Final Paper #3- Vending Machines

Josie Baxter

English 101

Dr. Sonia Begert

March 15, 2013

Figuring out ways to help improve the K-12 curriculum seems to be a never ending, never going anywhere project for many politicians, school officials and parents around the country. At first there seems to be a “honeymoon” stage of throwing out ideas left and right, then slowly the buzz dies down and the topic only seems to appear every so often. I am sure many people proposed having a more exciting curriculum or giving schools more money to help “better” educate the students. I believe that a huge problem of student’s behavior in K-12 is what they are serving for meals and what they have available for children in the vending machines. I am sure many will disagree, but sugar filled soda pops, candy and muffins are not my idea of getting a person prepared for hours of learning.

The Urban Dictionary defines a sugar rush as “The intense physiological effect of consuming too much sugar or glucose, usually in the form of cakes, cookies and soda; eating excessive amounts of sugar makes the brain release dopamine and endorphins, often inducing a mild sense of euphoria and happiness. This is often accompanied by a strong surge of energy as the sugar hits the bloodstream. Sugar highs often only last an hour or two, and as the level of glucose in the blood lowers it can often leave the subject feeling drained or unnaturally tired. If ingested with large amounts of caffeine, such as in the form of chocolate or cola, the subject can also become jittery, experience mild heart palpitations or suffer from temporary insomnia.” When I look at Olympic College’s vending machines they offer pop tarts, skittles, soda pop, as well as many other forms of sugar. This is a college vending machine, NOT a K-12 vending machine; however, 8 years ago when I was in school these were the same options I remember seeing when I looked for a quick snack.

I think offering high sugar snacks make a huge impact on our students and I am not the only one. According to FOX News, “the USDA is now saying that the food sold in vending machines cannot exceed 200 calories and must meet other nutritional guidelines when it comes to fat and sugar.” When one has something filled with lots of sugar before a class, how is that student supposed to be able to focus on what they are being taught while having a “sugar high” and only thinking about getting out of class and using up their energy in a different way. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement. “Good nutrition lays the groundwork for good health and academic success.”

I believe that with healthy snacks in vending machines our students would be able to perform much better with their curriculum. I feel as though making it through a 3 hour class would be easier without coming down from a “sugar high”. Not only does sugar make it hard to focus for some students due to the level of glucose, but it can also make diabetic students become tired and have elevated blood sugar, causing it to be harder for the student to stay awake. I don’t feel that it is the schools job to regulate what student’s eat and how much. I do think limiting their unhealthy options in the vending machines and providing an equal amount of healthy options would help them make better decisions on what to put into their body.

Beyond the troubles that sugary foods create for our children in regards to their ability to perform at a school, there is another reason that we should be reducing these seductive treats.  Our nation is experiencing an epidemic of Type 2 Diabetes and obesity.  CBS News notes that “Children in the study, published online Aug. 13 in the journal Pediatrics, gained less weight from fifth through eighth grades if they lived in states with strong, consistent laws versus no laws governing snacks available in schools. For example, kids who were 5 feet tall and 100 pounds gained on average 2.2 fewer pounds if they lived in states with strong laws in the three years studied. Also, children who were overweight or obese in fifth grade were more likely to reach a healthy weight by eighth grade if they lived in states with the strongest laws.” The example that we are providing for our students by supplying them with these types of food is hypocritical, and honestly shameful.  Our young people deserve to be taught consistently and truthfully that their health is important. 

I am sickened at schools that preach health and nutrition to our young people while being perfectly willing to take their dollar bills during lunch time in exchange for candy bars, sugar filled soda and energy drinks. Somewhere there is a disconnect from what we say we value, and what our budgets show we value.  Our students are smart.  They see that although their teachers talk about healthy lifestyles, the schools they learn in provide these things and have no problem giving them unlimited access.  There is too much at stake for us to be sending these kinds of mixed messages.  The truth is, our habits are developed at a young age.  The things that we do during our K-12 years are the things that we will either continue to do, or have to fight to change over the rest of our lives.

Vending machines are by all means not the reason why our education system seems to continuously fail. However, I believe that they defiantly contribute to student’s behavior and success.  Changing what we offer to students in vending machines isn’t going to solve every problem there is with the K-12 curriculum, but it is a great start to help our students become more focused, motivated and even more excited about their classes. Not only are we looking out for the education of our children, but also their health. Offering healthier snacks will help contribute to managed weight and healthier children. We as a nation should stop thinking about what we should be doing to help the school system improve, but what the school system could be doing to help our children.

