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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The video at the end of this article shows Internet marketing guru, Perry Belcher, explaining how he uses social media to attract new clients and make more money.

While the video is targeted at small business owners looking to use social media as a means of increasing sales, there is a lot in the video that schools can use as well.

The main point Perry is making in the video is that you need to treat social media as though it were a party. Each of the various social networking sites (i.e. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Flickr, etc) are a different online party. And when you go to a party, you don’t want to show up and immediately start talking about yourself.

Just like in your normal life, if you were to show up at a party and only talk about yourself, people would think you were a real jerk! The same is true when using social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.

But when you go to a party in your normal life, you don’t just talk about yourself, do you? I hope not!

Instead, you show up, you ask people what they’re doing, you compliment what others are wearing, you try and find people who are interested in the same things you are, and you strike up conversation. The same needs to be true when using social networking sites in your school.

When you use Facebook or Twitter to communicate with your parents, teachers, students and community members, you don’t want to ALWAYS be talking about you and your school. Instead, you’ve got to treat your social media use more like a party.

• Use social media to compliment and congratulate people in your community.
• Use social media to profile the accomplishments of your teachers and students.
• Use social media to build up your staff and community members.
• Use social media to ask questions and gather feedback.
• Use social media to find out what your students, parents, teachers and community members really want.

Because social media sites like Facebook and Twitter are free, easy to use, and have millions of current users, many schools see this as an opportunity to pump their community with selfish and meaningless content. But when you start to treat your social media use more like a party, you start to realize just how wrong this approach really is.

Watch the video below to learn more… and after you’ve finished watching it, leave a comment below and let me know what you think.

Photo by Art Comments

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