YES!!!

Well, it took some searching, but I've found a source for humanely and sustainably raised lamb, pork, and chicken. At first, I was going to go with Larga Vista Ranch outside of Pueblo for my pork, but cost was a bit of a factor; I'd have to buy 40 pounds of pork at a time, which would be fine and would be a good supply for a few months, but at $7/pound on average, that's $280 I'd have to pop down all at one shot. Ouch. After a bit more searching around, though, I found a place in Erie, just a short drive from home, where I can get my lamb, chicken, and pork (beef and bison is taken care of already, and while I'd love to go through Wisdom Natural Poultry for my chicken, it would mean taking a Tuesday off from time to time to get it, something I really don't want to do). I'm pretty excited about it, and I'm looking forward to stopping by there this weekend.

The more I know

If you've been following my "Currently Reading" sidebar, then you know that I've been reading The Compassionate Carnivore by Catherine Friend. I'm not going to say much about the book since I'm going to post a review of it on Elephant Journal, but I will say that this book has definitely had an impact on me. I've been really changing my food choices, especially when it comes to where I go out to eat, and now this book has increased the challenge. At this point, my choices when I go out are to ask the waitstaff what they know about the source of the meat (unless I already know), or go vegetarian. I actually don't have a problem with the latter option, particularly since two out of my three meals each day is vegetarian, but it's getting so that my options to go out and enjoy a meal are getting increasingly, frustratingly limited. If I combine the "no factory-farmed meat" with the "no high fructose corn syrup or trans fats" decision, then my decision becomes even more difficult. It's interesting.

I had a talk with a recent alumnus about it over the weekend, and he asked me if I ever get overwhelmed by it all and want to just say "forget it." I can't say that I'm not tempted sometimes, but then I realize that my decisions aren't just for me and that I'm not the only one affected by the choices I make, and so my resolve to stick to my choices actually becomes easier for me.

On Saturday I spent time at the farmers' market making sure that my meat supply was going to remain steady over the winter, and with the exception of pork and lamb, I'm pretty much set. I have yet to hear back from the farm where I want to get my pork, so I may end up calling them this week. My lamb will come from a vendor at the farmers' market that wasn't there this past weekend. My beef and chicken are both all set, so that's a nice plus. Seems like a lot of work, I know, but I just can't go back to factory-farmed meat. The only exception would be if I was at someone's house for a meal. For example, this December I will be heading back East for the holidays, and while I am with my family, I am not and will not turn down the food that is being offered; that would just be rude, and to expect them to change for me would be just as inconsiderate, and so my decision will be put on hold. Besides, I'm there to enjoy being together with my family, not to proselytize my lifestyle... my choices may be right for me, but it is not mine to force those decisions on others.

Oh, you have GOT to be kidding me!

So according to the FDA, melamine is safe. Right. This is the same chemical that killed dogs and cats last year and sickened thousands of kids in China just a few months ago. Of course, the FDA, in this 2007 report, admitted that they are not able to live up to their own mission statement, which doesn't make me feel overly good at all.

So why do I shop local and organic? Oh yeah... it's because I like to know my food is safe for my family and I to eat.

Okay, now this is just cool

Found this over at the Elephant Journal website and had to pass it along... check it out:

A bit of frustration (*rant*)

Had to give a district assessment today. I do understand and appreciate the need for frequent data collection in order to best work with our students, but our students are assessed a good 8-10 times in a school year, not including the informal and formative assessments that take place on a regular basis in my classroom. That's at least one major district or state level assessment per month, which doesn't sound that bad until you realize that this occurs in each and every core class they take, so in reality, the students are formally assessed by the district and/or state approximately 36-40 times in a year. No wonder our students burn out so quickly and get so frustrated with school. One student told me he hates them because they take time away from his time to learn things. A valid point, I think.

I am not opposed to assessment itself. I am opposed to over-assessment. There has got to be a better way than this.

Education in the 21st century, pt. 2

I just posted part two in my series on education in the 21st century to the Elephant Journal website. In case you missed it, here is part one, and there is more to come. Feel free to link to it and pass it along!

"Mr., what's the definition of truth?": Adventures in Epistemology

I think I've mentioned before that I'm teaching an cross-cultural studies/epistemology class this year. It's a junior/senior level class, and I've been borrowing from the IB Theory of Knowledge (TOK) curriculum for supplemental material for the class. This week's blog question asked the students to address whether or not truth is culturally based or if there are some truths that are universal. One of the students read the question, then looked at me and said, "What is the definition of truth?" And so began the class. At first, he stated that he was interested in the literal definition, but then found that the literal definition wasn't helpful and didn't give him the information he was really looking for, and so as a class, we began to discuss the philosophical side of the question. It was an amazing class period: the conversation ranged from culture to politics to semantics to science to religion and so forth. By the end of the class, we still hadn't answered the question, but one student acknowledged that she knew I wasn't going to answer the question, that the whole point of the class was to get them to ask the question and to think about it rather than answer it.

The student that asked the question was a student that I've had for the past two years and was in my IB-influenced class, so I wasn't surprised by the question, but very pleased to see that the seeds I had been planting for two years were beginning to bear fruit. It speaks well of the MYP program and speaks to the importance and urgency of implementing it here if our DP students are to be successful. I am fairly convinced that the encouragement to think differently in his freshman and sophomore years led him to begin the questioning that led him to asking that question in class today. He got bonus points from me for asking it, with the hope that he will ask more, and that other students will pick up on it and begin asking similar questions as well.

This is the realm where I function best, really. While I acknowledge that I do well working with freshmen and sophomores, I also flourish when placed into an environment where I can explore the "deeper" and less "traditional" questions in a class. I guess that's why in the long run, I definitely plan to apply to be in the IB Academy at the new school (this isn't exactly a state secret- I've been saying that since we found out about the Academies), for both MYP and IB TOK.

More importantly, however, it shows that providing a continuum of IB style teaching and learning definitely sets a student up for success within IB. I'm really excited about the implications for IB within the district, especially since the ultimate goal is a K-12 IB program. IB is an amazing program, and we have amazing students, so we're perfect match! :-)