Originally when I reached out to Andy about contributing to the mini-blog, I told him I was going to write about the difficulties of starting over as a “veteran” teacher in a new district. Over the past 7 years, I have lived in 3 different states (in and out of New York twice) and have …
Self-care has already been a priority in my life. Sometimes I probably cater to my self-care more than I should, but if I didn’t, I would go crazy. After being quarantined for the last 14 days and who knows how many in the future, my self-care is now even a higher priority. Here are ways …
Continue reading Maintaining Your Self-Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic
While processing health messaging as a young person, I was left alone to sift through blanketed euphemisms. I was taught that sex was bad and when it did happen, it happened to a body -- devoid of connection and pleasure. Though my relatively traditional Ghanaian mom wasn’t very open about bodies, she loved books and …
It is quite a time to be a teacher. It is quite a time to be, well, anything or anyone. Our country is upside down, institutions and organizations that we have relied upon are gone or at least shuttered for the time being. Major events that have marked the passage of time from winter to …
Don’t get lost. Give it a try. Go find the place that you’re wishing for. Natsuki Takaya Three friends and I opened a book with this quote a couple of years ago and it summarises much of my thinking after 25 years as a teacher and teacher-educator. I’ve had the privilege of working with some …
“Be OK with Different” has been my calming mantra for the past 5 years when, on the first day back to school in 2015, I promised myself it would be my last year in teaching. Now more than ever, being OK with different has kept me grounded while planning through adversity. While many of my …
There comes a time in everyone’s life where you have to decide what you want to do for a living. When that time came for me I knew two things for sure, I enjoyed being in school and I had an unwavering passion for sports. Teaching Physical Education is what I wanted to do and …
My name is Sophie Draluck, I’m a senior at Highland Park High School, and I’d love to introduce you and hopefully your students to the topics of period poverty and menstrual equity, and suggest ways for all of us to become part of the solution. I took on period poverty in 2017, after reading an article …
Two years ago, I accepted an opportunity to support 14 girl-identified youth who wanted to address sexual harassment in our school community and provide a safe space for their peers to learn, grow and excel in leadership, communication and self-empowerment. An exciting endeavor, but (*gulp*) what large goals. How would I support my enthusiastic students’ …
What shared memories will you build during this time of such change to our regular lives? When we see workplaces open, schools resume and fewer people rushing to buy toilet paper, what might we hang onto and make part of the new ‘normal’? What will we be truly grateful for and what might we just …
At this moment in time, please remind yourself of your strength and positive qualities. A very simple yet fun way of doing this is to create an acronym with the letters of your first, middle, and/or last name. Done in numerous health education courses over the years, this activity allows us to pause and reflect …
We are living in difficult times. Our whole lives have seen dramatic changes around the world and yet, life goes on and we are thankful for that. Some of us might live in countries and continents that are far away from our loved ones, from our families and friends. This pandemic has reached almost the …
As you read this, someone somewhere is dealing with job loss, an unearthing shift in mandate, or the loss of a loved one. Among all of this, millions of folks directly involved in education are scrambling for some form of normalcy. As a physical and health education professional working to support teachers in Canada, this …
It’s ironic that I am writing this blog on a Saturday night while drinking a glass of white wine thinking I really should relax more. Andrew Milne has asked me to describe ways in which educators can benefit from self-care. Before I start the journey let’s start with the core purpose or the why around ‘self-care’. I …
As humans, our workloads are becoming more and more demanding, which means stress, anxiety and burnout are on the rise. In this busy, 24/7 world, our natural instinct is to give, give, give. We give to our career, our family, our future. As well as looking after ourselves, we must take care of each other …
As educators across the world turn to technology to teach remotely we are seeing an increase in the number of teachers looking for the most effective way to help their students. But with a wide variety of technology available to physical educators, health teachers, and coaches the world of educational technology can seem overwhelming. Now, …
Continue reading Technology for #PhysEd, #HealthEd & Coaches
You know what topics we weren't taught to teach in college? Preventing HIV with PreP, vaping cessation, sex trafficking, opiate addiction, and COVID-19 to name just a few. And what does society want us to add to our curriculum to address the latest health crisis? Preventing HIV with PreP, vaping cessation, sex trafficking, opiate addiction, …
Spring Break is just around the corner, and hopefully recharging your batteries is number one on your list. The clocks have changed, the weather has improved and 4th quarter has a nice ring to it. However, if you do find yourself looking for free professional development during your break, here’s my Top 10 list. #1 …
Springtime viewing for the discerning #HealthEd teacher. Here’s an update on a very popular series of #slowchathealth blog posts, which provide you with a list of documentaries/shows, available to stream, that have a #HealthEd slant to them. I've included shows from Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and Kanopy. Some I’ve seen, the rest are on my …
Is it me or has this year's flu season been worse than usual? Our faculty has been ravaged, attendance in my #PhysEd class has been low enough to make the numbers manageable (!) and as I type, my son is on his fifth day with a temperature over 103. So, in an act of frustration, …
#slowchathealth 