Body image

I should be writing up my reflection, but I was thinking about our discussions on Friday. Cullen brought up a topic that I found I felt very strongly about. He thought it was a very depressing subject but unfortunately, it is the reality of our lives today. Body image.

I probably feel so strongly about it because it has affected me in so many ways. I have watched my friend wither away to practically nothing when she became anorexic in Grade 12. I have heard my best friend, my sister, my mom, all talk constantly about how much they hate their bodies. I have seen advertising claim:

How to get amazing abs in 2 weeks!

or

Drop 10 lbs in 10 days!

I watched so many of my guy friends fight with their lean bodies to "get huge" by endlessly taking protein supplements, creatine, and eventually steroids. Finally, I have yo-yo dieted, spent endless hours at the gym, and had a constant negativity towards the way my body looked.
The reality is that body image is starting to take a negative effect at younger and younger ages. Cullen said that research is now showing girls as early as 6 years old have negative body image. 6 years old! Can you believe that 85% of women feel negatively about their bodies. And it doesn't only affect women. Although it isn't discussed as much, boys and men are constantly affected by negative body image as well. It all boils down to self-esteem. Where has all the positive self-esteem gone?
Cullen's question about body image was "Do you think this affects us as teachers?". I strongly believe that it does and it will. I think we should be informed of body image and how it affects our students. Unfortunately, as I have experienced first hand, people who are affected by the extremes of body image (anorexia, bulimia, etc.) are not an easy fix. They are so focused on the fact that they need to lose weight that they don't believe that they have a problem. Or some might realize it, but they don't believe that they will end up killing themselves. People like this need constant support and help. We concluded that as teachers, we should be able to realize these extremes of body image and somehow suggest that they get help. What do you think? How can we avoid negative body image? Can we even avoid it?
Here is a video about teen body image. I definitely suggest that everyone goes on youtube and looks at all the videos about body image, anorexia, etc. Some of them are incredibly shocking.

I don't want to leave you all worrying that this is a neverending problem. There is some hope on the horizon. During Madrid's fashion week, they have banned skinny models from the catwalk. Models must have a high enough BMI to participate and work in the fashion shows. Also, Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty has set forth thought-provoking ads containing models with real bodies, confidence building programs for the next generation of girls, and all around messages that campaign real beauty, not artificial beauty. It's not a complete fix, but it's a start!

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

If you're feeling overwhelmed and focusing too much on the little things in life...watch this...

observation

Alright, this is not a post to generate discussion, I just wanted to share that if you haven't looked up the school you are observing on the internet you should. I just looked up the school I am going to and it looks great! The school offers SO many different classes, some that I never even had the option of in highschool! Perhaps I will get to use my earth science classes after all.....

Artemis Girls and Alternative Schools

First of all I want to say how amazing and valuable I thought today’s presentation on the Artemis Girls was. I hope that everyone got as much out of it as I did. I think that this presentation brought up many issues that occur within the classroom today. The one that stood out the most to me was stereotyping.

I currently work with one of the girls from the Artemis school and I will admit that the first time I met her, societal stereotypes got the best of me. I saw this punked out girl with crazy, multi- coloured hair and ripped up clothing and in all honesty (that I am not exactly proud of) I associated what she looked like with a “problem child”. HOWEVER, the minute she opened her mouth, her high pitched, cute little polite voice introduced herself to me and right away I felt guilty that I let stereotypes invade my first impression of her. She was one of the hardest working girls that I worked with all summer. Thus, I have learned my lesson in judging a book from its cover (especially today after learning so much more about her).

As teachers we need to be very open -minded and non-judgmental towards our students. Just because a student does not dress in a collared shirt and sweater vest does not mean they won’t be a grade A student. And just because a student does not have straight A’s (or even B’s or C’s) does not mean that they aren’t full of intellectual potential. It may just take us (as teachers and mentors) to recognize their hidden potential and inspire them to show it in whatever way they feel comfortable. Maybe this is common sense to some people but I think it’s an important issue to discuss. The girls gave us some great advice today, to me the most important being to look at our students as individuals and equals, in and outside of the classroom!

Okay, I think I have rambled on enough of how I benefited today and I was just wondering what the rest of you think? What was the most important or valuable lesson that you took out of today, if any? Do you think it is realistic and possible to take certain aspects out of alternative schools and implement in the public school classrooms that most of us will probably be teaching in?

Cheers,

Gillian

Wired for Sex, Lies and Power Trips: IT'S A TEEN'S WORLD

Hey, I don't know if anyone is online, or watching T.V. right now Monday, 10:00pm, but there's a documentary on CBC right now that is really interesting about the role that the electronic age is having on youth's views on sex, sexual harassment, and how accepted these are in today's world. It's exactly what we've been talking about in our adolescent psych course. Here's the link to a trailer on the documentary if you missed it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMTWAZByqw8&feature=related

and a link to the documentary's website and CBC website:

http://www.itsateensworld.com/

http://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/passionateeyeshowcase/2009/teensworld/

It's also repeating on Sunday, Oct. 11 at 10:00pm PST on CBC if you've missed it tonight.

If you missed it, what are your views on the subject? Is society putting too much pressure on teens to portray a sexual image? Are teens growing up too fast?

Cheers,
Lin

Should religion be left out of the classroom???

Following our class on Friday I started to think about whether or not religion should be discussed in the classroom. It has a huge potential to lead to a heated discussion that is not just unproductive, but hurtful to some. Yet, religion is a part of every ones life, even if you are not religious, atheist or agnostic. Should religion really be left to the side because we as educators are afraid of the consequence of bringing it into our classroom. As a future bio teacher I will teach evolution, therefore I will bring into question religious beliefs even if I don't want to. I think it is also important to discuss religion, the more people understand each other the more respectful they tend to be towards each other.

As my classmates I want to know if you think religion should be brought into the classroom or not and if so what is the best way of approaching this?

Cheers, Tara

Making the Most of the Observation

I don't know about you guys but I'm getting pretty excited for the Observation, mostly because all this talk about high school classrooms is making me want to get in the midst of one!

In order to make the most of the Observation weeks, I was thinking we should share some ideas about what we are all going to try and watch for in particular, what we are going to purposefully "observe," field-study-style.  I'm sure there are lots of random classroom events and happenings that we will learn from but can't at all plan for, but I know personally there are some specific things I plan to pay attention to:

• how my sponsor teacher handles classroom management
• what techniques my sponsor teacher uses to hold students' attention for a whole block

How about you guys?? Any other ideas of what to watch and learn from?? 

P.S. Who loves corny motivational posters? I do. This one is a gem.