Damn you, tornado warning!

Usually when it's nice outside, the kids will go out during the tail-end of their lunch periods. But since there is a tornado watch, they all stayed inside today. They seemed extra rowdy because of that. I was monitoring during 6th and 7th grade lunch, and both were out of control. It was pretty exhausting to keep the kids close-to-sane. Yikes.

Also, here's a reiteration of my girl-crush on Diane Ravitch's writing. This article speaks volumes on current ed reform. I especially like her astute observation that "[d]ata mean nothing when your mind is made up." How true. Damn stubbornness.

Really?

We're fighting over this? Really? Certainly we can use our time for more important things.

Like this, for instance. Same old argument, persuasive reasoning. So why does the not-so-stable educational status quo continue? Might free up some funds, instead of doing this idiotic mess.

Food

The entire eighth grade had a field trip today to see a play about five short stories they read in English class (The Necklace, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, The Tell-Tale Heart, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, The Monkey's Paw) and I went with them. It was quite an adventure keeping track of everyone and attempting to explain the logic behind the fact that they can't sit with their friends. The plays were kind of interesting, but what I got most out of the experience was the whole excitement from a field trip scenario. Since we returned too late to eat lunch in the cafeteria, they ate in their first period teachers' rooms. Man, these kids eat JUNK.

And I've noticed this multiple times, not just today. Yesterday, one kid pulled out Apple Jacks that had fallen out of their baggie into his bookbag; earlier, one student asked if he could eat his breakfast in class and pulled out a bag of pretzels then said he had chips and cookies for lunch, and today this same kid's lunch was an instant cup of Ramen. The culture certainly encourages this junk, as well. A few days ago the lunch lady walked around after breakfast handing out the extra of what were labeled "breakfast muffins." I took one because I was curious but took one bite because it was a cookie. Literally a cookie. For breakfast. I looked at the label and there was something like 250 calories too. Ridiculous. No wonder there is an obesity problem in this country.

Lunch Monitor!

The cafeteria is a craaaaaaaaaaaaaazy place! It's amazing how much my views of it have changed since I was in school. Today, I was put in charge (bwahaha) of monitoring the snack bar, which contains a (barely used) salad bar, chips, cookies, and other such junk. Man, kids eat a lot of crap! Why does the school even offer such things? No wonder there is an obesity problem in this country.

I was really surprised during 7th grade lunch to see kids actually using the salad bar. But then several of them (plus others) came back to grab cookies and/or chips. None of the 6th graders got salad. But, and this surprised me, every child had the option of going to recess for the last 10 minutes of lunch. Apparently all grades get recess every day unless it's cold, rainy, or snowy (so that means November to March is basically out). Even though it's only for 10 minutes, it's nice to see that they get a chance to exercise and be outdoors. Plus, standing in front of the snack bar, into which only five kids are admitted at a time, made it clear that I was an authority figure and not some random girl wandering the halls looking for something to do.

Oh, middle school. Strangely, how I have missed thee.