August 27th sees the return of one of the most amazing examples of the #physed and #healthed community coming together as a global community to give back to their own. This free online conference, led by the amazing Physedagogy team, provides a world class digital professional learning opportunity for health and physical education professionals through …
Social media has connected us in a way that we could never had imagined when we first signed up. In addition to creating a global PLN of teachers with whom I have had the opportunity to collaborate it has also allowed me access to great authors too. My first 21st Century book discussion was based …
I'm fortunate to work at a school that not only supports my attendance at conferences but actively encourages me to submit proposals to present. And the more that I network at conferences and on social media, the more I realize that there are many teachers who have their professional development restricted due to a lack …
As a British transplant in America, with teaching experience on both sides of the pond I'm often asked how is teaching different between England and America. Inevitably after naming a few subtle differences I'll come back to the same point - children are children wherever you are. They all deserve the best from caring, responsible …
There is a school of educational thought that says 'binary opposites' are a great way for young learners to understand concepts. Right/Wrong, Happy/Sad, Love/Hate, Hot/Cold and so on, for early learners this can be an introductory way to recognize contrast in thought, language and behavior. Egan calls this binary structuring one of the defining features …
I get it. Money is tight, and getting release time to go to conference becomes more difficult every year. And anyway, isn't everything I need available on the internet? If I need help with my teaching, can't I just Google it? As a teacher it is important that we stay connected with other teachers, advocates …
It's time for that oft-asked question at this time -"What are your plans for the summer?" and my response of late has been "Finding time to switch my brain off for a rest". It's been a busy school year for me and I am need in of re-charging my batteries a little. Having said that, …
It's that time of year where we reflect on how the past school year has been for us and our students. We consider the sessions that we saw at conferences and other professional development, the books that we read and the podcasts that we listened to. The subject of health is so dynamic and some …
Self-efficacy has been on my mind this week, and not just because I was reading about it in the awesome The Essentials of Teaching Health Education from Sarah Benes and Holly Alperin. I saw that my home country of England has been excited about the visit of President Obama and among the news headlines was this one …
One of the many highlights from my attendance at #SHAPEMinneapolis was attending a session from Dr. Sarah Benes and Dr. Holly Alperin in which they talked about the concepts and principles covered in their new text The Essentials of Teaching Health Education. The book "presents a skills-based approach to teaching K-12 health education—one that will prepare …
Aside from the fact that I prefer to talk about STI's than STD's (and here's why), I am excited for this awareness month because the message has been reduced to three key words: Talk - openly and honestly with future sex partners and healthcare providers. Discuss your sexual history and the prevention methods available to …
In less than two weeks I will travel to Minneapolis to present at the SHAPE America national conference and I'm not saying that I'm ridiculously excited, but it has been the only thing I've been looking forward to since the start of 2016! I've not been to a SHAPE conference and found the dominance on …
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 …
Our school YRBS data tells me that my sophomore students are at a time in their lives where knowledge of consent is extremely important considering the relationships they will have and decisions they will make regarding sex over the coming years. Consent has become one of a number of hot topics in #healthed, and a …
What does a fully comprehensive health education curriculum look like? This week I participated in an interview for the February SHAPE America podcast that was specifically targeted at us! The #healthed community!! The questions, as always, were posed by the awesome duo behind the podcast - Colin Brooks and Matt Pomeroy and they opened the show …
I was fortunate to spend my weekend with an outstanding group of current and retired teachers and advocates of physical education, health and dance at the IAHPERD Leadership Conference as we discussed our delivery of a quality curriculum across the state. We also started our preparation towards our 2 day convention in November - this …
Recently I have become fascinated with the concept of micro actions and how small inconspicuous changes in our behavior can lead to greater changes in our lives over time. There is increasing research on the idea that small, repeated actions can lead to major changes, and these 'keystone' actions (Charles Duhigg. The Power of Habit) …
In December 2015 Congress passed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). "With this bill, we reaffirm that fundamentally American ideal—that every child, regardless of race, income, background, the zip code where they live, deserves the chance to make of their lives what they will." — President Barack Obama So why should we be excited? No Child …
https://twitter.com/carmelhealth/status/690911763286614016 Inspired by a slew of articles that have recently cropped up in my social media feed I asked a question on Twitter that resulted in an almost immediate response of outstanding suggestions. So much so that I felt it only fair to summarize the results and share them with other teachers...after all, January is …
The more I study health, the more I realize that place and race play a significant role in the health of specific populations. With Martin Luther King day being observed this week it seemed appropriate to share some resources and take a look at some health disparities that exist within the African American population. Recognizing the need …
#slowchathealth 