Sometimes I Hate It...

When I'm right...


We'd had an easy to use, generic log on for years in our district.  It was simple enough for 5 years to remember and neatly solved the problem that Windows requires log ons.  Of course the high schoolers abused it and took advantage of the fact that it made the user "anonymous"  to  scatter inappropriate comments the width and breathe of cyberspace.  


So the old log on was abolished and in its place came a complicated 8 letter / 3 numbers combination.   I'm not sure who piloted it - I suspect it was a combination of high school students and the tech departments own uber tech savvy children.  It certainly wasn't piloted on monolingual Spanish speaking 5 year olds, even though we have many within the district.

Worst of all, it was to go into effect on the first first minute of the very first day of school.  No lead in time, no teaching time, no getting used to things time allowed.

Needless to say, this announcement resulted in great angst among the librarians since we're usually the ones who get to carry out the Tech departments proclamations (not that they ever ask for our input ).  We have great many new librarians who, unlike me who has been at it since dinosaurs roamed the earth, are very SERIOUS about their job. 


So I wrote the following e-mail:

Guys,

I realize I share much of Alfred E. Newman’s” What Me Worry” philosophy but I’m really not stressing about this right now.

I’ve been here  too long & have  seen too much and I already can foresee the scenario.

1.       It will start out as an unmitigated disaster

2.       Total chaos will ensue

3.       Tech Services will realize they messed up and back pedal furiously

4.       Plan B will be announced

5.       Plan B will be tweaked

6.       Plan C will be announced

7.       Plan C will be scrapped

8.       Plan D will be created using the best of plans A, B, C & D.

So, we can put in hours of time and mental stress worrying about dealing with Plan A but chances are it will all be for naught.

Me, I’m just going to roll with the punches, expect the worst and not be disappointed.

Last week, just I predicted we suddenly  found ourselves at Step 5.  Tech Services finally agreed that 5 year olds, who aren't sure of their last name and who can't type couldn't be expected to perfectly execute  a complicated log on.  So we have a new and simpler log on.  That doesn't work on the ibooks, all of which now must be re-imaged. 

I can't wait to see Plan C.  And sometimes I really hate it when I'm right. 

The School Year is Not off to an Auspicious Start

1.  Our fearless Library Leader retired.   A replacement has been promised but so far he/ she  isn't forthcoming. So we are rudder-less.  Whoever takes the position has some big shoes (or rather cowboy boots) to fill.       

                                     
2.  The library air conditioner was wonky for the first two weeks and kept cutting off at 12:30.  No matter that school wasn't over till 2:30.  And the temps were 98+

3.  Tech Services ditched the sorta easy for kids to remember log ins and instituted an 8 letter 3 number log on, coupled with 6 digit password.  In their infinite wisdom they didn't test drive this on 5 year olds. Nope, the librarians get that pleasure.

4.  The electricity went out for an hour yesterday.  During lunch time.

5.  The district introduced a new electronic grade book/ attendance program.  It doesn't play well with others, especially the library patron and Accelerated Reader databases.   

6.  My Beloved has been sick with assorted malaises since May.  No end in sight. She is very tired of not being herself and of being sick.   That makes two of us.

7.  Mercury is retrograde

8.  I'm catching a cold.  Achoo! 

9.  A fast moving tropical storm gifted us with a deluge - at dismissal time.

10.  The wireless network keeps going in and out.  Did I mention EVERYTHING in our district is done on line?

11.  Every professional had to spent several hours "immersed" in an on line class on "grading & homework guidelines".  Even those of us who never, ever give grades.  Or homework. 

12.  Last year's second graders did not, as we all hoped mature over the summer. They are as immature as they ever were.  Due to several convoluted reasons many had a sub par first  grade experience.  We will  all pay the price till they graduate. 

13.  We are most likely going to have to pack up the entire school and move to temporary quarters for 18 months while the old school is torn down and a new school built.  Dates are still being written in very shifting sand.

