It goes without saying that health and physical educators (HPE) are accustomed to change and change on the fly. It is inevitable that there will be an assessment, assembly, drill of some sort- that you may or may not have been given notice to ahead of time- at multiple points during the school year. We …
“If he can find his authentic swing” Bagger Vance says to Hardy Greaves in the excellent film “Legend of Bagger Vance”. He’s talking about whether or not the main character, played by Matt Damon can rise up to his former greatness after a great set back. A must watch, but what does that have …
In health education we rightly focus on the personal. We emphasize ways to enhance individual health and well-being. In a world that is learning first-hand the limits of individualism, maybe it’s time to adjust our curriculum to recognize that personal health is directly tied to public health. And public health is all about our environmental, …
Amongst the litany of topics that came to mind at the outset of this writing, the lingering question I continuously returned to was, “What professional goal have I set for myself recently?” Skills-based health education brings into focus the adaptability and functionality of knowledge, with which we as educators attempt to pass on to our …
If you’re anything like me, you’ve heard of skills-based health education, you seem intrigued by skills-based health education, but you just don’t know where to start when designing a skills-based health education curriculum. When I was first introduced to skills-based health education, I thought “this seems so fun!”, “my students will love this!”, “I will …
Continue reading The Beginners Guide to Skills-Based Health Education
Cheerleader. Champion. Supporter. Advocate. I want to invite you -- yes, you -- to put one of these words next to your name, like this: “ __________ (your name) is a champion.” Feels good, right? Now imagine if it said “__________ (your name) is a champion for comprehensive sexuality education.” How does that feel? Is …
My strongest memory of sex education at school was watching a water birth video. It was terrifying and didn’t really set up a good environment for learning about sex. I remember leaving the class with so many unanswered questions. Sexuality and relationship education plays an important role in developing a healthy relationship with sex. I …
Continue reading 5 Things I Wish Had Been Covered in Sex Education
I’m an independent sex educator. I work with kids from kindergarten through college and the adults who take care of them. I meet with at least 100 different groups in any given school year and usually have pretty limited time to create a safe and welcoming learning environment before it’s time to really dig into …
Continue reading Getting #SexuallySmarter One Classroom Word at a Time
“Where are my students?”, you wonder, as the bell rings for fifth period. After a call to the office, you realize that you were left off the staff e-mail (again) alerting you to the assembly in the gym during fifth period. Ah, another case of “The Forgotten Health Teacher”. We are “non-essential” in the world …
Continue reading The Renaissance of Health Education in 2020
When you tell a group of 8th graders that they will be required to...actually, I tell them that they “get to” but they read between the lines...read a book, an ENTIRE book, for health class, the moans and groans are quite abundant. Then come “This isn’t English class,” and “I hate reading.” The occasional, “YES!” …
Any parent who has initiated “the talk” with their child has experienced qualms about what to say, when to say it, and how to say it. It would be awesome to channel a sex-pert during these talks and merely let the words flow succinctly, accurately, and in a manner that eliminates the inevitable eyeball …
Continue reading It’s Not Funny – Or is it? Using Humor to Tackle the Talk
“Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon.” - Paul Brandt Tonight*, treat yourself. Step outside. Admire the full moon, the pink moon, the SUPERMOON, which will appear up to 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter than a normal full moon. With a decrease in air pollution, tonight …
Many of our students, and staff, consider school their safe haven. Some feel more comfortable at school, than they do at home. They consider school a place where they can be who they want to be, to share how they are feeling, to know they are there to learn but also to have fun, to …
I teach and live in a beautiful small town in eastern Kentucky where the mountains are breathtakingly scenic and spring is currently revealing its opening act. Our community is small, our students are close knit, and our faculty is like family. Even on our best day--when there is no global pandemic and when we can …
Continue reading Trauma Informed Practices Are More Important Now Than Ever Before
Each day I check on Twitter to see the most amazing assortment of Health and Physical Education teachers engaging and supporting each other through this transition to remote teaching and learning. I am proud to see so many teachers willing to keep giving through the hardest of times. As we move forward remember that as …
When people donate to homeless shelters they often donate food and clothes. Honestly, they mostly need money but that’s for another blog. I am the advisor for a high school community service club, This Club Saves Lives, at Carmel High School in Carmel, California. Every year we perform local and global actions based on the …
If you ask me, health is the most important class a student will ever take. I don’t hesitate to tell this to my students, their families and anyone else who will listen. My goal is always for my students to learn about themselves and gain the skills to live a happy, healthy and safe life …
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 …
