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, …
Elementary and Middle School health teachers are awesome and I can only imagine the challenges involved in teaching content to to the youngest of inquiring minds. With that in mind, this blog post is primarily for you and comes from Daniela Gilsanz. Daniela is a designer, menstrual activist, and co-creator of The Period Game - …
A poster on the wall of the International Centre for Sexual Reproductive Rights, an NGO based in Minna, Nigeria. Author providedRachel Sullivan Robinson, American University School of International Service Nigeria and Mississippi are a world apart physically, but the rural American state and the African country have much in common when it comes to the …
Continue reading Sex education lessons from Mississippi and Nigeria
Assessing health skills can be a challenge and todays teachers are rising to that challenge, creating authentic and meaningful opportunities for students to practice and reflect upon their health behaviors. Sarah Chap is one such teacher, and in this weeks blog post she shares her journey towards creating an assessment for the health skill of …
One of the joys of teaching #HealthEd is that it is such a dynamic topic. That's one reason why my recent TEDx talk was titled "This is not your parent's health class". I don’t think any one year has been the same as another, in fact every semester has been different for me. As society …
This is my 7th year of choosing a #OneWord to guide me through the year ahead. The theory behind this idea is that our guiding word points us towards the type of person that we want to become. And unlike a resolution, a single word can’t be broken. I think of it more as a …
Being an educator in this current political climate can be fraught with fear. While job security is paramount, so too is encouraging our students to think critically and to see the world beyond the biased version often presented to them by society. In this guest blog post an educator anonymously shares the fear felt as …
Virtual reality isn't coming to the health classroom....it's already here, and it might be the most engaging and realistic teaching experience that you aren't currently using. I recently asked teachers for health education predictions and I'm predicting that VR technology is eventually going to become commonplace, but are you ready for it? This week's blog …
You would think that teaching nutrition would be easy. It's something that our students have been doing since birth and yet, as with all topics that we teach in health, there is so much to consider if we want our lessons to be valuable and inclusive. This week's blog post considers just that and comes …
Continue reading Rethinking the way we talk about nutrition, body size, and health.
One constant in my life has been Hip Hop. I bought the Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five album The Message on cassette when I was 12, and nearly choked when a twentysomething on Twitter recently told me that people should check out Ja Rule because he's 'old school'. Classic hip hop artists are still …
Engaging instruction within a classroom that utilizes interactive and experiential methods is a recipe for success and one which places students firmly at the centre of the learning environment. If we want students to practice the skills that they have learned we need to bring our materials to life in ways in which students can …
Continue reading Gamification and Skills-Based Sexual Education
For me, Twitter has proven to be a constant source of inspiration and motivation and I continue to be thankful to the hundreds of teachers in my PLN who freely share what's going on in their classroom. Some share because they're proud of a success. Some share because they have an idea that is in …
In October 2019 I was fortunate enough to be asked to speak at the TEDx event at Barrington Area Library, with the event theme being community health. My message was in three parts - an apology for many of the bad practices from health class, a message of hope from the direction in which todays …
It can be difficult starting conversations with your students about sexual harassment, consent, staying safe and making value informed decisions. Recently I read Shafia Zaloom's wonderful book "Sex, Teens & Everything in Between" and was blown away not only by how accessible it was, but more specifically the engaging, and teen-friendly way in which she …
Autumnal 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 9 documentaries/shows, available to stream, that have a #HealthEd slant to them. Some I’ve seen, the rest are on my ‘watch list’. I’m not suggesting that you show these in your …
With hectic scheduling and constant teaching demands, teachers are turning to social media to meet urgent professional learning needs. Shutterstock Brendon Hyndman, Charles Sturt University Teachers are very busy workers with tightly packed schedules and regular engagement in work outside regular hours (such as for preparing lessons and marking). They have less time for breaks and …
I am extremely fortunate to work in a department surrounded by outstanding educators. I'm surrounded by State winning coaches, nationally recognized teachers, and a wealth of classroom experience. One such educator is my office-mate Dr. Kate Kalnes who is a fabulous teacher, role model, curriculum writer, international presenter and Mom - and she excels at …
Journaling has so many known benefits that I had no choice but to follow the advice of my awesome co-workers, who have journaled for a few years now, and introduce it to my #HealthEd students...and it's been a huge success. Provided with weekly, open-ended prompts, my students have embraced the time to sit and write …
Continue reading 10 Health and Well-being Perks of Journaling for Teenagers
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