Health & Fitness

Health and Fitness in the early childhood setting is very important. One problem that we have with this is obesity. This is a good topic to discuss and I want to talk about it more. As people we continue to let this trend increase, this will affect children later on in the future. This has long term and direct effect on health and fitness. Obesity is will cause a child to get a cardiovascular disease, which is like high cholesterol and high blood pressure. Obesity occurs to children that are between the ages 3-17, and a large percentage will be in risk for the cardiovascular disease.
In elementary schools now the food is much healthier than when I was in elementary. They make sure that the students receive the correct nutrients such as, vegetables, fruit, a protein, and also a grain. I believe that was a good thing to do to make such the student eat a nutritious meal during the day. This is something that the parents could also help out with when the children are home. The parents are also a major part of the child's obesity because of what they let the child eat. Some ways to encourage good health and fitness:

• Serving more fruits and vegetables
• Buying fewer soft drinks and high-fat, high-calorie snack foods
• Eating fast food less often
• Physical activity (recess, walking the dog, etc.)

There are many other things that a teacher or parent can use to help student avoid obesity. You should want to learn more about obesity, so visit Kids Health where you can find out a lot more information. 

Finals Are Approaching

The school year is winding down and students are starting to stress over the last two weeks that we have left here at Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU). This is the most stressful time of the semester because students are trying to see what they could do to earn some extra credit in the course so that they could earn a decent grade in the class. Most students have procrastinated the semester because they were out enjoying the college life.  During the next two week of school the library and classes will be fill with people because of all the last minute quizzes, exams, essays, assignment, and projects need to be completed. Also, with that you have to have time to study for the test that you will have in these classes. It feels like towards the end of the semester is when you have the most work to be done in your classes. 

I am one of those students that does not have good study habits, so when it comes down to me testing I always study the day before my actual test. This may seem really bad but it works for me because I always end up with a decent grade on my test. YAY ME!!!! Honestly, I would not advice anyone to do that like me because that is not a good way to study for an exam. Here are some good study habits that should help:

1. A Good Study Place: studying anywhere is not good because there are lots of distractions. You should pick somewhere nice and quiet. This should be a peaceful environment (library, cafe' etc.).
2. Prioritize and Plan: if you do not have a plan on what day your exams or quizzes are then you are not in a good place. This is where you should keep up with all the test dates that you have approaching 
3. Make Flash Cards: using flash cards are very useful because they help you study for all this important information. You can use this to write definitions, key words, etc. 

These are some very useful tips to use when preparing for finals or even just a regular test. This is also a website to visit to help you with other studying tips http://opportunity.org/

Little Girls or Little Women

By little girls watching dreamy princesses on Disney movies are becoming portrayed in a serious involving way. I argue towards the direction of being a highly sexualized environment. Little girls ages 3-15 roughly are turning more into being prettier by including makeup, hair extensions, heels, etc.  
Firstly, after gathering a sense of knowledge of the specific topic talk about on the little girls moving too fast into little women. It mostly grips the concept of watching Disney princesses being in dresses by bringing out more beauty. From the famous Cinderella, Ariel from the Little Mermaid, Belle from Beauty and The Beast, etc. has caught little girl’s attention. This has drawn interest to express their selves as viewing their own way as princesses. In doing so drastic measures has been made because some are sexualized in seeing Disney princesses. Like for evidence in the character Jasmine from Aladdin, her dress has a sultry off-the-shoulder that is considered to be more womanly to wear. As for little girls seeing Jasmine in her dress on television makes them want to ask their parents for a dress like that to wear. Also, the character from The Muppets the famous Miss Piggy shows cleavage in her dress that is considered to be very low cut. This should be banned for little girl viewers because on this situation little girls haven’t even started developed having cleavage at that age; but somehow will take that in consideration into being portrayed. By using things to stuff their dresses to where it might seem that they have develop cleavage. This certain issue is definitely an outlook on how our young society is becoming a scarce problem.
Secondly, this Disney Princess empire has put pressure on parents because their little girls want to wear makeup too. They see these characters wearing different shades of press powders, color eye shadows, lip gloss, lip sticks, and most of all mascara. All of these facial accessories bring out more in just becoming a little women its shows them growing into sexualized prey to society.
For more information about Disney Princess please visit: http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2011/0924/Little-girls-or-little-women-The-Disney-princess-effect