Work Cited

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=sugar%20high

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-57491896-10391704/school-vending-machine-laws-would-help-kids-lose-weight-study-shows/    

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/02/01/usda-sets-new-limitations-on-snacks-sold-in-school-vending-machines/#ixzz2NeqdcBKp

Black/Rose

While watching Lewis Black's video on education I agreed with him mostly. He pointed out that our confidence as American students were high even though our test scores compared to other countries were pretty low. He noted that there was a school built for ½ billion, I believe that the building itself and the looks of the school shouldn’t matter- the education should!! One thing that I found ridiculous was the comparison of how much the United States spends on incarcerated people versus what they spend on our children's education. Prospect.org states that "In the 2009-2010 academic year, state budget cuts forced the Houston Independent School District to manage a projected $10 million shortfall. However, in the preceding year, Texas spent over $175 million to imprison residents from just 10 neighborhoods in Houston. In Houston, of the six schools deemed lower-performing, five are in neighborhoods with the highest rates of incarceration. By contrast, of the 12 schools considered higher-performing, eight are in neighborhoods with the lowest incarceration rates."

Two things that stuck out to me from Mike Rose's blog, one was "to stop making the standardized test score the gold-standard of student achievement and teacher effectiveness. In what other profession do we use a single metric to judge goodness? Imagine judging competence of a cardiologist by the average of her patients’ cardiograms." I think it is unfair for teacher's to be judged on how well there students do on testing. There might be numerous thinks that can make a student bad at testing, and one of them NOT be the teaching. The other thing that stuck out was his statement "To ensure that people who actually know a lot about schools will appear on Oprah and will be consulted by politicians and policy makers. When President Obama visited my home state of California, the person he met with to talk about education was Steve Jobs." It completely blows my mind that politicians and policy makers would think that meeting with someone who has no idea about education would be a good way to help plan for America's education. Steve Jobs is a brilliant man however, i would prefer someone who has actually taught our children to help us as a nation figure out what is the best way to help out education system.

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Final Draft Pape #2

Josie Baxter

Dr. Sonia Begert

English 101 Paper #2

February 28, 2013

    Growing up in public school gave me a chance to experience many different types of teachers. You would think that in elementary school your teachers wouldn't be as impressionable as middle and high school, but for me, elementary school was where I met the teacher that I would once aspire to be. When I think back on teachers I had growing up, the ones I remember most are the ones that either inspired me to become a great teacher or ones that made me determined to become a better teacher than they were to me. "A teacher who is attempting to teach without inspiring the pupil with a desire to learn is hammering on cold iron." -Horace Mann. A teacher should be an inspirational mentor who students can remember, admire and learn a great deal from.
     I was 9 years old, scraggly, and only weighed 40 pounds when I was first diagnosed with Type I Juvenile Diabetes. I had been sick for many weeks. Mrs. Shockley was my teacher at the time. I remember enjoying having Mrs. Shockley as my teacher. She visited the hospital I was in every day! And every day that she came, she would bring me little notes written by my fellow classmates that encouraged me to get well but you could tell it was also a way for them to work on their vocabulary. I would get fun notes that would read "Get well soon. I want to go fishing this summer. Love, Alex." Not only did Mrs. Shockley bring sweet notes to the hospital, but would bring a basket of fruit. She would have me count each fruit every day to help me learn my mathematics. She would ask questions like "What's 3 Apples times 5 Apples" and quiz me on my multiplication table.  Not only did she encourage me, but also helped me remember that even though I was going through a tough life lesson, I was still a kid, and I still deserved to learn new things.
     As time went on, I became more energized and healthy and was ready to start back school. My first day back to third grade as a Diabetic was difficult to say the least. Mrs. Shockley welcomed her classroom with open arms. Though I hadn't been to school in over 3 weeks, I came in ready to keep learning. Mrs. Shockley encouraged me to count my fruits and vegetables at lunch time so that I would know exactly how many carbohydrates I was eating. She encourage my classmates to help me add up all my carbs then divide it by my carb to unit ratio to learn how much insulin I should take. Including my peers in the learning curve helped me become comfortable with this horrible disease. I admired everything about Mrs. Shockley. She helped me build confidence. She helped me become secure in who I had become. Mrs. Shockley taught me how to embrace my new self.
     As years passed, I still remember Mrs. Shockley. I still remember her smile and her encouraging words. She not only taught me the fundamentals of multiplication, spelling and handwriting, but she also taught me how to embrace who I was. She touched not only myself, but all my classmates this way. She would individually make a game plan with parents to help their child get the best experience they could. She would attend any and all school athlete programs just to cheer on one student. Mrs. Shockley didn't just teach what the school administration required her to teach but she also helped students such as myself how to learn a horrible life situation into a great teaching lesson.
     Coach Murray was the complete opposite of Mrs. Shockley. I was in the 10th grade when I had him as a teacher. As any normal 16 year old felt about school, I wasn't really interested to be there. However, to meet a teacher that had that same kind of attitude towards school, sort of repulsed me. This might come off as hypercritical, but I believe if one chooses to become a teacher then they should embrace it and enjoy teaching. Coach Murray was always eager to get out of class. He always seemed to be the last person in the door and the first person out of the door once the bell rang. Coach Murray would come to class prop his feet up on the desk and give you chapters to read. If you had a questions about the subject he would refer you to the book instead of helping a student figure out the problem or actually teach. Some students would say he gave easy A's. I left World History with an A, however, to this day, I still don't know crap about World History.
     While having Coach Murray as a teacher, I noticed that his passion was for coaching NOT teaching. He always seemed to have something negative about teaching World History. He made it known that our school didn't have a World History teacher, so the administration asked him to teach the class and he agreed. Not because he wanted to, but because he knew it needed to be done. Whenever we had an athlete in the class he would focus his attention on them and joke about the past or upcoming games that were going on. I learned from Coach Murray that as a teacher, I would want to stand up for my kids. If i saw a need where a good teacher was wanted, I would try and help, so that my future students wouldn't have to suffer the way we had to suffer with Coach.
     There are many types of teachers. I have had many great teacher and many self-absorbed jerks of a teacher. Mrs. Shockley showed me how great a teacher can be. She inspired me to want to be the best and to be compassionate and understanding. She by far would go down in my book as an ideal teacher and woman. I can't really say that Coach Murray didn't' inspire me. To be honest, teachers like him are what did inspire me to become a teacher. I hated the fact that there were teachers like him out there and I wanted to make sure that I could at least contribute to being one of those ideal teachers that inspired their students, encouraged their students and helped make their students feel appreciated and important.

