too cool for school

    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:

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