In a recent keynote address at the awesome North Dakota SHAPE conference I included some thoughts on the different stages that a teacher might go through during their career. It was a slightly tongue-in-cheek adaptation of a 2018 article from Terry Heick and I can definitely identify various stages of my own career, many of …
Continue reading Be a Change Agent: Join a Task Force and Shape the Future of Health Education
This week’s blog post comes from Barb Thayer, Executive Director at Candor Health Education, an Illinois-based nonprofit organization that educates students, their trusted adults and communities on the topics of drug and sex education. As Executive Director of Candor Health Education, I am all too familiar with the issues related to young people and alcohol use. …
Continue reading Prevention Starts Now: Talking to Teens About Alcohol and Breast Cancer
Regular readers of the blog, particularly those who read the #Microblog posts, will know that many health teachers are under attack from community members who have taken issue with elements of our curricula. Often these efforts are well-organized, well funded, and very vocal. Often these efforts are mis-informed, seek to intentionally mis-inform, and always seek …
When asked what it is like to teach teenagers, I tell people it's wonderful, because I know the future will be safe in the hands of my students. Many of my students have budding advocacy traits, and see themselves as someone who will make change. For that reason, teaching advocacy skills in health class is …
When my three children were learning to walk, each in their own ways and by their own timelines, they delighted in that adorable “hold both hands of a grownup while walking” thing we all do with our toddlers. But eventually, when they were ready, they learned to walk on their own. They needed to learn …
We need to share our impediments as teachers and fully disclose our struggles. We need to refrain from positioning ourselves as experts, most especially if we have secret challenges that keep us up at night. We need to speak of our shortcomings, mistakes, and battles as much as we speak of our triumphs. We also …
I came across a recently published article in The Atlantic entitled “What the Fitness Industry Doesn’t Understand.” To summarize, the article is about how the fitness industry seems to miss out on connecting with the emergent fitness enthusiast due to the fact that most gyms, fitness programs, etc. cater to those who are already predisposed …
Continue reading Changing the Perception of Physical Education
Recently Florida passed a controversial bill centering on the teaching of sexual orientation in public schools. Part of the text of the bill (HB 1557) bans classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through third grade. Any instruction on these topics cannot occur in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally …
Education is under attack. Across the country there is a political movement to censor what we are teaching in our classrooms. Dedicated and qualified teachers are being questioned for providing guidance on how students navigate all they are exposed to through social media, the internet and in the real world. Students crave facts and credible …
What divides us, becomes us. The case for teaching all during puberty health education. As young people in the US mature in an increasingly non-binary world, rife with other idealogical deepening divides, the question of whether or not to separate genders when teaching puberty is a consideration of whether or not to take a giant …
I would like to take this opportunity to thank my former student, Jackson, for giving me the nudge I needed to start opening up my eyes. But first, let’s go back 20 some odd years in time. My principal had just returned from an administrative retreat. She called a meeting with the faculty to let …
As health education becomes the latest target of sections of the community we have seen an increase in the number of attacks on the provision of comprehensive sex education, which somehow also seems to include attacks on SEL practices. As misinformation continues to be spread, it has left educators wondering how they can push back. …
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 …
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
April 1, 2021 The Well Family, 333 Panacea Avenue, PANGEA. WLD. 001 Re: Your children- Well, Ness (Grade 10A) and Well, Being (Grade 10B) Dear Well family, I write to advise the conclusion of investigations into the conduct of your children, Ness and Being. As advised in previous communications, these investigations were commenced in response …
Continue reading The Provocative Ponderings of a Perpetual Pessimist
While I sit in my covid bubble reflecting on Shape Up Illinois week 2021 and the ‘state of Physical Education and Health Education’ in the age of a pandemic, I am totally convinced that the time to become a Physical Education and Health Education advocate is now. I would venture to guess that the physical …
“You have changed the way I see Physical Education, “You have inspired my husband and me to play tennis”, “You make health and wellness fun.” These are quotes from my co-workers, by no means am I the best Physical Education teacher in the world or in my department for that matter. However, I have discovered …
https://twitter.com/carmelhealth/status/1377765154260156417?s=12 Health and wellbeing is schools is critical to developing happy and healthy young people. Ultimately, we want our students to be informed and activity citizens of not only their local community but the globe. As a health and physical education teacher and school leader I am acutely aware of the benefits of a strong …
Continue reading Benefits of Health and Wellbeing Programs: A Leaders Perspective
#slowchathealth 