On the plus side, a new 5th grader told me he'd never before enjoyed coming to the library.  And tonight is Project Runway and tomorrow is Friday! 

Other Duties as Required Redux

When I tell folks I'm a librarian I'm often told how nice it must be to "sit around and read" all day. I rarely sit and while I do read, it's usually to groups of children and it's most always children's books.


My job is  never boring and some of the most interesting bits fall under "Other Duties as Required". These duties have included everything from serving coffee to walking a pit bull.  Just when I think I've done it all, yet another new adventure pops up.


This week's "other duties as required" included Dumpster Diving. 
We'd received 10 Activ Wands for our Promethean Activ Boards and I'd cataloged them and set them aside so the teachers could come and pick them up.


They were in a box, along with the packing boxes behind the circulation desk.  We arrived the next day and they were gone. Most baffling since the custodial staff never touch what's piled behind the desk unless it has a sign saying "Basura" taped to it.  All the laptops were in their places so we didn't think they were stolen - why would a thief take those and leave the iBooks? 


My assistant, who speaks Spanish called the custodian who told her that the computer tech guy told her they were "trash" and to throw them out.   Still haven't figured out why he came to that conclusion.  Computer guy is sometimes a few fries short of a Happy Meal. 

Slight heart failure - they cost $60 each and were certainly not trash.  


Off the dumpster we trekked.  Lucky for us it's the beginning of the school year & it hadn't rained in some time..  While it was piled full, it was all clean paper and cardboard.  The dumpster on the last day of school is full of sticky party food debris - not to mention animals attracted by sticky party food.


I was the one wearing tennis shoes so I climbed in and started routing around - and there under piles of paper were our boxes, the installation CDs and the wands.  Deep breath and great cheer.


Out I clamored and back to the library we went,, wands in hand.  And no, we never told the teachers where those wands spent the night. 


And I got to add yet another duty to "Other Duties as Required".  Perhaps Dumpster Diving needs to be offered as a library school elective? 

Folks...It's Time to Start Your Smartboards

It's the last night of summer vacation.  
In preparation of getting back on the hamster wheel I have:

• Clipped & filed coupons
• Put away the laundry
• Packed up the Saturday garage sale finds for FBA
• Written as many E-bay auctions as possible and listed some of the Legos
• Paid bills
• Fiddled with my money on Mint.com
• Hauled stuff out to my car
• Made my AM Smoothie so I can grab it and go
• Pulled some CDs for my listening pleasure (no kids yet)
• Emptied the dishwasher

.....and last of all  laid out an all black outfit to wear tomorrow....... It's 98 degrees outside but              
                          

      Summer is officially OVER
                    

The Library Lunch Club

A comment I left on Blue Skunk Blog ( one of my favorites)  prompted a question about my Library Lunch Club.  This isn't the first time I've been asked  so I'm heeding the call of the universe and writing up a blog post.  I first  wrote about it in 2007 when it started  but it's been tweaked quite a bit since then. I don't agree with all the tweaks but I try to be a team player.


First requirement is a Principal who is more interested in students & reading than in having a library with a pristine carpet. Second requirement is a librarian with a high tolerance for noise! 


Membership is open to 4th & 5th graders.  It used to be limited to 4th graders but once the 4th graders moved on they insisted that the club come with them.  Membership is tried into reading.  


We're an AR school so it's pretty easy to figure out who reads and who doesn't.  The top 25 4th and 5th graders, AR point wise are automatically members.  The membership changes on the first Monday of every month - that way those who read have to keep reading!  I figure it's a good life lesson - just because you're on top doesn't mean you don' t have to work to stay there.


I also include any 5th grader with straight As and an occasional child who is making great strides in either academics or behavior.  We have high mobility and I keep an eye out for new students who are avid readers and invite them also.  Much to our amazement it's a popular reward for students on a behavior contract.  I've been known to hand out an invite to kids because "you're a neat kid".  Hey, it's my club - I can ask who I want!  


