Wednesday, June 17, 2009

What's On the Menu? - Food in Schools

This post was inspired by a post on Garr Reynold's Blog Presentation Zen .


I am amazed by the food that we give to students in school cafeterias. Most of the food is processed and preserved and is then thawed and heated before being served to our students.This is alarming because cognitive functioning is increased with proper nutrition. Also, proper nutrition can give our students the energy they need to complete the complex tasks that we demand of them throughout the school day.

This leads me to a comparison between the fast food industry and school cafeterias. Much of the processes and preparation techniques that take place in the fast food industry, also happens in schools. The reason for this is the convenience and speed of these methods that allow for mass production of food. This may not seem like a big deal. However, if we continue to feed our children processed foods that are loaded with hormones, pesticides, and preservatives, the results will be devastating to their health.


The percentage of overweight children in the United States is already growing at an alarming rate. One out of three children in the US are considered overweight or obese. If we continue to feed them high caloric and food that is not nutritionally dense, our students will continue to become overweight and have illnesses, such as diabetes, that are related to increased weight.


On Presentation Zen Reynolds posted a talk by Mark Bittmen. In this talk Bittmen discusses what is wrong with the way many of us eat. This is a great talk. I really enjoyed when he discusses the history of how we eat.

I also ran across talk by Ann Cooper, the head of nutrition for Berkeley, California, schools and author of Lunch Lessons: Changing the Way We Feed Our Children. She serves organic, regionally sourced and sustainable meals to students in California. This is an EXCELLENT talk that displays Cooper's passion toward sustainable food to kids. She also has a website, LunchLessons.org, that has recipes, links, and resources for food activism. If you click on only one link from this blog entry, this talk is the one to see. It is packed with 19 minutes of great information.

If you are excited by Cooper's enthusiasm for healthier school lunches you may also choose to follow her on Twitter.




This link will take you to the trailer for an upcoming movie called FOOD, Inc. This movie discusses the methods used in current food production and how we as consumers can help. This movie is only showing in a select number of theaters, so please check to see if it is showing near you. I think you will find the information in this trailer interesting and related to the topic at hand.

The FOOD Inc, website is filled with resources that you will find useful. A section of the website has information on 10 simple things that you can do to change our food system. Garr Reynolds created a visualizing appealing slide show of these 10 simple things that can be used as a springboard for discussion on the topic.

Under the Take Action section of FOOD, Inc's site, YOU can take action by signing a petition to help ensure that the re-authorization of the Child Nutrition Act. This act will help assure that healthy food choices are in place in our schools.

There is also an interactive portion of the site that will help you learn about health choices for school lunches.
Hopefully the release of the movie FOOD Inc, although it is a limited release, will spark conversations about what are feeding our students. Our students' health is at risk and as adults it is up to us to ensure that they are receiving proper nutrition.

If you interested in this topic you may also want to see the movies Fast Food Nation and Super Size Me.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Educational Videos & Lessons


Neo K-12 has a collection of online educational videos and lessons for children ranging in age from kindergarten to high school.
The videos on this site are separated into categories by subjects. A large portion of their videos are related to science. However, they have videos related to Social Studies, Math, Health, and English as well. There is even a small section devoted to fun videos.

I found this site to be user friendly and easy to navigate. Also, all of the videos on this site have been pre-screened by teachers to ensure that they are appropriate for student viewing.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Applying Bloom's Taxonomy


Bloom's taxonomy, originally created by Benjamin Bloom, classifies levels of intellectual learning that are commonly found in a classroom setting. Bloom's taxonomy contains three domains. These domains are the cognitive, psychomotor, and affective.

Along with these domains Benjamin Bloom identified six levels that are known as Bloom's taxonomy. These levels from highest to lowest are: evaluation, synthesis, analysis, application, comprehension, and knowledge.

Many educators use these levels to aid in the creation of lesson plans and lesson objectives. Educators are aware that the higher you go on Bloom's taxonomy the more cognitive demand increases. Students who are challenged cognitively are more likely to retain information and develop a deeper understanding of the material presented.


As useful tool for creation of objectives is located on Teachers On The Web's site. This site contains a table for each level of Bloom's taxonomy. Each table displays useful verbs, sample question stems, and potential activities and products. This is a useful tool that educators can use to help in the creation of lesson that are higher cognitively demanding.


For more web based resources related to Bloom's Taxonomy visit the Teacher Tap site.

Add Music To A PowerPoint

I am often asked how to add music to PowerPoint. Most people know how to add music to one slide. However, they are not able to continue the songs for consecutive slides. Here is a great blog post on how to add music to your PowerPoint slides that will walk you through the steps using the custom animation option.


Another option you have is using SlideShare. You can use SlideShare to sync slide shows and music to create a SlideCast. SlideShare is a free web resource that allows you to upload PowerPoint, OpenOffice, and PDF presentations with the potential to reach an audience of millions, or you can keep your presentation private to share with colleagues of your choice. You can find interesting presentations on this site also.

Below is a quick tour of SlideShare that will give you an overview of what SlideShare is all about.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

SlideShare: Ways to Use Wordle in Education

This Slideshare is a great example of how to use Wordle in Education. Thanks TonyVincent.info for the link.

How -To Tuesday - Video Grammar Handbook


Great Source iWrite has a Grammar Handbook portion to their site. However, this handbook is not your ordinary handbook. It is animated!
According to Great Source iWrite, to edit your writing well, you need to understand the rules. This library of quick, animated grammar lessons will help attract your students attention as well as teach them solid grammar skills.