I spend most of the time on this site talking about education and technology, but today I want to talk about food!

When was the last time you really thought about the food system in your school? When was the last time you seriously thought about the food that your students are eating?

Well, there is a new show on TV right now called “Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution” and I want to take this time right now and encourage you to WATCH THIS SHOW!

For those who don’t know, Jamie Oliver is a famous English chef… and on this new show he comes to America to help a small town in West Virginia (a town that was shown to be the most unhealthy town in the entire country) how to eat healthier.

What is most interesting is that Jamie starts his food revolution in a single school. He goes in, analyzies the food that is being served there, and then tries his hand at creating some meals of his own for the kids to eat.

Sadly, Jamie is met with a ton of resistence from both the citizens of the town, the school administrators, the staff… and even some of the students. But slowly, episode by episode, Jamie starts to turn things around.

As of this writing there are only three episodes that have been aired, but it is safe to say that this is one show you SHOULD be watching!

The reason I started Social Media Schools is not just because I know a lot about Facebook and Twitter. The reason I started this site and started consulting with schools around the world is because I want to see a positive change in our education systems. Social media and the Internet is a part of that, but the food we eat (and most importantly, serve to our students) is even more important!

You can watch the first episode of “Jamie Oliver’s Food Resolution” by clicking the play button on the video at the top of this article, or you can click here and watch every episode on Hulu.com (unfortunately, only US residents can view this content at this time).

Please watch the show… and after you’re finished, let me know what you think. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the matter!

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Every January, in the snow covered hills of Park City, Utah, the infamous Sundance Film Festival takes over and artists from around the world flock to the city’s Main Street in order to take in the most creative and thought-provoking films of the year.

This year, a documentary film titled “Waiting For Superman” was featured and nominated for the Grand Jury Prize in the documentary category at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival.

The movie, directed by award-winning filmmaker Davis Guggenheim, is about how America’s education system is failing to educate our children. The film follows five families from different parts of the United States as they do their try their hardest to give their children the best education they possibly can. Sadly, Guggenheim believes that our education system is not doing justice to out children… and for this reason, he has pulled his own children out of public school and enlisted them in a private school where they can be adequately challenged.

Now, I haven’t seen the film myself, but being a local here in Park City, I can tell you that “Waiting For Superman” was the talk of the town during this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Not only was the film picked up for major distribution, but it also garnished the attention of Bill Gates, who flew in just to this particular movie.

When “Waiting For Superman” comes out later this year, I know that I am going to be one of the first people in line to see it… and I highly recommend you do the same.

Have you seen Waiting For Superman yet? If so, what did you think?

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The last time I checked, the more students a school had, the more money they made. And money (correct me if I’m wrong) is a good thing. We all need it in order to keep doing our jobs… and we all need it in order to survive.

So, if you understand that more money can come as the result of having more students in your school, the question then becomes, “How do you attract more students?”

Based on my experiences, the best way to do this is through the creation of social proof.

Social proof is something one creates in order to prove to others that what he or she says or does is worth paying attention to. In short, it’s a way of building yourself up so that you can sway the actions of a large group of people.

The principle behind social proof is that since most people make the assumption that the people surrounding them possess more knowledge about a particular situation than they do, they will deem the behavior of others as more appropriate or better informed… and therefore, follow in the footsteps of those around them.

Social proof gets people talking about grand brands. Social proof convinces people to buy a particular product. And social proof sways students to attend one school and not another.

The more social proof your school has, the greater your chances of attracting new students.

In order to attract more students and make more money, however, you need to create an ever-increasing amount of social proof around your school.

Need more money? Get more students.

Need more students? Create social proof.

If you can create enough social proof, you’ll have students begging to attend your school. With enough social proof you’ll have parents clamoring to register their children. And with enough social proof your community will thrive because of the appeal your institution is creating.

Social proof is powerful.

If you understand this, you’re on the right track! But the question then becomes, “How do you create social proof within your community?”

One way to do it is through the use of SOCIAL MEDIA.

What you may not realize about social media sites like Facebook and Twitter is that not only are these tools an excellent way of communicating with the parents, teachers and students in your community… but sites such as these are also one of the best (and fastest) ways of building social proof.

To build social proof with social media, you need to do three things.

1) Increase your follower counts. The more people you have following you on Twitter, subscribing to your RSS feeds, or becoming a fan of yours on Facebook, the more important your school will seem.

2) Get your school’s message to spread online. The more your school’s content is Re-Tweeted, emailed back and forth, voted on, Digged, or StumbledUpon, the more “popular” your school becomes.

3) Have people talking about your school in the real world. When the story you spread about your school is so great that it has people talking about your institution outside of the World Wide Web, then you know you’ve succeeded in generating positive social proof.

The formula looks like this:

• Need more money? Get more students.
• Need more students? Create social proof.
• Need social proof? Harness the power of social media.

Social proof is created by continually proving that your school is an amazing place; that you’re constantly pushing the boundaries; and that your school is doing something special – something others will want to be a part of.

If you are not yet using social media in your school as a tool for communication, marketing, promotion, and social proof creation, now is the time to begin!

Social proof doesn’t just pop up over night. It takes time to build and grow. The longer you wait to get started, the longer it’s going to take before your community starts talking about you and your incredible institution.

What are you waiting for? There couldn’t be a better time to harness the power of social proof through the use of social media!

Photo by Malkav

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