Teachers have found the club to be an excellent "carrot" - as in "If you keep forgetting your homework you are out of the club".  It's proven to be an excellent motivator when it comes to getting 10 year old Hispanic males to read. This last school year the majority of the members were boys. 


The students bring their lunch to the library (most of our kids are on free & reduced lunch).   They sit 5 or 6 to the tables and they don't have to sit with their class.  That's a big perk since they must sit by class in the cafeteria. They also get to sit at tables and chairs, as opposed to the pigs at the trough style of eating that is normal in many school cafeterias.  It takes them about 10 minutes to eat and then the fun begins.


Thanks to a bond issue the library has lots and lots of technology toys.  iTouches, ibooks, a Wii, an ActivBoard and two big iMacs.  My lunch time rule of thumb is "if it gets through the filters it's OK by me".  The kids im each other, play games, write on their blogs, check their e-mail and and have light saber duels with the iTouches.  Last spring Justin Biber  made every one of the girls hearts go pitter patter.  They played his video over and over and over again, accompanied by groans from the boys and I who did not share the love.  In between playing with iMovies a couple of the girls run the circulation desk.  The bulk of the  computers are laptops and the kids love to sprawl on the floor and share their discoveries.


When I work with the classes it's real apparent that this extra computer time benefits their learning.  The Library Lunch Club kids have more computer savvy and are much more comfortable with keyboarding.  They also tend to stay on task since they know they have "free exploration" time every day.


Are there any rules?  Yes of course!  The kids have to bus their tables and respect each other and the technology.  I had one incident of cyber bullying last year which I nipped by sending the bully back to the cafeteria.  I've not had one computer broken or vandalized.  All of my mice have their balls and my keyboards their keys.  


And what's my role in this daily 60 minutes of madness?  I prowl around, peek over shoulders, cajole kids to drink their milk, suggest books & websites  and enjoy the happy buzz.  

It works - it's one of the reasons our reading scores are in the mid to high 90s! 


.

Make Your Own Games....

You doo have to click Fruit Fly to play the game.

Click here for full screen version

Vanity License Plates

Another new twist in the world of Web 2.0 products. Using what you've learned about your Texas Native American Tribe, create a Vanity License Plate .
Anyone know which tribe ordered this one?

1 Day Down, 179 to Go!

Snippets from the first day of school:

The first child of the year to grace the Assistant Principals office is in Kindergarten. He's never been to school, daycare, Mother's Day, Sunday School or any other setting involving groups and rules. His reply to the teacher when told to get in line "I don't want to and you can't make me". I fear he'll be a frequent flyer.

One class has both an aunt and her niece. Said aunt and niece are both 5. I suspect the aunt became an aunt while still in the womb.

We had a gullywasher of rainstorm but thank goodness the skies opened after the busses rolled.

Not as many students were retained as in the past. For once we don't have any 13 year olds in the 5th grade. We do , however have a few that are already 12.

Thanks to an uncertain economy we had very little teacher turnover this year. Most folks aren't fool enough to let go of a steady job that comes with a pension.

Given the number of Moms I saw today with "baby bumps" I would say I have job security.

Thanks to the help of a couple of library interns I started out the year totally caught up. I'll enjoy it while it lasts. Which it won't.

On the whole the kids seem happy to be back in a place where there are routines and they get 2 squares a day.

I was the recipent of many hugs as the kids came down the hall. Felt good.

And, like all teachers on the night after the first day of school I can barely keep my eyes open.

Good Night!

Library2Play2 - Thing 2 - Image Generators

I discovered Bookr last fall and introduced it to the first and the 4th grade. The kids adored it - in fact 4th graders were begging for the opportunity to write another Bookr book. Bookr has some weakness, which are in a way also the site's strength. There isn't any choice of fonts - you use what they give you - not as much fun but then the kids don't do all their work in unreadable Gothic either. The pictures most come from Flickr and the choices are limited. Again, that's both a plus and minus - the kids don't waste hours of time looking at every possible picture but sometimes it is difficult to find "the perfect one" within the offered choices. The main weakness of the site is that there is no "edit' option. Once you publish, you publish. On the positive side, it is free and no e-mail address is required. We found it best to publish the Bookr Books to an already existing blog.




