Tired of being forced to eat what she felt were nutritionally sub-par meals at school, a 9-year-old student took to her blog in an effort to draw attention to the issue. It didn’t take long for that attention to go viral as Martha Payne's blog, Never Seconds, was eyed by several media outlets in her native Scotland. The attention grew to the point of a nationally-televised interview with the BBC. She explained how she would take pictures of the meals presented to her with a digital camera and write up a summary of the food including a Food-o-meter rating of how much she likes it, a mouthful count, a health rating and a number for how many pieces of hair were in the food.
She started in April and by May 15, school and town officials were seen leading journalists on tours of the school’s dining area. It was then that Payne blogged that there was a new system for ordering food, and that "cherry tomatoes, radishes, carrot and cucumber shreddings," began appearing in the meals.
I have recently retired as a school administrator after 51 plus in education. I have been reading about a lot of new administrators who are all ready burning out, feel overwhelmed, overworked, and under compensated. I was fortunate to have worked in more than a dozen schools and similar number of other educational positions. I worked in seven states and two countries. My point in saying this as I changed jobs, I had to thoroughly investigate each one before accepting the new assignment. ...
Back to school---it’s here!
There are many emotions and thoughts about returning back to school. Excitement, joy, pressure, sadness, and anxiety might be a few. It depends on who you are, what kind of emotion you are feeling. Are you a first-year teacher? Are you a veteran teacher, and maybe it is your last year? Are you a new student in a school district? Maybe you are a graduating...
As you begin your new school year, I wanted to share with you something that I did to involve, engaging and build relationships with families----I call them “Family Forums”. I decided that Family Forums would not only become a normal part of building a successful reciprocal relationship with the families in my classroom but also a time to teach and learn from one another. My forums were a party for my families, not a meeting but a place to come and have fellowship with others. It was also a...
As we begin the new school year, stop and reflect on what new things you want to try. Ask yourself how you can make your lessons more engaging or hands-on. Do you need to try new ways of differentiation? What about researching engaging ideas online or observing colleagues? Is there a professional development you have been wanting to attend?
At the beginning of each new year and after each teaching day, I...
It is the most exciting time of the year as teachers start returning back to school. Teachers and administrators are looking forward to the new school year. Many administrators think that this is a time for team building and professional development in the short time before students arrive. As a former principal, I learned that teachers are anxious to get into their classrooms and prepare for school to start.
What I was told was that our teachers appreciated how I approached the...
Summer learning has a huge impact on accelerating your child’s success for the fall. When the last bell rings for children to be out of school, it is a time for sleeping, spending time with family and friends, playing in the water, taking vacations, AND LEARNING. Children love to learn. Keeping that spark of interest in mind, you want to make sure to work with your child this summer so that skills and topics are...