do with pizza- who could resist that?!” I’m sure this, although somewhat dramatized, conversation sounds familiar to any one who has been apart of some type of extra curricular activity in school. Even coming from a well-off community, it seemed like there were always fund raisers going on, and all of them were dominated by food.

In Montgomery County, Washington they are examining this issue and trying to find alternatives for the students. The report done on the twenty-four elementary schools and six middle and high schools was to eventually help strengthen their policies on food and beverage marketing.

Kathy Lazor, director of food and nutrition for Montgomery schools, said, “that a new vending contract calls for contractors to replace images of corporate logos, such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi, with pictures of healthful foods or of people engaged in activities that boost fitness, such as biking and walking.”

Impressionable teens, even subconsciously will be influenced by the “healthiness” of what they’re seeing, instead of images of fatty candy bars and soda. They found that there were twenty-one vending machines in the high schools and although they offered mostly water, there was still pop and juices. The food was the typical candy, cookies, and chips. In my high school alone there were six vending machines, three of which were in the cafeteria. I know that they did offer water, granola bars, and powerade, but who wants to eat that when you can have a diet coke and pretzels? But that all seems very contrasting when they decided that pop would no longer be sold in the cafeteria lines, instead you would need to walk the additional twenty feet to the Coke machine to get your fix.

“School fund raisers at McDonald’s restaurants have teachers serving Big Macs and Quarter Pounders to their students,” and in at “least four elementary schools, in which teachers gave certificates to students who met reading goals, the certificates entitled students to a free personal-size pizza.”

Of course a student will be more enticed to do well when they have a pizza coming there way instead of an apple, but that shows that teachers are placing the importance on the wrong thing. They should be encouraging their students to read well because they need to, not just bribe them with a whole pizza- to themselves. To an elementary student, a gold star sticker and praise for their good work is more of a self-esteem boost than anything else would be. Don’t get me wrong, a bake sell of cookies every once in a while isn’t going to hurt anyone, and a night out at a restaurant where some of the profits go to the school is a great idea, but when these ideas turn into constant unhealthy Pepsi, Pizza Hut, and McDonalds pushes then its time to rethink what your saying to kids. Return to the good old car washes, or precut fruit cups, or even the selling of flowers for young lovers to show their affection.

Washington Post

“Study looks at schools’ Food Values”

By: Lori Aratani

Feb. 14, 2008. Viewed Feb. 16, 2008

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/13/AR2008021301855.html

    As I have learned in my education classes, sometimes you need to educate or reach a parent before you can get to the child. The first and strongest influence a child will ever have is it’s parents (or guardians) so, from a young age that child is like a sponge, lapping up everything from what their parent says, what they do, and what they eat.

The Redding Pilot featured an article about the “Two Angry Moms” and how these women are trying to change school lunch. Basically they want EVERYONE in the community to heighten their awareness of what they consume. Some of the frightening facts they introduce are

“ 35% of American children are overweight or at risk; one in three children born in the year 2000 will become diabetic; one in four American children take prescription medication daily for chronic illness. There are soaring rates of asthma, ADHD, anxiety, autism, learning disabilities and depression among children.“

But are we taking the easy way out by blaming these facts purely on food? BBC news recently did an article that looked at if by chance childhood obesity was genetic. When doing a study with non-identical twins (because they’re genetically different but will have the same upbringing) they found that a bad food environment was less influential then the children’s genes.

Jane Wardle, the professor that lead the study said, “These results do not mean that a child with a high complement of susceptibility genes will inevitably become overweight, but that their genetic endowment gives them a stronger predisposition.”

If genes do have a small role in our weight, then it is even more important to watch what school kids eat.”Two Angry Mom’s” suggests we find new alternatives to the way that we view and use food now. For instance, food is used as a reward in many situations, like getting an answer right in class, but instead maybe a bonus point on the next test would be a better way to go. Also, in many schools there isn’t much time allotted for kids to eat lunch and return to class, causing them to stuff food in their mouth while still being able to get in dire social time.

“Look at the contract for food service providers. Schools do a RFP — request for proposals — every five years. Use the Freedom of Information Act to see what the proposal is asking of vendors. Many efforts to improve the foods served in school is being undermined by provisions of the contracts,” points out Amy Kalafa, who created the documentary. 

Kalafa makes a great point, because she is telling the community that they all need to step up if they want to see change. Busy parents may not have the time to see who supplies the food at their kids school, let alone make them a well balanced meal to bring for lunch- but if they spend the extra time now trying to change things they won’t have to watch their child go through the suffering of teasing, obesity, and perhaps diabetes. I think that many parents think of schools like they do of Disney World, that every thing is safe and going to get taken care of. We need to change this frame of mind and begin taking an active role in all parts of schools.

The BBC article points out that it’s not just the fact that kids are fatter now then they ever have been. Obesity at a young age could carry through to adulthood, and with that comes many frightening conditions like diabetes, risk factors for cancer, and other things like depression.

Tam Fry from the Child Growth Foundation says, “Even if someone has a gene which predisposes them to obesity, it doesn’t mean they will become obese if they work hard to eat healthily, and take more exercise to burn off those calories.”

If schools start changing what they offer for meals now, it will be taking a giant step in the right direction. A change needs to be made, otherwise there’s a good chance that our children will start having shorter life expectancies than we will.

The Redding Pilot

‘Two Angry Moms’ deals with school lunch food issues 

By Janis Gibson

Feb 11, 2008

http://www.acorn-online.com/news/publish/redding/28786.shtml

BBC News

Obesity ‘may be largely genetic

Feb 7, 2008

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7230065.stm

Especially after the New Year, it seems like there is a stir of new diet fads, pills, and ways to lose weight- the “easy” way. But it seems that the more these items are pushed on the market, the more we Americans forget that the two easiest, cheapest ways to lose weight. Exercise and consuming less trans fat may be harder than taking a diet pill four times a day but looking fit and being fit are two totally different things. The Virginia senate has figured this out and implemented a system for public schools in the state. Although there is no stated dead line for schools but lawmakers would follow the bill to weed out as many artery-clogging trans fats in the cafeteria.