Works Cited

 Lisa. "21 Inspirational Teaching Quotes." 10 February 2012 

     <http://blog.simplek12.com/education/21-inspirational-teacher-quotes/>

    

Rough Draft Paper #2

Josie Baxter
Dr. Sonia Begert
English 101 Paper #2
February 28, 2013

    Growing up in public school gave me a chance to experience many different types of teachers. You would think that in elementary school, your teachers wouldn't be as impressionable as middle and high school, but for me, elementary school was were I met the teacher that I would once inspire to be. When I think back on teachers I had growing up, the ones I remember most are the ones that either inspired me to become a great teacher or ones that made me determined to become a better teacher then they were to me. "A teacher who is attempting to teach without inspiring the pupil with a desire to learn is hammering on cold iron." -Horace Mann. A teachers should be an inspirational mentor who students can remember, admire and learn a great deal from.
     I was 9 years old, scraggly and only weighed 40 pounds when I was first diagnosed with Type I Juvenile Diabetes. I had been sick for many weeks. Mrs. Shockley was my teacher at the time. I remember enjoying having Mrs. Shockley as my teacher. She visited the hospital I was in every day! And everyday that she came, she would bring me little notes written by my fellow classmates that encouraged me to get well but you could tell it was also a way for them to work on their vocabulary. I would get fun notes that would read "Get well soon. I want to go fishing this summer. Love, Alex." Not only did Mrs. Shockley bring sweet notes to the hospital, but would bring a basket of fruit. She would have me count each fruit every day to help me learn my mathematics. She would ask questions like "What's 3 Apples times 5 Apples" and quiz me on my multiplications.  Not only did she encourage me, but also helped me remember that even though I was going through a tough life lesson, I was still a kid, and I still deserved to learn new things.
     As time went on, I became more energized and healthy and was ready to start back school. My first day back to third grade as a Diabetic was difficult to say the least. Mrs. Shockley welcomed her classroom with open arms. Though I hadn't been to school in over 3 weeks, I came in ready to keep learning. Mrs. Shockley encouraged me to count my fruits and vegetables at lunch time so that I would know exactly how many carbohydrates I was eating. She encourage my classmates to help me add up all my carbs then divide it by my carb to unit ratio to learn how much insulin I should take. Including my peers in the learning curve helped me become comfortable with this horrible disease. I admired everything about Mrs. Shockley. She helped me build confidence. She helped me become secure in who I had become. Mrs. Shockley taught me how to embrace my new self.
     As years passed, I still remember Mrs. Shockley. I still remember her smile and her encouraging words. She not only taught me the fundamentals of multiplication, spelling and handwriting, but she also taught me how to embrace who I was. She touched not only myself, but all my classmates this way. She would individually make a game plan with parents to help their child get the best experience they could. She would attend any and all school athlete programs just to cheer on one student. Mrs. Shockley didn't just teach what the school administration required her to teach but she also helped students such as myself how to learn a horrible life situation into a great teaching lesson.
     Coach Murray was the complete opposite of Mrs. Shockley. I was in the 10th grade when I had him as a teacher. As any normal 16 year old felt about school, I wasn't really interested to be there. However, to meet a teacher that had that same kind of attitude towards school, sort of repulsed me. This might come off as hypercritical, but I believe if one chooses to become a teacher then they should embrace it and enjoy teaching. Coach Murray was always eager to get out of class. He always seemed to be the last person in the door and the first person out of the door once the bell rang. Coach Murray would come to class prop his feet up on the desk and give you chapters to read. If you had a questions about the subject he would refer you to the book instead of helping a student figure out the problem or actually teach. Some students would say he gave easy A's. I left World History with an A, however, to this day, I still don't know crap about World History.
