Creating a healthy active classroom (HAC)

This is the video I just blogged about of my friends son ! PLEASE ENJOY! Let me know what you think:)

March 27, 2013

I’m going to finish off my blogs for this semester with a few topics that I want to tie up. I will first talk about what kids think is healthy, how to change their perception and then talk about giving children the chances they deserve.

I have just posted a video that one of my great friends took of their child answering a few questions about healthy eating. He stated some meal possibilities that he could make for his parents by himself, as well as his favorite dinner!
Matteo is a very special case because he comes from a family who is very active and whose parents play an avid role in his life, making sure he eats healthy. By watching the video, you will see that he knows a lot about food groups and what is healthy and not healthy. He also knows how to make very simple recipes that include many of the food groups according to Canada’s food guide.

The reason I brought this video up was because I understand that a lot of students are not as well educated as Matteo and I want to show teachers how educated their students could be if they gave them the resources to do so.

So how do you change a child’s perception? Well it’s simple, give them the vision of healthy foods, by providing a meal of the week do a student doing a great job in bringing healthy foods, give them bonus marks for eating healthy foods and possibly have a photo contest in your class with taking pictures of their healthy dinners. Social media is something that is becoming more and more popular every day. Create a facebook group for students to post their pictures on and see what your students are eating!

The next thing I want to discuss is this video I found online. It is about a young hockey player wanting to score a goal. WATCH IT HERE : (Copy it into your search bar) http://www.kruzfm.ca/blogs/TheLoweDown/blogentry.aspxBlogEntryID=10517643#sthash.XnLH4UYt.gbpl. His teammates and opposing team aid him in the process and it is absolutely adorable. If you have learned anything from my blogs, I want you to remember to give everyone a chance within your classrooms, even if they need encouragement or physical help to get there; encourage your students to help each other.

I hope you enjoyed my blogs thus far and I hope you continue to read either my blog or others on creating a healthy active classroom!

Thanks for following!!!!!

Yours truly,
Your healthy active blogger.

March 27, 2013

Hello Teachers,

Since my two good friends brought up the topic of body image, I want to bring your attention to the topic of how to create a healthy classroom where people of all sizes, shapes, colors and capabilities are welcome. Today I will talk about the following:
body image, disabilities and multiculturalism.

Let’s start off with body image. Within this topic, I wanted to discuss anorexia. I know this is only one factor of body image, however I have personal knowledge on the topic. I know this is a serious issue within today’s society and in fact a lot of students are struggling with this mental illness. According to http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/anorexia/DS00606 anorexia nervosa can be defined as “an eating disorder that causes people to obsess about their weight and the food they eat. People with anorexia nervosa attempt to maintain a weight that’s far below normal for their age and height. To prevent weight gain or to continue losing weight, people with anorexia nervosa may starve themselves or exercise excessively” (mayo clinic.com). I have personally known many people that battle with this every single day and have heard that is not something that people struggle with overnight. In fact, it is something that they deal with every single day and they will until they die. This is something that is very intimidating for us as teachers to deal and sometimes it will be a dangerous topic to talk about. So how can we as teachers deal with this topic sensitively? Well we can start by looking for signs of students, checking lunches, and checking in with the students. This is something that I discussed in my podcast that I did a month ago. (check it out!) Also, remember that each and every one of our schools has a counselor that we can seek advice from.

The next topic I want to discuss is disabilities within the classroom. Now you may be wondering, how does this fit into creating a healthy active classroom? However it has been found in many studies that inclusivity is a large part of becoming a healthy and active student. When students feel included, they automatically become a healthier person in all body mind and soul. So, how can we start? You want to make sure that as a teacher you have a lot of options and accommodations for children with disabilities in your classroom. For example, if an activity is about running and the child is in a wheel chair. Allow people to also walk, or pair him up with a partner that can push him or her. It is very simple to accommodate, if you just think about it and be creative. Now, it is not only about making accommodations with physical activities, this must be done in the academic sense. Do not embarrass your student for having a disability no matter what it is. It is even as simple as segregating them into a different group, that could cause embarrassment. Thus, take the time to tell them before recess to go to the resource teacher or on their way in. Try not to announce it to the class.

The last topic I want to touch on is multiculturalism. Within this topic, I have had a lot of experience, in fact I have volunteered at two newcomer organizations where I have learned a lot about the topic of inclusivity within this group of individuals. The one thing I want to touch on in this category is the hijab. This is a head scarf warn by Muslim woman. If you have students within your class that wear a hijab, you want to make sure that you are abiding by their wishes to not take the hijab off, unless they are with only woman. I brought this topic off because it is a part of their culture that they wear it and it is important for these students to feel accepted, included and comfortable in their own cultural beliefs, customs and traditions.

