Into the Sugar Rush

As one of my colleagues has pointed out in their post, candy and sugary treats are now a huge “no no” in schools nationwide. While I am aware of the obesity problem, I can’t contribute that to candy in schools at all. To me it’s just ridiculous to do so.  Obesity due to diet comes from home environment. If mom and dad eat unhealthy food, or if they allow junior to eat whatever he wants, not monitoring his junk food intake, then junior may become obese. Sugar in school doesn’t play much of a role, except in the cafeteria offerings. In that respect (the cafeteria) I believe schools should monitor the choices they offer, because we all know that when children are at school, it’s teachers jobs to act in loco parentis, in place of the parent.

But what about sugary treats in school? I think there is an ulterior motive. From my humble experiences teaching for 1 hour a week at my church to 15 third graders for ccd…. candy is evil!!!!!   Go with me on this: Let’s take 15 already-hyper 8 yr olds. Now let’s have a party!!! Energy in the classroom is soaring. Okay, let’s add our final ingredient: sugary snacks. TAKE COVER!!!!! Man your bunkers people!!! A tiny bit is okay, b ut parties filled with candy and cookies and cupcakes just spells disaster. To that extent, whenever I have a “shindig” in my ccd class (we can’t actually have a “party” so I call it a “shindig”…politics…I know…) I ask parents NOT to bring anything in. There are two reasons for this: one, allergies. (Enough said). The other reason is that by bringing in a small snack myself, I monitor the sugar intake of my students and keep the classroom “shindig” at a manageable energy level. Trust me, things go a lot smoother if I don’t give my kids candy.

There is something else to consider about the candy and snack debate: A few of my CCD parents are very strict about their child’s intake of sweets. Parents have told me before they do not wish their child to be given sweets. In third grade, if there’s a party and everyone gets a cupcake but you, life’s totally not fair. I don’t want to do this to the students, so I clear any snacks with concerned parents beforehand. In the same respect, by avoiding handing out lots of sweets, I don’t make enemies of the parents. How would you like it if I sent your 8 year old home on a sugar high?

So I don’t really think obesity is the big problem here in the sugar debate. I feel there are many good reasons to keep sugar levels in school low. That does not mean I believe sugary snacks should be disallowed alltogethor. I simply feel that  we need to really monitor our students’ intake of sugars during the school day.  Everything in moderation!

No More ‘Sugar’coating in Schools?

Do you remember when you were in school?  Do you remember playing at recess, performing in plays, and snacking on treats during holiday parties? Well, I do remember these, especially the snacks at the parties.  Perhaps one of my fondest memories was when my mother used to bring in cupcakes and soda for my classmates and me for my birthday.

Well, the whole act of bringing in treats and sugary snacks may soon become a thing of the past.  With growing numbers of childhood obesity, schools are becoming more involved in students’ eating habits.  In many schools, this means a ban on unhealthy foods including potato chips and candy.  Not only are teachers and cafeterias forbidden to carry these foods, students can also be forbidden to bring these items from home for themselves.

I believe that this is a little extreme.  Sure, schools and educators are supposed to set examples for students, including healthy eating habits, but schools should still be able to give their children snacks. I think it’s horrible that a student could go through their entire schooling without getting a single cupcake or piece of candy from their teacher or at a classroom party. I know that obesity is a major problem, but is taking away treats at school really going to solve anything? 

Privacy Online?

            Would it be too bold to make the claim that privacy doesn’t exist in today’s world? Are we entering a technological age similar to the totalitarianism presented in George Orwell’s 1984? In Siva Vaidhyanathan’s “Naked in ‘Nonopticon,’” we see how privacy in the information appears to obsolete. Everyday people are required to share personal information such as social security numbers, phone numbers, email addresses, and much more. Because of this, we’ve seen increase rate in identity theft and harassment of digital forms. There are even online sites such as Facebook and Myspace  which encourage exposing one’s identity. Other sites where purchases can be made try to make information collecting private. Still, anyone can get a hold of information. We can no longer slip easily under the radar.            After reading this article, I found myself relating almost everything today to Vaidhyanathan’s concept of a “nonopticon.” An image which closely reflects this idea is one guards looking through a one way mirror at prisoners in cells. Each prisoner knows they’re under close watch so they try to create a new identity for themselves. Similarly, people online create new identities for themselves. Some identities are true reflections of the person, while others are fabricated. Regardless of authenticity, there are people who are monitoring our identities and our ventures on the internet websites.           

