It’s easy to look at the current conversation around young people and conclude that stress and anxiety are significantly worse now than ever before. The data tells a more complicated story. While it is clear that too many of today's teens are struggling, and about 21% of adolescents today report anxiety symptoms, national data from the early 2000s already …
Continue reading Yes Teens Are Anxious, But That’s Nothing New
Are you looking forward to the holidays? How about spring break or the summer or simply Fridays? Or how about just coffee? What about retirement? Do you know teachers that have their retirement date worked out to the year, month, week, day and depending on how things are going in a particular movement, they may …
Rethinking Productivity for School Practitioners8 ways to improve well-being while doing your best work in schools In schools today, productivity is often measured by how much you can get done in a day—lesson plans, meetings, emails, student support, documentation. But this “produce more” mindset comes at a cost. For educators, administrators, and support staff, that …
Continue reading Rethinking Productivity for School Practitioners
Kim Morton shares a message that’s hard to ignore: one day, your health may be the only thing on your mind. In this reflection, she challenges us to rethink how we value health now, and reinforces why what we teach in HPE has lasting impact far beyond the classroom.
Life moves fast. Between work, school, responsibilities, and the endless to-do lists, it's easy to get caught up in the serious side of life. But what if I told you that play - yes, play - is one of the most powerful tools for building resilience, improving mental and physical wellbeing, and fostering deep connections …
Having just got back from the awesome SHAPE America National Convention, it’s time to reflect on the hours spent in outstanding sessions, reconnecting with educators, experiencing a vibrant city, and soaking in a couple of impactful keynotes. There’s something about Kansas City - the energy, the conversations, the BBQ-fueled networking - that made this one …
The start of a new year has a funny reputation. It’s supposed to be a reset button. A fresh start. A new era. A moment where you suddenly become more motivated, more organized, more disciplined, and more confident—just because the calendar changed. But most of us know the truth, and the science backs this up, …
Continue reading One Word for 2026: A Different Way to Start the Year
One constant during my 30 years of teaching is that the break from school at the end of the calendar year – winter for me and summer for my Southern Hemisphere friends – comes at just the right time. Leaving for school in the dark, arriving home in the dark, the end of a long …
Continue reading Before the Year Ends: Twelve Months in Reflection
A recent Instagram post summarizing the 'impact of smartphone use on athletes' sleep and performance' caught my eye and got me wondering about the research that supports my internal suspicion that cell phones are harming the performance of athletes. As a coach and father of athletes, I was motivated to delve deeper into existing research …
Continue reading 5 Ways That Cell Phone Use Negatively Impacts Athletes
A few years ago, I came across an image that resonated with me. It showed how Gareth Southgate, then the manager of the England men’s soccer team, draws on a network of thinkers to help shape his decisions. Not just football minds, but voices from rugby, cricket, sailing, cycling, even the military. A deliberate mix …
If you're looking to create personalized music playlists that are perfect for your classroom, gym, or workout needs, then this blog post is for you. Regular readers of the site will know that I love music, have written about my love of music, and featured posts on how teachers are using music in their teaching …
This powerful guest post comes from Beatrix Hopkins, a junior student who asked if she could share her Junior Theme writing with me. Beatrix contacted me, saying, "I wrote about the use of deepfake generating technology to create sexually explicit images and videos, and the way that those technologies can be used to perpetuate violence …
Almost all I think about these days is class culture, and I know I am not alone. For me, this means a culture that builds trust, embraces confusion, encourages attention and sparks curiosity and joy, After 30+ years as a high school English teacher, creating and sustaining this culture is simultaneously more difficult and more …
This year I was offered the opportunity to do something I had always wanted to do: teach a PETE class. My first reaction was “Wow! I am so honored and excited to do this!” Fast track to: “There is no way I can do this! I know nothing about teaching college kids! I will fail …
One constant during my 29 years of teaching is that the break from school at the end of the calendar year – winter for me and summer for my Southern Hemisphere friends – comes at just the right time. Leaving for school in the dark, arriving home in the dark, the end of a long …
Continue reading Looking Back, Moving Forward: Meaningful Year-End Reflections
Happy Friday, teachers! We've made it through another (long) week, and before you rush (or in my case, wearily stroll) into the weekend, let’s take a few minutes to pause, reflect, and recharge. Fridays can be more than just a countdown to the weekend; they’re a chance to reconnect with ourselves and the people who …
Continue reading Reflect & Recharge: A Friday Ritual for Teachers
With World Mental Health Day upon us, it's a good moment to reflect on how our mental well-being is connected to movement. In a world where stress and anxiety levels are rising, we often look for quick fixes, but one of the most powerful tools to support our mental health is something we already know …
Continue reading World Mental Health Day: Moving for a Healthier Mind
About five years ago my health began to decline due to a genetic condition called Ehler’s Danlos Syndrome (EDS). It is a fairly unknown condition, even within the medical community. In short, people with EDS have defective collagen (our connective tissue is described as “chewed up bubble gum” instead of a healthy “rubber band”). There …
We have heard time and time that social media is bad for teens and causes depression and anxiety despite the lack of evidence supporting this fact. Even the Surgeon General in 2023 stated the lack of robust evidence stating social media was the cause of teens’ mental health issues. Motivation is a critical factor in …
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 …
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