All in all, I hope you have learned how to incorporate body image, disabilities and some multiculturalism into your healthy active classrooms!

HAC TIP OF THE DAY:

Look up something new about a disability, or a culture and inform yourself of how to accommodate your students.

March 27, 2013

Hello Teachers,

This is the last week of blogging for my class project and I have yet to decide if I am going to continue doing it or not. However, I want to end this week with a few blogs on a few topics that I find very important. I am going to start with talking about the work of my very dear friends Katie Cannon and Heather Yates. They have been working with a group of students and doing healthy image body workshops. I was able to interview them and see what all the hype is about within the school system today. I asked them questions about the research project they are doing with a few students. By starting out I asked them to explain the research project a bit and Heather stated that it is drama based and with a group of girls based on healthy living. They are researching whether drama “can instill a desire to improve healthy living for youth girls (Yates, 2013). Within this project they are being given a chance to find out a lot about these girls lives and at times they find out some shocking information about our education system. A shocking fact that Yates discovered was that many girls in their group of research participants believe that “healthy living is strictly about food intake, exercise and weight. Until we discussed it, the girls did not feel that emotional health, body image, or stress were a part of “healthy living” (Yates, 2013). Consequently, this is a lot that my blog has been about thus far. Healthy living is, as I have stated about “body mind and soul” and it is something that is very underdeveloped without our education system. The teachers do not focus on this topic enough. This leads into the next question that I asked, where both Katie and Heather agreed that the high schools, or the education system in general is lacking the topic of emotional health in their “health” curriculum.

Although Katie and Heather agreed that the education system was lacking “emotional health,” they both thought this research project was exceptionally beneficial to them and throughout this process they have had many learning moments. Heather told me about an activity that she did called “culture jamming.” This activity consisted of choosing photos from a Cosmopolitan magazine and tearing them our. The girl was told to choose a photo and then draw on the photo to make it look more like a “real woman.” The magazine consisted of many photos, including those of skinny girls in bathing suits. However, the photo that the girl chose was one of a woman’s face. Heather stated that this is when she realizing that body image is not just about a person’s size or weight, in face it is about face shape, skin colour and clearness of the skin. Not only did Yates discover something new for herself, she brought up a very valid and crucial point in today’s education system. Being beautiful and having a healthy body image is not just about size and weight, it entails many other factors. When thinking more about this topic and her research Heather stated that a HAC tip of the day for future teachers would be to “LISTEN to what the students have to say about how they view healthy living. Figure this out, and you can figure out what needs to be discussed in your classroom” (Yates, 2013).

Heather and Katie’s study is still in the process of being completed. They need to do this for a class within the program they are studying. It has been an excellent process for them where they will use their findings to become excellent educators in their future teaching endeavors. I wish them the best of luck, as I know they will succeed in every way possible. Congrats on this research project and good luck in your futures. Thanks for your interview.

Wed March 20, 2013

I have seen a lot of very creative snacks like this and it made me think of a great idea and that is creating an art lesson out of fruit or almonds, any healthy food really. You could make it a contest and use art concepts in the curriculum, depending on the grade level. I think it is a great idea to incorporate healthy food and curriculum and to get your students creating snacks for themselves.

Wednesday March 20, 2013

I think it is very important to encourage students to eat healthy food, but don’t forget that a lot of small children do not start liking healthy food until they are older in age. Their taste buds are not as matured and do not like many things that we as adults like. However, something that I always find helps is being creative with your food. Here is a recipe that will be great for halloween and very very yummy!

Zucchini Eyeballs

Ingredients

1 medium Zucchini

1/4 serving

1/2 cup Marinara Sauce, Store-bought 3 oz Cheese, mozzarella, part skim milk 8 jumbo Black olives, canned Instructions Cut zucchini into diagonals, about 1/4 inch thick. Arrange slices on a baking sheet. Top with marinara sauce, cheeses, and olives. Broil in oven, on high for 2-4 minutes. Watch carefully- they cook fast!

Wednesday March 20, 2013

Hello teachers,

In preparation for a science lesson, what better way to get your students attention then with cookies? I think it is very important to teach your class that although eating healthy is VERY important, it is ok to make cookies once in a while and it is even better to make a healthy version of cookies. Enjoy this recipe during recipe week!

Rainforest Cookies Recipe

Hello Teachers,

 This is a video that I have created as a teaching resource for you to show your students. It is a great video to compliment the Ontario Curriculum for all elementary grades. However, due to the use of puppets within it, I would suggest that you use it for grades 1-5.  The first part of the video is just for you as teachers and those who follow my blog and then starting at 1:01 is the resource that you can show your students. Thus, if you want to show this video to your students in your classroom, just skip forth to the 1:01 mark and you will be good to go!

