Making Assessment Personally Relevant
http://www.teachandlearn.ca/blog/2007/05/27/making-assessment-personally-relevant/

In my previous entry, I wrote,

I want my students to realize that learning is not about making your work conform to some standard imposed by the teacher. Learning is about creating your own standards and adjusting them based on your goals. Learning is about setting your own goals and monitoring your own progress. It is about having conversations with yourself and others.

Couldn’t have said it better. The idea of student self-evaluation gets to the bottom of the problem – “What do I have to do to get an A?” mentality / expectation.

Learn more…

Personal Progress Chart
for eight grade language arts
http://www.flickr.com/photos/teachandlearn/473061207/in/set-72157600130707749/
also Self-Assessment Sheet

Three 5s Minimum (3 x 5)

• 5 servings – 2 fruits, 3 vegetables
• 5 grains – preferably whole grain
• 5 ounces protein – meat, eggs, cheese, nuts, tofu, milk, yogurt

It is nice to see that someone with a serious weight problem is doing something about it. It is even better that they are publicizing their efforts and successes.

Tuesday night is Comedy night at 142 Throckmorton Theatre. Three of the comedians included jokes about their weight issues in their routines. I guess that counts as publicizing their problem. The scary part was the young man (I think he said he was 24) who was seriously overweight and talked about his liquid diet – not my idea of a good weight management strategy, but at least he was trying and talking about it.

Today the Real Living Nutrition email newsletter included a link to LittleChanges and Priscilla’s story.

Priscilla
http://www.littlechanges.com/priscilla.html

Call it what you will, I’m fat. I got this way by eating too much and not exercising enough. … My life is in danger and my mouth has put me here.

I made the shocking Little Change of telling the world, my husband included, what I weigh.

So lots of people discover this, but they don’t go off on a trip around the United States on foot.

Why the Walk?
This is the first question I always get asked…

Walking is something I am able to do. I also wanted to get the public eye on what we are doing so the whole world can be my diet buddy. If I walked a few miles around my house everyday, would anyone notice?

This concept of a massive walk is a good one. After all, I do have a massive amount of weight to lose. A bit of encouragement goes a long way and I need all the help I can get!

There is a real epidemic of people of all ages being morbidly obese. I’m not alone in this struggle.

If just one person decides to make some little changes in THEIR life to get healthy, then the walk is a first class success.

Travel and walking seemed to just go together. You see so much more when you are going under foot power than by car or even bicycle. With the prospect of new and exciting experiences just around the corner, I’ll be motivated like mad to keep walking.

My weight isn’t about how I look or what society is willing to accept. It is about how long I live. Being fat shortens your life span, plain and simple.

For once and all I want to be in control of my own body. Tomorrow I won’t wake up normal sized, but I will in 3 years.

This weight I’m carrying is from decades of doing whatever I wanted when it came to food and exercise. Now I’m going to turn the clock back with no fads, no diets…just tons of common sense and many LittleChanges!

Priscilla – 06 December 2006

A safer and saner lifestyle approach to her weight management.

4 great reasons to walk
http://www.littlechanges.com

American Institute for Cancer Research : Surviving cancer is something Priscilla has been doing since 1988. Diet and exercise will play a big part in keeping her healthy.
http://www.aicr.org

American Diabetes Association : Type II diabetes is something that runs in Priscilla’s family. Through exercise & diet, Priscilla hopes to never suffer from diabetes, which kills more people each year than breast cancer or AIDS. Every 21 seconds someone is diagnosed with diabetes. Who is YOUR reason to WALK?
http://www.diabetes.org/home.jsp

American Stroke Association : With her mother & father both having had strokes, Priscilla wants everyone to know the warning signs, dangers and how to prevent stroke. Educate yourself.
http://www.strokeassociation.org/

American Heart Association : Priscilla lost her father to heart failure and her mother has survived a heart attack. Help make & keep your heart healthy with diet & exercise.
http://www.americanheart.org/

With all the advertising and endorsements, I hope she will be able to cover her costs (as of May 2007, they aren’t).

A big undertaking. This is one gutsie lady. I wish her every success.

Learn more…

LittleChanges
http://www.littlechanges.com

Real Living Nutrition Services
http://www.reallivingnutrition.com/newsletter_signup.htm

American Institute for Cancer Research
http://www.aicr.org

American Diabetes Association
http://www.diabetes.org/home.jsp

American Stroke Association
http://www.strokeassociation.org/

American Heart Association
http://www.americanheart.org

142 Throckmorton Theatre
http://www.142throckmortontheatre.org/

As a long-time web maven, I like to think that web-based solutions offer alternatives for a segment of the population that are un-met by other forms of communication, learning and/or presentation. Diet coaching, weight management and other health related programs are being offered as web-based services. Are they effective? Good question…

• Real Living Nutrition – we are a group of registered dietitians who are licensed to provide medical nutrition therapy. Our professional nutrition counseling service has afforded many people with the information, tools and support needed to make permanent lifestyle changes and positively impact
  $185 for full 8-session coaching program, mini makeover $45 (as of May 07)
  http://www.reallivingnutrition.com/Product-Balance.aspx
  
  
• Weight Watchers

All the stuff they put in sodas can’t be good for your health. I took organic chemistry and some of that stuff is really nasty. So I’m not surprised to hear that there may be research that demonstrates that these additives are actually doing real harm.

SO has been a consumer of diet sodas for a very long time. First it was the aluminum can scare – drinking sodas from aluminum cans might be linked to Alzheimer’s. Now this.

Caution: Some soft drinks may seriously harm your health
Expert links additive to cell damage

A new health scare erupted over soft drinks last night amid evidence they may cause serious cell damage. Research from a British university suggests a common preservative found in drinks such as Fanta and Pepsi Max has the ability to switch off vital parts of DNA.

The problem – more usually associated with ageing and alcohol abuse – can eventually lead to cirrhosis of the liver and degenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s.

.. impact of sodium benzoate on living yeast cells in his laboratory. What he found alarmed him: the benzoate was damaging an important area of DNA in the “power station” of cells known as the mitochondria.

http://news.independent.co.uk/health/article2586652.ece