Parent communication from a health education teacher to their student’s parents and/or guardians offers an opportunity to build a valued partnership in how we educate our young people. It also provides crucial support from parents to teachers and can foster intentional communication at home to validate and connect classroom topics with family values and household …
What I Hear: As an itinerant Adapted PE teacher, I travel to 20 schools interacting with 30+ PE teachers. In the conversations that follow I consistently hear frustration about a variety of items ranging from a lack of equipment to scheduling that is not aligned with student needs. While unacceptable these issues are all solvable. …
Continue reading 10 Steps for a Productive Conversation with Administration
We live in a world where young people are constantly taking in messages about sex, relationships, and identity—often before they’re developmentally ready to understand or process them. Whether through social media, TV shows like Euphoria, or online videos, these messages can shape how teens think about intimacy, consent, and what’s “normal” in a relationship. Unfortunately, much …
I don’t have a classroom anymore. No attendance to take, no daily lessons to plan, no consistent group of students sitting in front of me. As an assistant athletic director and coach, my interactions are more scattered amongst the hallways, gyms, sidelines, quick check-ins in between everything else. At first, I missed that built-in connection. …
As educators of Health, whether you’re a seasoned teacher or just starting out, it’s common to encounter adults in the community who have little understanding of what occurs in a health classroom. For many, their perception of health education is shaped by their own experiences, which may not reflect the Health Skills we teach today. …
Continue reading Why I “Write Home”: Advocating for Health Education
Whether at home, in healthcare, the classroom, or the workplace the importance of self-advocacy is undeniable. However, even for an adult, self-advocating isn’t always easy. The ability to “speak-up for [ourselves] and the things that are important to [us]” is a necessary life skill. As young people’s trusted adults we can both teach and model …
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
Last week, two of my high school seniors approached me. The Supreme Court draft opinion that portended the overturn of Roe v. Wade - the landmark ruling which had made abortion a constitutional right in 1973 - had just been leaked, and they wanted to discuss what this meant. I teach comprehensive sex education and …
Continue reading Addressing the Future of Abortion With Students
Having set the scene at the start of the semester, explained the skills and topics we will cover together and the rationale behind teaching the way that I do, I provide my students with an opportunity to shape our curriculum. Now that you know the why and what we will cover in class this semester, …
Setting professional and personal goals during the pandemic might require a different focus and frame of mind. As I try and wrap my head around a remote return to school and a switch to a block schedule, it will be necessary to formulate goals that require me to grow in order to best serve my …
How do you feel about that, Ilse? Does that remind you of anything from your past? How would you like to approach this? Those initially awkward yet eventually empowering conversations with your therapist...the ones that help you work through your feelings - respecting and recognising them, then moving through to a slightly new approach - …
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
#slowchathealth 