Please note that this is an interactive video that discusses Canada’s food guide as well an instructional section to show how to create my favorite healthy snack which is, bread and bananas and a glass of milk. It is an easy meal that includes all four-food groups! Given that it is interactive there are times when I pause and allow for your students to answer questions. If there is not enough time just pause it and facilitate your own discussion with your class. If they are younger students, you may want to help them out a bit more.

Please stay tuned for my next blog for recipe week that will have written instructions for this recipe as well as another video!

Enjoy my video and as I wanted to mention in my video, but didn’t want it to be directed to the students: thank you so much for watching, following my blog and creating a HAC!

 Yours truly,

Meghan

March 18, 2013

Hello Teachers,

      Before I give you your recipe for today, I want to talk a little bit about family life and creating a school community. Family life is an essential part of many of your students lives and I truly believe that as a teacher you should try to find out as much as you can about your students lives as possible. This will allow you to build a good connection with your students and hopefully bond and build trust in that special teacher/student relationship. I read a little blurb here from a principal at a school who talked about her experience in getting to know her students. (LINK:http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/feb12/vol69/num05/How-You-Get-to-Know-Your-Students.aspx

      She believed that knowing their name was enough. I completely disagree with this because I believe that a name is not enough. What if your student was dealing with something tragic in their home environment, what if they had a death in the family, their dog died, their parents were not there for them? Issues such as these can really affect a child’s school life and can put a large impact on academics. Speaking from experience, I truly believe that a teacher having an impact on the child’s home life is very important. Even in university, I find in comforting when my professors know if something is happening that is affecting my schoolwork. Not only is this important for the moment, but it also allows you to build a better relationship with your student. If they can trust you enough to inform you of that is going on in their lives, then they can hopefully look up to you more as a teacher figure, be able to ask more questions in class and essentially become a better student. I believe that once this trust is built than a community will be formed, more fun can be had and learning can occur. This trust and sense of community is just as important in a family setting as it is in a school setting. Please remember that creating a HAC is also about this, gaining trust and becoming connected to someone to be able to ask questions and continue learning. Building trust and healthy student teacher relationships is a very large part of becoming a healthy student in a healthy active classroom!

HAC TIP OF THE DAY: Have trust in yourself in order to succeed in the classroom. Maybe your trust will see through to your students and they will trust you! Here is an excellent recipe that you can either send home during the apple picking months for families to do OR that you as teachers can do with your own class. I think it is really important as a teacher to do exciting trips like this and teach students a thing or two besides the curriculum. You could take your class to an apple farm to pick apples then make this in one of your classes! ENJOY.

Recipe Link: http://kidshealth.org/kid/recipes/recipes/applesauce.html#cat20229

Prep time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 small red apples • 2 tbsp. lemon juice • 2 tsp. sugar • 2 pinches of cinnamon

Utensils: • knife (you’ll need help from your adult assistant) • blender or food processor • measuring spoons • serving bowls

Directions:

1. Peel the apples and cut them into small pieces. Throw out the core.

2. Put the apple pieces and lemon juice into the blender or food processor. Blend until the mixture is very smooth.

3. Pour the mixture into two small bowls and stir in the sugar and cinnamon.

4. Enjoy your awesome applesauce!

Serves: 2 Serving size: 1 bowl (half the recipe) Nutritional analysis (per serving):
84 calories
0 g protein
0 g fat
22 g carbohydrate
2 g fiber
0 mg cholesterol
3 mg sodium
14 mg calcium
0.3 mg iron Note: Nutritional analysis may vary depending on ingredient brands used. Reviewed by: Allison Brinkley, RD, LD/N

Link:http://getcreativejuice.blogspot.ca/search/label/healthy

Hello Teachers,

I hope everyone enjoyed there March Break! It is unfortunate that you are back to school shortly however do not miss out on a chance to provide healthy options for tomorrows holiday! Don’t be afraid to celebrate St. Patricks Day; bring in a healthy treat like these St. Patricks Day fruit Skewers. I know it is hard to accommodate specific holidays for your students, in a healthy way however these are a great fix. 

I made them for my friends for St. Patricks Day and they were a hit. Another great option is to play a healthy active St. Patricks Trivia game to go along with this snack.

Game Rules

1. Divide the class into two teams.

2. Line up parallel to eachother with enough room to run into a field.

3. Each player has to run and pick up an object in the backyward of your school that has green on it.

4. Once everyone has gone, the first team to be done and sitting wins.

The object should be to be collecting garbage. If they cannot find a lot of green, be creative. Tell them they can make green with yellow and blue! Remember being healthy is collecting garbage as well! The less garbage, the less pollution, the more healthier you!

HAC TIP OF THE DAY: Before the activity, ask your students how collecting garbage creates a healthier classroom.

HAPPY ST. PATRICKS DAY!!!