Sep
04
2009
Like Dorothy in the Wizard of OZ, one wonders what lies beyond the awe inspiring gates of the school cafeteria. Is it some kind of mysterious civilization that's completely unaware of the concept of establishing proper eating habits or is it a matter of parents and children opting for something that's cheap, quick, and filling?
As the heavy metal doors swing open, you are immediately sucked into the havoc and chaos of the twenty minute lunch period. As the parade of anemic green trays pass before your eyes, you become mesmerized by the plethora of culinary combinations that our children have come to believe is lunch. Although there is some representation of the five food groups present, potato chips, chicken fingers, white bread, grape jelly, and chocolate milk do not constitute a healthy diet!
In order to change America's attitude from "fast" to "fit", we must begin by educating families as a unit on the benefits of good nutrition in a way
that is practical, timely, and fun. All you need is a tasty little recipe to do the trick.
Recipe for Success
Recreate Get Physical
Educate Teach Healthy Life Style Choices and Behavioral Change
Circulate Spread the word by sharing tips and ideas with others
Integrate Make it Fun, Hip, and Cross Curricular
Perpetuate Make it memorable
Emulate Practice what you teach
Unfortunately, even the thought of “health” class sends most students spiraling into a self induced coma. ...
Posted in: Teacher To Teacher
Sep
04
2009
At the beginning of every school year, we spend endless hours preparing our classrooms for the most dreaded evening of the year, Open House. This annual event is our first opportunity to present our curriculum and classroom policies to a conglomeration of parents ranging from the overzealous to the semi-comatose. You know those folks, the ones in the front row, who frantically jot down every syllable which rolls from your lips making a special effort to take note of the exact date and time. Whereas the back row usually consists of overworked, stressed out mothers and fathers who are so jacked up on caffeine and sugar that they can't stop asking their neighbor, “What did she just say?' as they fiendishly text and answer emails on their Blackberries. Then somewhere in between the whiteboard and the back row, we find the bobble heads. The ones suffering from periodic episodes of narcolepsy because their blood sugar levels are plummeting faster than a penny dropped from the Empire State Building. If their eyes aren't glazed over from malnutrition, their little peepers are hyper focused on the coffee, punch, and cookies being unveiled by the cafeteria staff, but then again teachers, so are ours. What's wrong with this picture? How can we possibly expect our students to make healthy choices, if many of the adults in their lives don't know how? In order ...
Posted in: Teacher To Teacher
Sep
04
2009
Although we mourn the end of our summer vacation, the majority of us are genuinely looking forward to the beginning of the new school year. Sporting tans, a little less weight, and for a few of us some resemblance of muscle tone, we arrive refreshed, revived, and rejuvenated as we prepare our classrooms and ourselves for the “new year.”
Similar to the resolutions we attempt to make every New Year's Eve, teachers set goals and objectives for their schoolwork but rarely for themselves. The time has come to change that! If teachers aren't well rested, nourished, and physically fit, imagine the impact it has on our students. We need to establish the mindset and behavior which we were able to adopt during the summer and carry it over into the new school year.
So what type of steps can we take in order to insure that we are successful in our battle against the bulge in addition to promoting a healthy lifestyle for our students? First, we need to lead by example. Secondly, we must establish a nutrition and fitness program which spans throughout all curriculum areas and not just P.E. Finally, parents, teachers, and coaches need to work together as a team to help our children learn the importance of eating properly and exercising daily. The time has come for us to turn off the computer, lock up the remote controls, ...
Posted in: Teacher To Teacher
