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Running Header: Statement of Informed Beliefs

Statement of Informed Beliefs Essay Dennis Anderson

Dr. Linda Vermette

EDUC 204 Families, Communities, & Culture TR, 10:00-11:15, Spring 2011

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Obesity in Our Classrooms

Have you ever heard America be called the melting pot of the world? Well the reason for this is because the diversity of people that we have is greater than that anywhere else in the world. I could talk about the diversity of wealth, ethnicity, or even something like religions, but instead I am going to write about obesity. It is quite obvious that it is not the fault of most of these children that they are overweight, but we can do something to help them. Obesity is a massive problem in our society, and while it is becoming more accepted, it is still hard for obese children in our school to learn the same. My goal is to become a physical education teacher, which is where I can start the process of fixing the obesity issues in our schools. In the next few paragraphs I will explain how obesity affects the children that we will be teaching in the future. I will be explaining how this is true in the following sections; the ability to learn, teacher expectations, students social ecology, cultural diversity instruction, and the curriculum for all learners. I think that every person in the world has the right, and more than a right, they have then need to learn. I, as a teacher, believe that I can make a difference in the lives of the students that I have. There are many different things that cause a child to be obese, and in my mind they range from heredity to the lack of exercise as a child, and even as simple as a childs diet. B.F. Skinners theory of Behaviorism describes the anti-social behavior that could potentially lead to obesity (Berns 179). This interested me very much because the theory of Behaviorism describes many of the things that affect the socialization of children and of all people together. My students will all have different learning styles, and I as an educator will have to accommodate them in every way that I fell possible for me to do so. For me to accomplish this I might take my

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teacher-directed curriculum and trade and mingle some aspects of a learner-directed curriculum. The Ability to Learn Young children, especially in the middle school age group have a hard time with being overweight. This is due mainly to the fact that this age group seems to look down on their overweight peers, and even the members outside of school in their community. I believe that the ability to learn in an environment where a child feels out of place is a very hard thing for a child to overcome. I have never been overweight, but I am friends with a lot of people who were, and I am constantly told by these people that gym class was the hardest class for them to be in because they always felt like they were the last ones picked. They tell me that they felt looked down upon. This not only affects their ability to learn, but it also affects their ability to produce self-efficacy. They believe that there is no positive outcomes that they could possibly have come out of being in this class where they feel like they are inferior to the other children, and where they might feel normal in all of the other classes they are in, they tend to want to shy away from Physical education. This is what I, as a physical education teacher, want to change. Teachers Expectations As a teacher, I know that I will have to make some exceptions to students when it comes to hard physical activities. Some of the overweight children might not be able to do some of the things that the other children can do. It is my job to help these children feel like it is their duty to give everything that I teach a good try though. In my P.E. class I will try to start out on a cooperative goal structure. That goal that we will all be working towards will be to get into shape. I am a very competitive person, so I am sure that I will push the act of being competitive

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on the students in my class by having a partially competitive course somewhere in my program. I know that I will be responsible to create a slightly individualized program for a few of the students in my classroom, for reasons like asthma, and other obesity related issues. I feel as though it is my job not to pamper these children, but to guide them in the same steps at I would expect out of any other student. Students Social Ecology Obese students might think that they are not as capable, so they will not try as hard to do the activities. I will make it very clear that all of the students in my classroom are accountable for their own health throughout their lives. I believe that the family of the child is a huge factor in helping me back up this statement. If the family does not stand behind this thought then the child will probably tend to go back to the lifestyle that they had been at before they entered my class. I think that one hour a day is not enough exercise, because when these children get to their house and they sit down and watch the television for 4 hours while eating, it tends to take away all of the exercise that they did throughout the day. I think that all of the Microsystems in a childs life tend to affect not only how they feel about their weight issues, but whether or not they care to try to fix it. If the Microsystems in a childs life tend to look towards not caring about health, and not caring about being overweight, then this might be a very good thing on the childs self-esteem, but in the long run, it is going to be very bad, because their health declines much more rapidly as an obese person. Cultural Diversity Instruction The culture that our children are raised in is a huge part of why they are how they are. The different environments that they are raised in creates different diets, it creates different eating

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habits, and it eventually creates the way a child is going to live his/her life. Cultural Pluralism is the thought that all cultures need to be can all live together in the same environment, and gain ideas from each other to build a stronger community. I believe this is important in my class because overall they are a miniature community, and they need to coexist, and work well together no matter what their cultural background. I think that it is very important to have these kids, big or small, colored or white, overweight or skinny, need to all work together to create a sense of this cultural pluralism in a class environment. I will steer away from the cultural assimilation, because I think that it might make some children think that their culture is inferior to another. It is my goal to take every kid in my class and let them feel as an equal to everybody else that is around them. Curriculum for All Learners I believe that consistency in a childs life is a very important thing. If I as a P.E. teacher expect high things of an overweight student, then I believe very strongly that the students will expect highly of themselves. My goal is to have a curriculum that I can use for all of the students that I might come across in my career. I think that having the same lessons that fit every student is important in them seeing that they are all equal to me, not only as students, but in the expectations that I have from them as well. Also as an educator, I believe that if a student has a disability, then it is my job to make that child feel like there is nothing wrong with them for having it. It is my job to adjust my plans to fit that specific students needs, without disrupting the other childrens activities. I believe that the fact that I will have been coaching sports for about six years by the time that I start teaching will help me tremendously when it comes to knowing how to adjust my curriculum in order to fit the entire class.

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Overall I believe that all students have the right to get the same amount of effort from me as a teacher. Whether they have a disability, or they have a weight issue, I think that as long as they are willing to want to learn and be in my class then they should get my full attention. I believe that treating an overweight student as a special case in a P.E. environment only hurts them in their self-esteem, and in the eyes of their peers, so I do not plan of treating them with any special treatments. I also believe that the family, and the surrounding environment has more of an impact than I could ever have as a teacher, so it is important that we talk to the parents, and we all get on the same plans for the students.

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References

B e r n s , R . ( 2 0 0 7 ) . C h i l d , f a m i l y , s c h o o l , c o m m u n i t y Socialization and support (8th ed.). B e l m o n t : W a d s w o r t h C e n g a g e l e a r n i n g .