Wordle is another site I discovered last fall. Several of the teachers used it as the "carrot" to get the kids through a keyboarding exercise. Once they finished typing they could "wordle" the results. It's also an fun way to reinforce spelling or vocabulary words.

I'd not played with WordShift. Wordle, which allows you change fonts and colors wins in the playing prize, Wordsiftf, which can pull up links wins the "more information " one.
I put The Gettysburg Address through both of them.
Below is the Wordle's Version

This is Wordsift's version.


My bloggers adored Glogster. It didn't do much for me - I thought the results were very busy and cluttered but I suspect I'm showing my age. I would think any parent would embrace Glogster since it frees them from those 10pm runs the 24 hour Walmart because someone just realized they need poster board RIGHT NOW. The kids and I did have problems saving our Glogs. I noticed that many of the glogs on the site are edgy to the extreme. I see they now have an education area, which will help with that problem. The help files and Glogster Buzz sections are full of good ideas on applying Glogster in the classroom. This site is "green" to the extreme and must use for any school using digital portfolios.

Voicethread - this one is new to me. Whoo-hoo - a new new tool to introduce to the bloggers come fall! This one beats the others hands down when it comes to tutorials and help files. I can see many group collboration opporunties for VoiceThread. It would also be interesting to post a final produce and use VoiceTread to comment and critique it. What a wonderful way for ESL students to practice their English.

Animoto was another hands down favorite with the bloggers. They tended to make Animotos of kittens and puppies but one could certainly make an Animoto of Texas Hero's or mammals or just about anything. I applied and was given an educators account which meant I could create e-mail addresses so that the students could make their own Animotos. We learned that if 2 students used the same e-mail address they would overwrite each other's Animotos so it is impartive that each student have their own individual address. The students liked their Animotos to be very long, but I think the 30 second ones are more effective. They are perfect for introducting a topic. Everytime I put one every child in the library gravitated toward the screen. The combination of music and flashing pictures is a child magnet.


The bloggers and I played with Vokis too. Two of the more creative kids proceeded to have their Vokis talk to each other. They were trash talking but a teacher could use it for a 21st century version of Reader's Theater. A student could create a historical Voki and have it talk in character.

All the Image Generators I discovered in Library2Play and these were wildly popular with my students. I found them all easy to use and the results were most professional. The students adored learning and using them and most went on to further explore the sites on their own. SBISD is pushing electronic portfolios and all these sites dovetail nicely with that mandate.

Library2Play 2 - Thing #1

Child of 23 Things here I come! It's summer and time to play. I am at Beck's Prime at The Memorial Park golf course hanging out while My Beloved chips and putts. It is beastly hot - only Mad Dogs, Englishmen and Golfers venture out in the Houston sun.

I have a new toy - a Pink Mini Dell that is light as a feather. Unfortunately, the Memorial Park Golf Course does not have wireless so I accessed the Library Media Services web page via my iPhone. However, I while I can get to TeacherTube I can't get the video to open up. Curses. Foiled by technology. I wonder if it is posted on YouTube? Off to check............

10 minutes later....yes, it was there. YouTube isn’t as hinky as TeacherTube. In fact, I've seen this video before - I think it was included in the original 23 Things. I have conquered technology - yeah me! Usually it is the other way around.

Thoughts on the Networked Student. Right off the bat I see 2 major hurdles the 21st Student must jump before he or she appears in an SBID school near us.

One is the textbook lobby. They don't want to kill that goose that lays those golden eggs - or those 70 dollar bricks. Teachers might not want to use them but the school district has to buy them...even if they pile up unused in warehouses. Kids over load their backpacks and ruin their posture dragging them back and forth. For what it costs to supply a student with a full set of textbooks the district could buy everyone an inexpensive laptop and stack of books on CD.

