Since the pandemic we have seen an alarming increase in children experiencing anxiety and stress along with a decrease in positive social-emotional response. During the pandemic children were taught virtually with little to no in- person social interactions with children their own age. This has led to a rise in children struggling to self-regulate and …
Continue reading Students in Action: Mental Health Awareness & Practicing Mindfulness
What divides us, becomes us. The case for teaching all during puberty health education. As young people in the US mature in an increasingly non-binary world, rife with other idealogical deepening divides, the question of whether or not to separate genders when teaching puberty is a consideration of whether or not to take a giant …
In the Journal of School Health research article Unusual Suspects: The People Inside and Outside of School Who Matter in Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child Efforts by Karen Pittman, MA; Deborah A. Moroney, PhD; Merita Irby, MPP; Jill Young, PhD, the WSCC model is explored regarding collaborative health education. The Whole School, Whole Community, …
Continue reading Enhance Classroom Instruction with Community Sex Education Professionals
At Rototuna Senior High School (RSHS), we aspire to “empower our people to be connected, collaborative, community-minded learners who are inspired to soar”. To this end, we teach modules that are collaborative. This involves two subjects sharing a context, knowledge and skills to help deepen students' understanding of the curriculum. Thomas and McDonagh (2013) believe …
For most of my life, video games have played a major role. From a young age, video games have been a key part of my hobbies, online content consumption, and identity. When I was 6, my dad handed down his SEGA Genesis, a gaming console released 13 years prior, with a copy of Sonic the …
Continue reading Teacher and Stress Reliever: From Sonic to Valorant
Esports players are consistently in front of a screen, oftentimes for long durations. I know when I was little my parents always said, “Don’t sit that close to the TV!” In my undergraduate studies I have had the pleasure of taking a class called Introduction to Esports taught by Dr. Seth Jenny. In this class …
Continue reading The Relation Between Esports/Gaming and Increased Sleep Disturbances
The relationship between esports and energy drinks has existed as long as the sport itself. Esports are organized video game competitions (Jenny et al., 2017). Just this past weekend I was watching a Super SmashSonic the Hedgehog Bros. Ultimate tournament that was sponsored by Red Bull. This, however, is not a strange occurrence in the …
Continue reading The Dangers of Energy Drink Sponsorship in Esports
“As a student-athlete, there are three main areas of life: 1) academics, 2) athletics, and 3) social life. But, you can only really do two of those three areas well! Which two do you think are most important?” I heard this stated by an NCAA Division 1 athlete guest speaker as I attended a cross …
Continue reading Technology and Life Balance: The Case of Esports
Joy. Providing students with meaningful experiences during physical education it's been a goal of mine this year. I have been learning, reading, and trying different ways to do that for the past few years, and one of the things that stuck out to me was to bring joyful experiences. I would like to thank the …
Continue reading The Power of Meaningful and Joyful Experiences
For the last twenty years I’ve focused my professional life on pedagogical change. First, mine and now other peoples and mine. For the last twelve years (or four thousand, six hundred and twenty-three consecutive days to be precise [as of 3rd May 2022]) I’ve reflectively journaled on that change. The key thing I think I’ve …
I’m walking on my Peloton treadmill in another class by an instructor that I’ve grown to like. He is young, energetic, engaging, and very humorous. He speaks with real honesty and seems very down to earth. His expressions, and mannerisms exude such warmth making our warmup less of a warmup and more like a simple …
I want to start out by sharing that I am by no means an expert on the topic of sketchnotes and visual note-taking. However, if you are anything like me and are constantly looking for new strategies to try with your students then sketchnotes might be worth a try. For several years I’ve tried to …
In my health classes I teach about stress relief. After having 3 children of my own, I realized that I needed to practice what I preach. I needed something for me, something to help relief stress. The first thing I started doing was origami. I did teach this practice in my health classes. It was …
I would like to take this opportunity to thank my former student, Jackson, for giving me the nudge I needed to start opening up my eyes. But first, let’s go back 20 some odd years in time. My principal had just returned from an administrative retreat. She called a meeting with the faculty to let …
I recently read a tweet where someone held the belief that period blood could be held in, just like urine. It reminded me that often if it’s not something you personally deal with, a person doesn’t get taught a lot about how menstruation works. Period education is for everyone. Regardless of your gender, regardless of …
On June 1, 2020, I woke up to the room spinning, with a headache that made me feel like my head was going to burst at the seams and a brain fog that clouded both my thoughts and memory. I didn’t think too much of it at that exact moment, so I put on my …
What do you do once you’ve returned home after an awesome conference? What should you do next to ensure that the post-conference ‘feels’ inspire you to get the most out of your trip? Here’s my list of 5 things to do to keep the fire burning. 1. Get Some Rest: If you maximized your time in New …
As health education becomes the latest target of sections of the community we have seen an increase in the number of attacks on the provision of comprehensive sex education, which somehow also seems to include attacks on SEL practices. As misinformation continues to be spread, it has left educators wondering how they can push back. …
Having set the scene at the start of the semester, explained the skills and topics we will cover together and the rationale behind teaching the way that I do, I provide my students with an opportunity to shape our curriculum. Now that you know the why and what we will cover in class this semester, …
Launched in 2020, over 100 educators and authors have joined in with the last two #microblog events here on slowchathealth.com and they have been a huge success, lasting a full month and featuring voices from across the globe. Sharing bite-sized blog posts of approximately 500 words, there have been submissions from experienced bloggers, first-time writers, …
