August 27th sees the return of one of the most amazing examples of the #physed and #healthed community coming together as a global community to give back to their own. This free online conference, led by the amazing Physedagogy team, provides a world class digital professional learning opportunity for health and physical education professionals through sharing, discussing, and reflecting on best practices.
5 Reasons Why I Love The PhysedSummit
1. THE OPPORTUNITY THAT IT GIVES EDUCATORS WHO WISH TO PRESENT. The PhysedSummit 3.0 was the first time I was aware of the global power of social media and how technology could allow us as a community to come together and share best practice in a way that could impact not only teachers across the world but also the thousands of students in their care. Up until that time I had collaborated with a few teachers around the world but not on such a big scale. I had also presented at conferences with my good friend and co-worker Andy Horne but neither of us had participated yet alone presented in a webinar. Eager to try something new and also determined to ensure that #healthed be represented, we signed up, presented, and had an awesome time. Since being given the opportunity to present at the #PhysedSummit 3.0 we have continued to present further webinars.
2. THE #HEALTHED COMMUNITY IS REPRESENTED. I’ve previously acknowledged that health teachers are in a minority and our voice can quieter than our #physed counterparts. This sometimes plays out at conferences where the number of sessions offered to health teachers is quite frankly disappointing. This years PhysedSummit has some impressive health sessions that you won’t want to miss!
8am EST Claudia Brown – First Day, Last Day, and a Little in the Middle. Claudia is an outstanding health teacher who blazes a trail among our profession when it comes to teaching health from a skills-based perspective. He session will share just one of her innovative strategies where health students apply for “jobs” in the classroom, engage in her “high five” program, and learn how to earn “health money.”
12pm EST Gary Lemke – HBOs: The Holy Grail of Health Education? Gary’s session will look at the role of Healthy Behavior Outcomes and features case studies from three high schools that flipped from an information-centered to a student-centered approach.
1pm EST Amy Prior – Assessment: None of the Above. Amy is a health teacher from whom I continue to learn a lot and look forward to collaborating with her for many years to come. Her session will show how assessment can be delivered in “out of the box” ways to assess students and measure student achievement in a low stress environment to give you more options than choosing A, B, C, or D.
2pm EST Mary McCarley – Fun, Engaging, and Innovative Strategies in Health Education. This session from the South District Teacher of the Year for Health Education will showcase engaging and innovative, standard-based strategies and activities that are proven to be effective in the classroom. This sounds just like the type of session that I would enjoy!
9pm EST Amy Lauren Smith – PBL with a Focus on Health and Wellness. Amy is a must-follow on Twitter and her blog posts are worth saving and going back to over and over again. Her session on project based learning again focuses on the skills-based approach and will look at how inquiry can help prepare students for the wide variety of health challenges they might face.
3. THE ALL-STAR CALIBER OF PRESENTERS. Now although I’m not a fan of the move towards creating social media rock stars among educators, I have to say that this year’s list of presenters includes so many people that I admire and make an effort to check out anything that that they share. The line-up includes successful bloggers and podcast creators, innovative global collaborators, published authors, cutting-edge academics, AHPERD board members, and international keynote presenters. All of these educators have given their time, for free, to share their knowledge so that we can continue to grow as a teaching community.
4. THE ONGOING AVAILABILITY OF SESSIONS AS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT. The PhysedSummit sessions are streamed live across the globe and they are interactive in that you can engage with the presenters via Tozzle and other forms of social media while they are presenting. PLUS, all of the videos will be uploaded to YouTube and exist as free professional development on demand, on your own time. I have gone back to many of the previous summits to access videos and take copious notes.
5. THE FRIENDLY NATURE OF IT ALL. There’s no hidden agenda with these folks, no hidden agenda, nothing to sell. This is our people putting us first so that we can better provide for our students. I was nervous about first presenting using the Google Hangout platform until Sarah Gietschier-Hartman walked me through it all as she hosted my first webinar. Since my last PhysedSummit I have met and recorded a webinar with Naomi Hartl and met both Matt Pomeroy and Collin Brooks and participated in their SHAPE America podcast. At #SHAPEMinneapolis I met Jonathan Jones and Jorge Rodriguez, someone with whom I collaborate regularly. In fact it was at #SHAPEMinneapolis that I met so many great educators that I will definitely return to the national conference in Boston in March. Two of those individuals will present at this year’s PhysedSummit with me.
3pm EST Bob Knipe, Ben Pirillo & Andy Milne – Stoking The Fire. This session will share ways in which we can celebrate and inspire each other’s successes to keep our fire burning. From local to nationwide efforts, each of us plays a part, so don’t burn out and instead learn to be a fire starter in the world you shape!
I also get to present a second time with my fellow Blabbermouths.
12am EST Justin Schleider, Nick Endlich, Andy Milne and Adam Llevo – Blabbermouths. Join us as we present our regular show on the Blab platform. We will discuss all things PE and Health and discuss our thoughts on the PhysedSummit sessions of the day. You can tune in live and even join us live on air!
And if the thought of free, interactive and engaging professional development from a global team of recognized educators from around the world wasn’t enough, this years PhysedSummit will raise money for charity. Quote taken from the Physedagogy website.
As many of you have already noticed, the #PhysEdSummit 2016 logo is pink this year. The question is, why? Team #PhysEd is a close community that not only cares about kids, but cares for their own. This year, the #PhysEdSummit Team would like to bring breast cancer awareness to the attention of the global #HealthEd and #PhysEd community. Please help us in supporting Kathleen Bode, fellow physical educator and wife of William Bode (and #PhysEdSummit team member), as she battles breast cancer.
To help us in the fight, we decided to design and create a special #PhysEdSummit 2016 t-shirt with all of the proceeds being donated to the Susan G. Komen foundation (ww5.komen.org). This is the first time that we have ever created something wearable with the PHYSEDagogy or #PhysEdSummit logos so this t-shirt is very special to us. We hope you think it is too.
Tune in, watch, engage, keep the conversation going on social media and let’s make this years #PhysedSummit the most successful yet!
There are no online #slowchathealth questions this week but please consider checking out the links in this blog and follow some of the people presenting at the PhysedSummit.
Oh, and you can sign up for the PhysedSummit here – tell them I sent you!
#slowchathealth 
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