Senator John Edwards, who backed the bill said, “So much of the food children eat is from the school system, so the system ought to be providing nutritious and trans fat-free food.”

Edwards has a great point. The average student is in school for seven hours a day, guaranteeing that at least one meal will be consumed at school. We’ve all gone to the cafeteria in high school and instead of choosing the smart meal of salad and water we went for the greasy pizza and cookie mainly because it looked better than something healthy. But then you go to class, lethargic, and find it hard to pay attention. These foods aren’t just bad for the body but also for the mind.

According to the article, trans fats are concerning to the nutrition experts because “they contribute to artery problems and heart disease. Overweight children are developing signs of heart disease and diabetes at earlier ages, experts say. Trans fats, which can negatively affect cholesterol levels, are often found in margarine and many vegetable shortenings, cookies, chips and fried foods.”

We’re literally killing our children by allowing them to eat this food. We all know that childhood obesity rates have risen and I believe that this has become such a terrifying issue that many states have begun to take action on the problem. It’s not only school systems that are trying to limit trans fats but also several restaurants. But where to set the limit, because surely you cannot eliminate all trans fats from food, and I don’t think you necessarily need to. For example, if there is a choice of a school hamburger or lightly-breaded turkey strips, the strips would be a smarter decision. Most set the rate at in a given week, not more than 10% calories should be of trans fats.

Register dietitian and director of food and nutrition services for the Fairfax County, VA public schools, Penny McConnell, isn’t just eliminating food from the menu and leaving the students with just a few measly choices. She searches for healthier alternatives for those foods, like baked lays instead of the regular.

“It’s the right thing to do,” McConnell said. She hoped the measure would expand to cover other providers, such as hospitals or colleges, “but this is a good starting point.”

Like I’ve stressed in the last two posts, the more that people start to solve this problem, the more it will catch on. Some students may be upset now that Doritos, cookies, and that empty calorie snack of fries are being replaced- but later will be thankful that they aren’t suffering from a heart condition.

“Va. Senate Backs Phaseout of Trans Fats in School Food”
By Sandhya Somashekhar and Annie Gowen
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, January 30, 2008; Page B01 Viewed: 1/30/08

First, I would like to address the feeds that I had forgot to talk about in my first post. In my google reader, BBC news, NPR, NYT, and google news all send me subscriptions to “nutrition in schools” or some thing along those lines- that being my topic of choice. So far, I have found it extremely beneficial for this project, if nothing else, I feel like for once I know a little something that is going on in the world, even if the topic isn’t so “serious” like that of war or politics. There are a few other sites that I want to add along with some blogs that I think may be useful, which I’m planning on doing soon.

So getting back to the topic at hand, I read an article today about Senator Boone from West Virginia and his fight against an unhealthy school snacking system. Boone makes many of the same claims that I talked about in my first post but goes a little further with vending machines.

According to the Register-Herald Boone said, “I think they’re going to buy whatever is in the vending machines and the school system then is not going to get harmed too much financially.”

I concur on Boone’s thinking. Schools stress so much about losing that extra, useful money they attain from keeping vending machines, but the truth is that if a student is hungry enough to spend the little spare change they have clinking around in their pocket, it’s most likely that they will buy whatever is available. Which it’d be great if their only option was good for them, Boone stated that things like high fiber snacks, low fat foods and 100 percent fruit juices would be terrific alternatives to pop and chips. So what brought this to his and other West Virginians attention? Their dental heath which is near the bottom in quality. Which most dentists will tell you, having bad oral health should be a sign that smacks you in the head telling you that other health problems are to come.

Later Boone said, “We have to look out for the kids’ health rather than a few dollars.”

Even though the article ended more with a look at oral health than physical, it is all connected. A teen with bad health will develop strong self-esteem issues that have a pretty good chance of carrying on throughout the rest of their life. Being overweight, bad teeth, and other problems will only make it harder to find a job, relationship, and happiness. I know it sounds a little shallow but putting that aside, thats the way that America functions. I wish that it wasn’t but on the bright side, being healthy is better than nothing. It’s refreshing to see Boone take a real concern into these students. If one state changes that others will surely follow, hopefully soon enough so that the majority of students have a chance at change.

Boone senator declares war on sugary school snacks in W.Va.

Published: January 20, 2008 11:23 pm by The Register-Herald

By: Mannix Porterfield

http://www.register-herald.com/local/local_story_020232336.html

After taking a while to examine and carefully choose a fabulous topic, I believe I will work on nutrition in schools. I have always felt that being healthy is more than just working out, it includes your daily diet. I have heard of different studies of how different “healthier” foods impact the way you feel, your stamina, thinking process, and how you look. It seems that now a days there is all this pressure of looking thin or being in shape, so teens will starve themselves or skip out on meals when in all reality, eating three well rounded meals a day is much better for you then skipping out. Most high schools have the worst food they could supply to students. I understand how it could be beneficial for schools to make a deal with Coke or Pepsi to get some extra fundage but is this at the expense of the students? Certainly a vending machine with granola bars and “baked lays” would be a better choice than one with snickers and mini donuts. I want to look at how better nutrition in schools will positively affect students along with taking a look at how bad nutrition is hindering how students preform in school and if there is a long lasting detrimental effect. There has been a lot of talk of how kids are becoming obese at such a young age- and high school is hard enough without having to be teased about the way you look. I believe that many valuable things will come if schools simply switch to healthier food.