Advocating for the subject we love, in the face of challenges from those around us, is as important now as it has always been. When Matthew Bassett, SHAPE America's Elementary Physical Education teacher of the year, shared his passionate plea in support of physical education and health with parents and educators it was well received. …
Bringing our standards-based health curriculum to life is important if we want students to make connections between the classroom and the world in which they live. We need to find ways in which students can promote healthy norms and healthy behaviors and we have to provide students with the opportunity to amplify their health-enhancing messages …
Continue reading Breathing Life into Health Skill 8: A Twist on the Traditional Field Day
I am delighted that this week's blog post comes from a passionate health educator who has spent many years advocating for, and understanding the role of, health education within a wider context. Although written from a New Zealand perspective Rachael Dixon's writing will speak to a global audience of health educators. Tena koutou, tena koutou, …
Continue reading The Curious Case of Senior Secondary Health Education in Aotearoa New Zealand.
On my return flight from Tampa for the 2019 SHAPE America National Convention in April 2019, I was suddenly awakened from a nap and my first thought was “redefine our community”. This statement etched in my mind as I projected on the upcoming year ahead and the opportunity for transformation for our health and physical …
Continue reading COVID19: A Promising Future for Health Ed and Equity?
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 …
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 …
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’ …
Knowing your 'why' is a powerful concept, and in this weeks post, Kathy Brophy shares her story of raising awareness of domestic violence, inspired by the death of a former student. The post, written as a reflection following recognition for her work, includes links to some great resources and I urge you to share her …
Advocating for the subject that we love, is an important role that we can all play and I am delighted that this week's blog post is written by an educator and passionate advocate for whom I have nothing but the utmost respect. Read about Jamie Spark's journey from the classroom to roles at a state …
Running alongside my #healthed curriculum is a long term project. For the past few semesters the theme has been advocacy as students attend to YRBS data, identify the health behaviors most concerning our school population, and undertake some awesome project based learning. Student feedback following this project is always positive and over 9 weeks I …
When looking for a ‘hook’ to get students engaged in health class I have found that using Youth Risk Behavior Survey data one of the most effective ways to engage students. When discussing sensitive topics such as relationship safety, bullying, stress & anxiety, depression & suicide, substance use and sexual activity, the ability to provide …
Recent justified outrage over comments made by a Presidential nominee has spurred many to speak up about what they heard. And rightly so. If we applied National Health Education Standard 4 to this individual, he would fail. As Health teachers we are tasked with encouraging our students to become responsible individuals who use verbal and …
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 …
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 …
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 …
It's recently been conference season not only across the country but across the world. In a two week period there were AHPERD conferences in Minneapolis, South Carolina, Missouri, Kentucky, New Hampshire, New York State, Connecticut, Illinois, Pennsylvania plus the Asia Pacific Conference and the AHPERVIC conference in Melbourne, Australia. Following the hashtags from each conference …
Without a doubt, being on social media and connecting with other teachers has benefitted me, and therefore my students immensely. I used to work in a small school where I was the only health teacher and so I didn't have anyone to collaborate with or bounce ideas off. Then I signed up for Twitter and …
Motivated by PE teacher Justin Schleider and his awesome Slow Chat PE blog and also by the efforts of Jeff Bartlett and his earlier online version of a health chat we have decided to revive the concept, tweak it a little and go live with this new blog. Aimed at health teachers working with students of all ages this …