     While having Coach Murray as a teacher, I noticed that his passion was for coaching NOT teaching. He always seemed to have something negative about teaching World History. He made it known that our school didn't have a World History teacher, so the administration asked him to teach the class and he agreed. Not because he wanted to, but because he knew it needed to be done. Whenever we had an athlete in the class he would focus his attention on them and joke about the past or upcoming games that were going on. I learned from Coach Murray that as a teacher, I would want to stand up for my kids. If i saw a need where a good teacher was wanted, I would try and help, so that my future students wouldn't have to suffer the way we had to suffer with Coach.
     There are many types of teachers. I have had many great teacher and many self-absorbed jerks of a teacher. Mrs. Shockley showed me how great a teacher can be. She inspired me to want to be the best and to be compassionate and understanding. She by far would go down in my book as an ideal teacher and woman. I can't really say that Coach Murray didn't' inspire me. To be honest, teachers like him are what did inspire me to become a teacher. I hated the fact that there were teachers like him out there and I wanted to make sure that I could at least contribute to being one of those ideal teachers that inspired their students, encouraged their students and helped make their students feel appreciated and important.
   

Works Cited

 Lisa. "21 Inspirational Teaching Quotes." 10 February 2012 

     <http://blog.simplek12.com/education/21-inspirational-teacher-quotes/>

    

Stand and Deliver Reactions

I really enjoyed Stand and Deliver. This movie is based in the 1980's in East Los Angeles. Mr. Escalantes is a teacher at low income Garfield High School.  Mr Escalantes method to help his students no matter what problems they seem to have is extremely inspirational. I enjoy seeing him want to push his students as much as possible, however his students in the movie react differently and show that they do not like Mr Escalantes. Despite settling for "average" students, Mr. Escalante pushing them to take the AP Calculus Test. All of his students pass the AP Calculus test, which makes many suspicious. The students as well as Mr. Escalante are accused of cheating and are asked to take the Exam again. He gets word that all his students pass the 2nd exam and his students get their original scores re-instated.

WS Sections 28-30

The main section that stuck out to me in Sections 28-30 was the Planning and Prewriting Sections. It talks about your Topic, Audience and Purpose and it help explains what your essay should reflect. It gives you examples of essay structure and length showing that "paragraphs are the basic units of writing, understanding the structure of paragraphs will help you with the structure of essays, regardless of their length". This sections also explains the importance of the introduction and thesis sentence. Using these sections will be extremely helpful while writing my 2nd essay.

Lorde's Teachers

In Lorde's essay, she illustrated how negative her teachers were to her. The only person who gave her positive reinforcement and encouraged her to read was Mrs. Baker, the librarian. Unfortunately for Lorde, her teachers didn't she her as being already well educated and a little advanced but they saw her to be acting out and not listening to them. Lorde's teachers go as far as accusing Lorde for not doing work on her own and insisted that "Our guardian angels weep when we don't tell the truth, Audre, I want a note from your mother tomorrow telling me that you are sorry for lying to the baby Jesus." Another horrible example of how negative Lorde's teachers treated their students, were how the teacher separated them from "Brownies and Fairies", this form of separation is in my opinion no way to show positive re-enforcement and can cause great embarrassment and make a child feel have extremely low self esteem.