Two is our no so beloved TAKS test which is mired deep in the 1950s. I taught a Blogging Class this year as part of the after school program. I didn't use a textbook and the students never ever picked up a pencil. Kids begged to be included and we had a joyful time. They were proud of their work and clamored to share. They never realized they were learning the mechanics of writing. I didn't allow “cell phone speak" and insisted on correct grammar and spelling.

These same students dreaded pencil and paper writing in class. With me, their keyboarding improved and once they got beyond hunt and peck their thoughts spilled out through their fingers. The TAKS writing test is a paper and pencil test. During class the kids had to practice their handwriting and worry about spelling. Were electronic copies allowed neither of those would have mattered. Well, spelling would since kids can foil the spell check but they still could have concentrated on content rather than mechanics.

So, can a librarian be a 21st Century teacher – yes he/she could, but not till our legislature and the TEA catch up with said librarian. Will that happen during the lifetime of my teaching career? Cynic that I am, I have my doubts. In the meantime I'll keep plugging way, aiming for the small clinks in the armour that is called education.

When She Fails the TAKS Test....

.....it will be once again "a failure of our education system".

This story has dominated the local news for the past week:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/moms/6381800.html (drunken driver drove his car into a flooded bayou while talking on his cell phone. 5 children drowned, the father, another adult and 1 child survived. None of the children were wearing seat belts or in car seats. Father, who had a long criminal record is currently in jail charged with 5 counts of manslaughter).

One of the follow-ups reported that the one child who lived - a 10 year old girl is in foster care. She'd been living with her father (the drunken ex-con) for about a month. Her mother checked her out of the hospital but CPS took custody since Mom has a serious substance abuse issue.

1 month with Dad = 1 school, Foster care = a 2nd school. Number of schools attended between August and move in with Dad = unknown but even if it's just 1 (highly unlikely) that's still 3 schools within the space of 1 school year.

At age 10 she's either in the 4th or 5th grade (we hope). This upcoming week is TAKS test week - 4th graders take the reading and math test and 5th grade a science test.

This child, who just survived an horrific accident, who lost her siblings and half siblings and who is a poster child for "dysfunctional home life" is expected to sit at a desk for 8 hours and take a test and give it her personal best. The chances of her passing the TAKS test are slim to none. Her score will impact whatever school she attended on "snapshot" day which is in October.
The school will get the "ding" and the blame.

Nowhere in "No Child Left Behind" is there any accountability for home life and personal circumstances. NCLB assumes educating children is no different than factory farming chickens.
You apply the latest and greatest and hey presto, perfectly educated children and record egg production.

Only difference is, the factory farms can cull the hens who don't measure up to the standard, the schools can't.

15 Perfect Gentleman

Thanks to a bizarre chain of events that fell into place without a hitch (Hey, there really is a Goddess who looks after librarians) I hosted my first “name” author last Friday. We’ve had many author visits over the years, but they are mostly the self published type. Pleasant enough folks, but it’s very apparent that the main source of their income and their book sales are their school visits.

Not so Justin Somper the author of The Vampirates series. He’s from London and his American book tour included a stop in Houston to hobnob with librarians during the Texas Library Convention. Conventions aren’t my thing which meant I was the only librarian in Houston who could cobble together a school visit on 2 weeks’ notice.

I tossed up a display and a created Flipchart. I prepped, book talked and handed out the tomes. It helped that the books have very, very enticing covers and subject matter and that Justin has an enjoyable and informative web site. The kids enjoyed the books and looked forward to the event.

All the work paid off. Justin’s visit was worth every bit of effort and more. His rapport with the kids was excellent and he had them mesmerized. We sold over 100 books and made some money Blue Willow Books, the local independent bookstore. Owning one of his books became the newest status symbol and having all 4 meant you were at the top of the heap.

