week 9

"Who wants to teach middle school?" This question was asked in class today and to my surprise, only two out of about twenty future teachers said they were considering it. The lack of enthusiasm for middle school teaching really got me thinking: why is there less of a desire to teach this age group? Are we, as future teachers, afraid of these students? Are we afraid of reliving our middle school years (which could not have been that bad)? Or is it that we just don't understand them and think we can't help them?

While all of these prompts could be true, I think that future teachers need to be more educated about the middle school years and how to teach students during these years. If we had more knowledge and understanding of middle schoolers, we would feel more able to teach these students. These years are crucial to student development physically, mentally and socially, and this is why it is important to have dedicated and knowledgeable teachers in middle schools to assist them in their growth.

So come on teachers, let's go back to middle school! Except this time we can prepare ourselves by getting to know and better understand middle school students. Having fantastic teachers in middle school can make all the difference in students' lives, so I challenge any future teacher to not only consider teaching in middle school, but to do it! If all else fails, it would be a learning experience :)

week 7/8

Jamie Oliver is trying to save the world-not by finding a cure for AIDS or cancer, but he is fighting a deadly disease: obesity. This all too common physical condition people are finding themselves in is an extremely important thing to address. Oliver has decided to go into communities and schools to educate kids and the public about good eating habits. One of the surprising statistics I have learned from him is the amount of sugar found in milk that kids drink everyday. In his TED lecture, Oliver dumped a large pile of sugar cubes on the stage, symbolizing the amount of sugar from milk alone that kids consume during their elementary career.

Knowing that students consume so much sugar from milk, (regular, chocolate, and strawberry flavored) I was disturbed to find out that Decorah High School participated in and won a chocolate milk drinking contest. The students drank an average of three cartons of chocolate milk a day, exceeding the suggested daily sugar intake by vast amounts... and all for what? $15,ooo for the school. In reality, the students spent $15,000 drinking this milk to win them money to spend on exercise equipment and wellness programs. Does something seem wrong here? YES! Why are schools putting the health of children at risk for monetary reasons? Isn't this morally wrong? YES! Isn't this teaching our kids poor eating habits and thus contributing to their potential obesity? YES! So why are schools doing it?

The control money has in schools is disturbing to me. Administrators and school boards are putting the health and education of students at risk in order to earn "free" money. Nearly all decisions are financially driven, and while this is somewhat understandable because schools run on tight budgets, there is no excuse for it. They need to get creative and raise money in ways that benefit all aspects of students. We can't let businesses who are looking to sell their product (like the Dairy Company in DHS) be the financial support for our schools. They don't really care about the health and education of kids- they just want to make a profit. The bottom line is we need to always work to improve the health and learning and we can't let people who do not care about kids dictate what is present in our schools.