Have you ever cooked a meal that was fine but lacked that spark? It got the job done but wasn’t exciting or memorable. Teaching can feel the same way. Sure, you can throw together a lesson on the fly, and it might cover the basics. But if you really want to engage your students, you’ve …
Continue reading Spice Up Your Lessons: How Meaningful PE Ingredients Transform Teaching
With World Mental Health Day upon us, it's a good moment to reflect on how our mental well-being is connected to movement. In a world where stress and anxiety levels are rising, we often look for quick fixes, but one of the most powerful tools to support our mental health is something we already know …
Continue reading World Mental Health Day: Moving for a Healthier Mind
What if I told you that I taught an entire PE lesson without telling my students what to do? Inspired by a conference session from Lisa Smith and Sarah Gietschier-Hartman entitled Reinventing HPE Teaching, that asked attendees to 'grow with our students' and DiSrUPt our teaching practices, I was determined to try something new with …
Continue reading Empowering Students: How I Led a PE Class Without Giving Instructions
Mantra? Do the right thing (thank you Spike Lee). How long have you taught? Since 1994, with a two year break after seven. I think that means this is year 29. Guilty pleasure? Taking a leisurely breakfast of oatmeal and plenty of coffee whenever time allows. Favorite foods? I love to cook and have an …
Three years ago, our district took a deep dive into Disciplinary Literacy. We had the opportunity to learn from and with renowned disciplinary literacy expert and author ReLeah Lent, who led our professional learning at Brecksville-Broadview Hts. MS. Teachers were divided into three cohorts with a mix of disciplines. As an encore teacher in education, …
Continue reading Ignite Deep Learning in Skills-Based Health Education
It will come as no surprise that the book that will continue to guide me and my teaching of PE over the coming year is Meaningful Physical Education from Tim Fletcher, Déirdre Ní Chróinín, Doug Gleddie, and Stephanie Benni. The theme of Meaningful PE is eloquently defined on page 4 of the book. The primary …
Continue reading Meaningful PE Starts Here: Listening to What Students Find Relevant
I was first introduced to the concept of empathy walks/runs in William Pullen's book Running With Mindfulness. One of my #summerreads back in 2019, the book delves into the positive effects of running therapy, including anxiety relief and reduced stress by focusing on the meditative nature of exercise. There's a wealth of carefully tailored thought …
This blog post comes just in time for #BackToSchool and is being shared due to the interest in a tweet/X of mine that proved to be quite popular. I'm not an 'Icebreaker' kind of person, more of a 'Community-Builder', and as such, each of my initial activities with a new group of students is purpose-driven …
Sifting for Gold in a Sewer Are you tired of navigating endless feeds filled with irrelevant content? Are you feeling frustrated by platforms that prioritize trends over meaningful connections? In a recent conversation with Amanda Amtmanis, she described her experience on X as “sifting for gold in the sewer.” Her quote deeply resonates with us. …
When I was younger, back to school shopping meant buying new school shoes, a new pencil case, and maybe a lunch box. Now that I'm a veteran teacher, my back to school shopping looks a little different. Here are a few of my favorite things that are in my in-box or have already arrived in …
If you are like me, the thought of the alarm clock ringing for the first day of school is becoming very unpleasant. You've enjoyed the summer vacation, you've caught up with friends and family and even binged most things on your Netflix list.. and right about now your sleep hygiene is pretty much broken! EVERYTHING …
It's another summer of sport, filled with athletes performing to their potential. European soccer teams are in town for their preseason tours, NFL athletes are at training camp, and NBA preseason dates were just released. As summer winds down and the new school year looms, teachers, like athletes, can benefit from a well-structured preseason routine. …
Continue reading Ready to Teach? Your Preseason Training Guide
School's out for summer and my summer bucket list needs filling. Among the list of achievements I hope to check off is my annual summer goal of reading 9 books. My annual #summerreads list is something that I look forward to, and I have shared it via the blog since 2018. I will read some …
“Fundamentally as every teacher knows this job of education is a human one. It is about relationships...When teachers are able to prioritize relationships and focus on the quality of their connections with kids, we see over and over again the teachers feeling more effective and the kids being more engaged, learning more and feeling more …
Continue reading Creating Connections Through Classroom Rituals
About five years ago my health began to decline due to a genetic condition called Ehler’s Danlos Syndrome (EDS). It is a fairly unknown condition, even within the medical community. In short, people with EDS have defective collagen (our connective tissue is described as “chewed up bubble gum” instead of a healthy “rubber band”). There …
This summer, I'm inviting teachers to embark on a journey through the pages of some incredible books—all for less than $12 each. While you’ve been inspiring minds and preparing lesson plans, I've curated a list of budget-friendly reads perfect for your summer break. Nearly all of these books have previously selected as a #slowchathealth Book …
The early educator experience can be a tangle of novelty, excitement, fear, hope, support, and if you’re lucky, naysayers. Let me explain. At 23 years old, after sixteen seasons as a football player, I was ready to shift my attention to coaching. I was thrilled for the opportunity. The football field was an environment I …
Continue reading Early Educator Leadership: Navigating Crabs in a Bucket
Bringing the school year, and our 5th Annual #Microblog event to a close, the effervescent educator Chris Walker, AKA, @CoachWalk is back with another personalized message for educators. This one gave me chills! Chris shares his #teachingreflection videos regularly on social media, and I always look forward to these upbeat and insightful recordings. Chris’ reflections are full …
We build on serotonin filled moments not just fueled by physical movement,but by the social and emotionalthat transforms the actions to magical.Magical moments like a potion wash over thememotionally and physicallyif we let it bewhat it can be.It’s what happens when our teaching transcends the boundaries of lessons and block plans.Where classmates become allies and …
Being intentional with how and where we allocate our focus can be challenging and overwhelming in our hectic, busy lives. It is easy for me to experience cognitive overload … so many books, articles, blogs, workshops; so much to learn and think about! It’s exciting and daunting at the same time, often resulting in an …
#slowchathealth 