I’ve a group of 5th grade books who are devoted fans of the Cirque du Freak books and since there are some similarities in the two series I invited them to eat lunch with the author. I’ve always catered a lunch for visiting authors (have Crockpot, will cook) and included students. One advantage to not having an active PTA is that I can do my author lunches just as I please. At other schools author lunches are the province of the PTA and consist of the PTA Moms and their own offspring.

The menu is always simple – pasta with meat sauce, good French bread, butter, a tossed salad and something chocolate for dessert Every time I do one of these I’m always amazed at what’s novel.

Once year it was the “real forks”. I hate to eat with plasticware so I always bring my stainless from home. Another year it was the homemade salad dressing and the “real” whipped cream. This time it was the crusty French bread and the unsalted butter. The boys ate their way through 4 loaves, each slice slathered with butter.

"This doesn't taste like the butter from the cafeteria Ms. Moore".

I provided table cloths and we helped ourselves to tables not yet picked up from the carnival and set up a large, square banquet table. 15 boys sat round it, ate massive amounts of food, asked respectful, thoughtful and polite questions and brought tears of joy to the eyes of their principal.
Not one descended into horseplay, acted silly or did anything goofy. There were perfect gentlemen and did themselves and their school proud.

It's days like this that I love really, really love my job.

Tomorrow I'm doing a presentation about "Strong Principals / Strong Schools - along with my ex-principal (who is so good at her job that she got herself promoted) at the Texas Library Association. After I made the list I realized that I'm one busy librarian!

I'm being radical and not doing a PowerPoint. Instead I made an Animoto and a bulleted list of the assorted libray activities I done - at least the ones I can remember!

Principal Supplies/Supports:

Keeps the library "off"the block / teacher planning rotation
Good Budget & an Assistant
Decent computers
New technology
Space
Freedom to decorate and set up the library as I want (Lava Lamps, suffed animals, puppets)
Accelerated Reader
Doesn’t worry about stains on the carpet or messy shelves - kids come first

Librarian Supplies:

Informal teacher colloration
AR T-shirt Day
Library Lunch Club
AR Parties
Trips to Ci-Cis
Trips to Barnes and Noble
GT & PGP Passes

Freedom to experiment with Technology
High AR Point PassesLibrary Lunch Club
Book Swap

Open Checkout
Author Visits
Blogging
Hat Day
Slip into Reading Day
Library Lock In
20/20 Day
Reading Challenges with classes-Allow Food
Family Library Night
Field trips to see authors
Popcorn in the pocket park
Cake decorating

Green Eggs and Ham Lunch
Sugar cookie decorating
Mix it Up day

Author Visits

“Come on Down” for high AR Point passes

Big Universe

I really should read School Library Journal more often!
The December issue featured a story on electronic books and introduced me to Big Universe.com.

Now this is a fine example of the Web 2.0 at its best! I can so see kids getting creative.


Here's my first published effort : The Library Lunch Club

Is There Something in the Water?

We’ve always had some students who were “different”. But there were just a few. The past couple of years it’s been an explosion. Where are they coming from? I don’t think it’s because of better diagnosis – the kids we’ve enrolled are not “slightly disturbed” – they are very, very disturbed.

We students who take serious anti psychotic drugs, students who have violent rages & students who are schizophrenic. We have more and more children who are autistic. Some are diagnosed and some aren’t , but after a number of years in the profession any seasoned teacher can spot the “look” across a crowded room.

Perhaps it’s because I’m at a low SES school but I still find it amazing that a child can reach age 5 or 6 without a parent realizing something isn’t “quite right”. Maybe they don’t note the milestones in the baby book as obsessively as a helicopter parent does or perhaps they are just in deep, deep denial .

Once the paperwork process starts some fight it tooth and nail and others ignore all communication from the school and don’t show up at the STAT and ARD meetings. Papers sent home get lost and are never signed – and without those signatures the schools hands are tied.

Then the parent and child up and moves and the process starts all over again. And again and again and again. It’s not uncommon for a child to reach the 5th grade without a diagnosis. And you can’t start treatment without a diagnosis. That results in 6th graders who can’t read above a first grade level and have no social skills what so ever.

