The #slowchathealth blog site has always had a healthy relationship with poetry. In 2015 I wrote Using Poetry in the Health Classroom, in which I shared how I introduce each of new group of health students to Taylor Mali's An Apple a Day is Not Enough from 2010. I described it as "...a passionate, well …
This week's blog post comes from Debbie Woodliffe, an experienced writer currently based in the UK working for Affinity Agency. She works with a range of clients such as Best Price Beds to help others learn and develop through informative content. Everybody gets stressed. It could be work-based, home-based or just feeling overwhelmed in general …
Continue reading Quick Ways You Can Manage Stress and Improve Your Wellbeing
It was fifth grade and we were in the middle of one of those infamous Chicago winters. I was wearing an ugly turtleneck sweater that I was super self-conscious about. I felt even more self-conscious about it while I was getting sick in the hallway of my elementary school. To this day, my heart goes …
Continue reading The Things I Wish My 10-Year-Old Self Knew About Her Body
At the beginning of the pandemic, my wife and I were preparing for our son Owen to have open heart surgery at Oregon Health and Science University Hospital to repair a heart defect. Owen was born in October and spent the first month of his life in the NICU after having surgery to create an …
Recently, an increased awareness among consumers surrounding the potential health and environmental impacts of “traditional” menstrual products has driven new public discourse in favor of more feasible, affordable, and sustainable alternatives. Examples of these products include reusable menstrual cups/disks, absorbent underwear/swimwear, reusable fabric pads, and disposable pads/tampons that are made with organic and ethically sourced …
Continue reading Disposable Menstrual Products: Impact and Alternatives
Regular readers of the blog will know how much I love podcasts. I've blogged about them many times, and love to create podcasts with my students whenever I can. My 70 minute commute to work is the perfect time for me to get lost in a podcast, and the return to school has given me …
The thought of returning to the classroom full time, after 18 months of remote and hybrid teaching filled me with both excitement and anxiety. I'm ALWAYS excited to return to school after a summer of family time, self-care, reading, and personal professional development. The anxiety? That was something new. Not knowing how the school community …
Like many during the pandemic school year, I found myself teaching from multiple rooms in my house and unable to visit my local gym, or generally workout freely and effectively. Also like many, I decided to take the plunge and purchase a Peloton bike, and I haven't looked back ever since. I am now more …
Continue reading 5 Reasons Why Working Out With Peloton Makes me a Better Teacher
In advance of a new school year, is your classroom environment set, with behavioral expectations and social contracts laminated and proudly displayed so that students know exactly what they need to do in order to meet your pre-set expectations? Has your 'classroom cathedral' already been built, ready for new inhabitants? No, mine neither. I don't …
Continue reading The Importance of Creating a Full Value Contract with Your Students
The return to school means that I no longer have the lazy summer, self-care focused morning routine that has helped me recover from the toughest year of my career. My typical summer morning involved cooking oatmeal the 15 minute old-fashioned way, working my way through an entire carafe of coffee(!), and reading. When I'm not …
Teaching is nothing without relationships. That might not sound particularly groundbreaking..but it took me quite a few years before I realized that. It took me even longer to realize that relationships with ALL students were important and that without being 100% there for 100% of my students, I wasn't as good a teacher as I …
With only three states explicitly including youth with disabilities within their sex education requirements, one can't help but be concerned that we have made little progress since Waxman (1994) stated that "No group in this country faces the sort of sexual and reproductive restrictions disabled people do; we are frequently [prevented from] learning about sexuality, …
Continue reading Teaching Sex Education to Young People With Disabilities
Health data is all around us, perhaps more so than at any other time in my teaching career. The never-ending stream of coronavirus data became addictive early in the pandemic but soon became a ghoulish fixation before I had to intentionally stop pouring over the numbers. However, with information on vaccination rates, plus news articles …
Whether I'm teaching health, or physical education, one thing is certain...my students want to learn more about mental health. The pandemic has tested their mental and emotional skills in the same way that it has for us as educators, and it's important that we address this situation. This blog post considers the role that schools …
This week's blog post is the first in a series of three posts from health educators working with Candor Health Education, an Illinois-based nonprofit organization that educates students, their trusted adults and communities on the topics of drug and sex education. I think you'll enjoy what Sandi Metcalfe has to say about the role that …
As women's sports advocate for greater recognition and support from mainstream media I have recently become more aware of powerful voices from female athletes and their allies than ever before. With the Tokyo Olympics almost upon us, our media feed runs the risk of once again being flooded with the quadrennial acknowledgement of women's sporting …
After a school year that challenged me more than any other, and brought me close to exhaustion, I closed my laptop (shed a tear) and turned my attention towards a summer of self-care. In addition to quality family time, listening to music, and riding my Peloton, reading is one of my favorite acts of self-care, …
As P.E. teachers and other K-12 school P.A. leaders head off for a well-deserved summer break and prepare to refresh and restore their craft for the “more normal” school year ahead, there are at least three opportunities for you to have a positive impact on kids in the fall. Some of the best P.E. leaders …
Continue reading 3 Crucial Jobs for P.E. Teachers that Aren’t in the Job Description
https://youtu.be/jMtC_7jkMRc To the Teacher Class of 2020/2021, Through the months of this pandemic, I have seen Health and Physical Education Teachers, Administrators, Association Boards, Lecturers, Professors come together like never before. Perhaps this shared common dilemma of meeting this historical moment with a combined mission of responding to a crises while maintaining a relevant learning …
What does it take to be and stay healthy? This past year has tested us all. It has taken the subject of health and made it a topic of discussion all day, every day.Yet many school districts have not seen health education as a top priority. The importance of Social and Emotional Learning has been …
Continue reading If Health Is a Priority, Then Health Ed Must Be a Priority
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