Video Games Can Help Children Learn

Our last reading was about video games so I thought this site would be interesting. It is about how one teacher believes video games do help children learn.

http://www.dailyitem.com/0100_news/local_story_337230010.html 

Video Games and Comics

The two readings that are due for this Thursday are ones that are close things I enjoy. I like to read comics, at least once a week I go to a comic store to buy the newest ones that have come out. After I was done reading Scott McCloud’s “Understanding Comics” I noticed there were a few things I agree with like the fact that each artist expresses his or her thoughts in what they write. You see this in a lot in comic books these days like in the Spider-Man series there are a lot of different artist for the many different series that they have going on now and each artist writes a little bit differently. It is not so much the characters that are different but the way that main person, in this one it would be Spider-Man, in the comic acts and also even the people that he knows are different as well. The author also talks a little bit about Stan Lee and Jack Kirby who have probably made up one of the most popular comics of all time when they created the Fantastic Four.  

The second reading was about video games and that is something else I am very interested in. I play video games during my spare time and have a lot of fun with them. I agree that games are a new type of literacy because it is one thing that most people in this world read more then a book. Children today are growing up with video games and this is how some of them may be learning to read. A game is not bad for you to start out reading they can be educational games which will help you to read better and they can even have some new words in the game which will help the person how is playing the game learn new words in them which will help expand your vocabulary. I also think that video games help you to think logically there are some games like the Legend of Zelda that cause you to have to solve puzzles in order to move on in a certain level and by doing this the creators of the game are forcing the player to think outside the box and that helps them to expand their minds and think of new way of passing a test. There are other games that help you to do this as well. Also there are learning games out there like Brain age and Big Brain Academy they are just two of many that help to expand your mind and they say that if you play them you could get smarter.    

Vaidhyanathan’s “Naked in ‘Nonopticon’”

          Siva Vaidhyanathan’s article, “Naked in ‘Nonopticon’”, discusses the lack of privacy that people in today’s world face.  Many people are eager to share their personal information by posting and displaying pictures of themselves or listing their personal interests on sites such as MySpace and Facebook, but the information is revealed at their own discretion. However, these newfound technologies have also yielded consequences that many of us weren’t expecting. Because of today’s technology we are now increasingly more subject to identity theft, harassment, and are even at risk of being denied a job position due to what our employers can uncover. We are under an illusion that if we set our accounts as “private” or type our credit card number on Wal-Mart’s website to purchase an item, that no one will be able to access our “private” information.

However, our lives are no longer private at all. It isn’t that hard for people to break into these sites and violate our sense of security. It has happened countless times. We are watched by surveillance cameras when we are on an elevator, and Google sends out information to advertisers based upon what websites we are exploring. Right now, what I am writing and what site I am on is being monitored by my university. If I were to write something inappropriate or to visit a website that my university declared as “forbidden”, I could become terminated from school.

What can we do to increase our privacy? Nothing! We are living in a world where everything that we do is constantly watched and monitored, and this act of monitoring is on an increase. It is getting easier and even more discreet to monitor someone else. We are often “watched” without even realizing it. As Vaidhyanathan mentions, there are cameras on the streets of many cities, and this is on the rise. We know that there are devices such as nanny cams and video recorders on cell phones. Sure, it may give some an increased sense of safety, but at what cost?

One Amazing Dog

This doesn’t have anything to do with writing or education but I just saw this video about an amazing dog and thought it was worth sharing.  Also, I think this video confirms the belief that anything is possible if you have faith.

Nothing is Free

While reading “Free! Why $0.00 Is the Future of Business,” one of my father’s favorite sayings “nothing is free” came to my mind.  When you see a food coupon that says “free” on it, it usually says “when you buy something else.”  You may be getting one food item free but you have to buy the second one to get it.  Or how about those ads that say you get a free cell phone?  You may be getting the cell phone for free but you have to sign up for their service with a two-year contract.  In both of those situations, you don’t get anything completely free.  In the case of websites, they may be free for us to use but they have advertisements, which people pay for.  Yahoo, Facebook, and MySpace are all free to users but there are advertisements on each one of those websites.  Even though they’re free for us to use, someone somewhere is making money from them and the people that use them.

Advertisements are everywhere, you can’t escape them.  There are advertisements on commercials, in newspapers and magazines, on websites, on billboards, on the radio, on cars, and sometimes even on items you purchase (i.e. clothes, purses, and electronics).  Advertisements are what most businesses need to succeed; you need to spend money to make money.  They’re making money from advertising and they’re paying to advertise.  That’s why certain websites, television channels, radio stations, and newspapers/magazines are free to use/watch/read.  We don’t have to pay but people who advertise are paying.  It would be foolish for businesses to make something truly free because if they do, they aren’t making any money and if a business doesn’t make money, it’s not a business.  According to an online dictionary (which has advertisements all over), a business is “the purchase and sale of goods in an attempt to make a profit” (www.dictionary.com).  If a business isn’t making a profit then, by definition, they are not a business.

Teacher Jokes

Here is a great website with some jokes. They are corny, but are funny nonetheless!!!

http://www.teach-nology.com/jokes/headaches.html

Prepositions

This is a rather annoying youtube video, but it helps to memorize prepositions. I think it may be a great video to show to elementary students because they might find it amusing.