Who gets blamed for that ? Why the schools of course.

No, it’s not the fault of the school. I really do think there is something in the water.

Third Day of School

We:
Checked out 516 books
I taught 7 classes with full a full blown ActivBoard Lessons
We had 4 classes in for Accelerated Reader
The Language Arts Specialist brought in 1 class of 5th graders & introduced blogging on the mobile laptops – we assisted.

I have:
2 hurting feet
2 aching knees
1 lost voice

3 days down, 186 left to go.

AR & Animoto

I think I've discovered a monster!
Animotos are fun! And easy!
This one is getting attached to a flipchart I'm creating for my ActivBoard.

The TAKS Results are In

And We Are

Exemplary !!!!!!!

The Sins Of The Father Afflict Unto The Several Generations

I've been at my school 16, going on 17 years now (I can hardly believe that myself). I'm now teaching the children of the children. It says a great deal about how early our kids become parents if in 16 years I'm already teaching the second generation.

Much of this second generation isn't stellar. I guess that's what happens when children give birth to children.

We have the child of gang member. Dad was gunned down in a home invasion robbery, Mom died in an auto accident that involved alcohol. The child has an aunt who is 2 years younger than he is, a young brother who is failing Pre-K and 3 other half siblings whom he never sees. The child is living with his grandparents, who are not exactly in the running for the parents (or the grandparents ) of the year award.

Also not in the running for the Grandparents of the Year Award are the grandparents of a pair of newly enrolled siblings. We remember their mother and uncle, both of which had numerous problems of the social, educational variety - many of which were either caused or exacerbated by their dysfunctional home life (with a large dose of drugs and alcohol tossed in) . The second generation has just as many problems. Multiple moves and multiple schools, academically low and probable autism. The paperwork for testing is in process but won't be completed by the time school is over. Whether they are still with us when school resumes in the fall is a total unknown.

And this fall the daughter of my daughter's best friend from elementary days enters kindergarten.
I'm feeling very old tonight.

Children shouldn't have children. There ought to be a law.

They're Fat - and It's All Our Fault Too

Childhood obesity is all over the news now. Turns out it's all the fault of the schools - just as "moral breakdown", "lack of respect", "Kids can't read" and all of society's many other ills are also laid at the schoolhouse door.

Many of the kids where I work are overweight and more than a few are obese. We have children at risk for diabetes, children who can't walk a lap round gym with out huffing and puffing and children with beer bellies that rival those of middle age men. Many of our kids are poor, Hispanic and latchkey - all breeding grounds for obesity.

We feed the kids 10 meals a week - breakfast and lunch. The school lunch program bristles with rules about nutrition and what the kids are offered is low in sugar and fat and fairly healthy. 2% milk, fresh fruit, whole wheat bread, oven baked rather than fried chicken. It's not half bad.

That's offered - not eaten. The amount that hits the trash makes a taxpayer cry. They drink a swallow or two of milk, nibble at the meat and pretty much ignore the fruit. Many of the kids bring bags of chips from home which are eaten in lieu of their meal. The principal had to send a note home telling parents not to send sodas to school. Just try teaching a classroom of children who have dined on Coca Cola and Hot Cheetos for a mid-day meal.

Yesterday I encountered one of our "square children" in the staff lounge - one of her relatives works at school. Child was whining for potato chips from the snack machine and said chips were bought and eaten. Relation told me child is always whining for junk food. The day before the child asked for and ate a Happy Meal ( not the apple slices & juice version ), a candy bar and a doughnut. This was between the hours of 3pm and bedtime.

Our school nurse runs an health club and gives nutrition lessons. She offers parent classes on cooking. She counsels children and gives them suggestions about keeping a food dairy and making healthy choices. It breaks her heart when the child returns the diary the following week and the score shows Diary Queen 5 and green vegetable 1.

We feed them 10 meals a week - the other 11 meals are eaten at home - that's more than half. Yet it's all our fault the kids are fat.