The Rise of Homeless Children

          There are 1.6 million homeless children in the United States. I want to be the witness to this, to provide evidence of their bleak condition. I want to speak for the victimized children of our country who are not even fully cognizant of their own poverty. Infants, young children and teenagers are living on the streets, in hotel rooms and in their parents’ cars, forsaken by bad luck, The public does not understand why people are homeless. People are homeless for several different reasons. Some people may not be able to afford housing so there house foreclose and then they do not have anywhere to go. Another reason is the lack of income, the unemployment rates are still increasing and it is more difficult to find a job. 
          In one of my Early Childhood Education courses the class has to look up current events in education. This is great because since I want to be a future educator I thought this would be something good to discuss.There are several events that are taking place in the education field that educators need to know so they can voice their opinion, help with the situation, and do whatever they need to do to help the problem. There was current event in Kansas stating how there are more homeless students in there school districts. The name of the article is “Kansas Reports Rise in Homeless Students” by Grace Smith. This is a very sensitive topic because how a child become homeless. Where are the parents, and the families of the students? The communities should make more shelters for the students so the kids will not be on the streets. Children need to have proper meals, shelter, sleep, and love and support of their family. They cannot get any of these things if they are living on the streets. In this paper it will elaborate on kids being homeless, there behavior problems and disorders, families living in a shelter, how children have more health problems being homeless, and to try to come up with solutions and programs that can help the children that are homeless.

Bullying In Early Childhood Education

When it comes to this certain topic in schools teachers play a major role of whether it escalates or stops. The bullying first starts in early childhood. As a future educator it is my duty to serve as the role model and stop the bullying altogether. If us as educators, parents and community residents do not make a change the bullying will continue to grow and spread nationwide. 

How does the bullying start?

Bullying starts when children see certain thing that go on from television to things they see in their neighborhoods. Educational media can also be a guide to the behaviors that children pick up and cooperatively badly with their other peers. Theses behaviors can also be taught by adults when they yell, punish or even shame a student in front of other , rather than just using a soft tone voice or pulling them to the side. 

Ways to prevent bullying inside the classrooms.

There are many different ways to prevent bullying inside the classrooms but two of them are the most important to me which are taking charge and getting parents involved. As an adult it is important that you take charge when there is bad behavior going on. Educators can prevent bullying before it starts, intervene when it happens, and follow up to make sure it does not continue. They can encourage children to engage in healthy, cooperative interactions, and discourage bullying behaviors intended to hurt and exclude targeted classmates. They can also help children learn and practice the skills and strategies needed to become resilient against bullying. This is something that parents can go by when they are home with the child. 

If you need anymore information about bullying visit http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/earlychildhood/article_view.aspx?ArticleID=736

An Effective Teacher

When I think of what makes a teacher many things come to mind such as a person that has love for children, caring, and kindhearted. However, when I think about what makes a teacher an effective teacher I think of not only caring and kindhearted but one that uses all of its sources to get the most information about a topic and how to teach it. You need to have strong relationships with your students and give them confidence in whatever seems to be troubling them. From a student’s point of view, I feel that they need someone who plays a special role in their lives and someone they can trust (e.g. besides their mother, father, grandparents, sibling or other relatives). As a future educator I feel as if this relationship helps a teacher gain respect for the children. A teacher has to set different procedures for handling these tasks so that your classroom will also be effective.

The ideal teacher demonstrates compassion by being firm, consistent, and fair. For example, a teacher that would notice that one of her students is falling behind on a certain subject.  By giving the children the love, support, and education they need, the child has a greater chance of living a solid, stable, and productive life. To make the difference in a child’s life will make them feel like someone truly cares for them and what they do in their lives. By doing all this you show the child that you care and it makes them very happy. It is also the teacher’s job to know each of the students learning capabilities, and what kinds of learning strategies work for each child.

A positive teacher is interested in their students and in the classroom. You’re not only being positive to the students but you’re giving them a sense of belonging. Having a positive attitude can rub off on your students and that will make your students have the tendency to show concern to others.

Technology In School/Classrooms

I feel that most students will be more attentive if they were able to use technology because it would be like their visual and their able to see everything that the teacher is teaching. Technology has become more and more important in classrooms. There are many different ways that it can be used in the classrooms. One way is polls.  You could post question online and each student will go on the website and answer the poll. This is a way you can include technology and assess what the child knows. Teacher’s attitudes towards technology play a vital role in adapting a set method on how technology can be used. Today, with the entry of technology, some may wonder how this will change education for the next generations. How much of a role will technology play in school and classrooms? You can use technology in elementary school , middle school, high school, and also in college. Since I have been in college for 4 years we have used Khan Academy. Khan Academy offers practice exercises, instructional videos, and a personalized learning dashboard that empower learners to study at their own pace in and outside of the classroom. This was a good place for me to practice some subjects that I was struggling in the most and needed extra help with. Teachers can use this inside the classrooms and also use this as a way to get children to get extra practice on things that they need help with.