When I ask my middle school students to think about what they want to do, be, see and achieve throughout their lives, athletics are often a large part of their goals for the immediate future. But at this age, many tweens and teens also see athletics (especially professional sport and extreme sports) as a career …
In recent years, school communities across the country have taken a considerable interest in the whole lives of their students. While we truly believe that educators have always considered the lived experiences of their students outside of their 4-walls of higher learning, heightened circumstances have increased the stress of students and the educators who pour …
“What curriculum do you use for [fill in the blank]?” is a question you’ll regularly see posted by health educators on twitter and facebook.The general consensus (as judged by the comments) is that a “home-grown” curriculum is best and while I don’t completely disagree; I’m pretty confident it’s not the answer people are looking for. …
This post uses the recommended ‘Best Practices’ from the Educate US “So You Want to Speak Up For Sex Education” Claim your power: Before becoming a licensed Health Educator, I worked for Planned Parenthood for five years. My work as a ‘Clinic Assistant’ in the health center included delivering ‘pregnancy tests and options counseling’ visits, …
Continue reading Teaching about Abortion Access – With the National Sex Education Standards
As far back as I can remember, I have always “talked to myself”. Not in a creepy way, nor as if I am speaking in tongues. Or, trying to mask an underlying diagnosis (which I do not have). I talk to myself because I try to work through possible negative situations that may arise. Most …
Field Day is not just for Elementary students!!! I teach high school students, and this year we are having our 2nd Annual Field Day for all of our 9th graders. Why? Because high school students are still KIDS!! To help prepare for our first year, we asked our 9th graders what their favorite games were …
Continue reading Field Day is not just for Elementary Students
Most school courses are content-based, and assessing students’ knowledge through formative assessments is simple: solve the equation, define the vocabulary word, and list the facts. In a Skill-Based Health Education classroom, how do we ensure students are progressing toward the learning target, and what do we do if they are not? The goal of formative …
Continue reading Assessing Students’ Progress in a Skill-Based Health Education Classroom
When I was an undergrad, we were instructed to make friends with the school custodians and secretaries, because they are the ones who really make a school tick. I would like to add one more person to the list - the Occupational Therapist. I am blessed that my best friend, Deb, is a pediatric Occupational …
When my students enter our classroom on the first day of the nutrition unit, they immediately see two tables covered in cookbooks. Lots and lots of cookbooks. Tap here to access an interactive version Sarah's Cook Book List We usually start class with a conversation starter. My students sit in groups of three, and their triangle …
According to the National Association for Children of Alcoholics, “one in four children lives in a family impacted by parental addiction.” Hidden from most people is the chaos and uncertainty these children go through on a daily basis. When I think of alcoholism I often think of the common portrayals in movies of a physically …
Have you ever looked back on your journey to and through your teaching career and realized that there were some moments you almost missed “it?” “It” being the pivotal moments that pulled you closer to being where you are today in your teaching career. A magnetic moment in which if you would have given up …
Ever find yourself having to go to sleep because your eyes hurt so bad from staring at a screen? Or maybe you have been playing video games for countless hours and your back is hurting. Well, turns out video games can have quite a negative health effect on individuals who play too much! One study …
Throughout my childhood, I was constantly busy trying to balance my schoolwork, softball practices, and my social life. When I had the odd day off though, I savored being able to just sit in front of my PlayStation 2 for the day playing various video games. In my own experience, I was never questioned by …
Continue reading The Line Between Esports and Gaming Addiction
I have almost completed my second year back in the district from which I graduated (7th year in total). A little over a year ago, in my first group of students at my current school I had a student ask “Mrs. McGee, do you teach any other health classes? I’ve really enjoyed having you as …
“Self-indulgent slump”. That is what I would always call it when I just couldn’t do it anymore. I would skip practice or exercise for weeks. I would ignore the assignments piling up. I would turn down invites from friends. The length would vary from one to six weeks. Generally they were shorter when I was …
“Is it a boy or a girl? Do you know, yet?” When I was expecting each of my children, this was generally the first question I was asked by anyone who could see I was pregnant. And then as people learnt the biological sex of my now-arrived child, they would comment on what they are …
Changing the game in physical education is a commitment to upgrading the experiences we offer students in Physical Education. All kids deserve to be physically educated in an environment that promotes physical, psychological, social, and cognitive growth and safety. I want to live in a world where every child feels empowered to move, has a …
Continue reading Change the Game: Learner-Centered Approaches to Teaching PE
Food is FUN. Food is LOVE. Food is JOY. When I began teaching nutrition over a decade ago, the program I taught incorporated cooking in the classroom with each nutrition lesson. At the end of each lesson, students would get to prepare a dish and eat together. This was where I saw magic happen. I …
As we know, all too well, the last few years have been incredibly disruptive. However, I think there were several positives that can be taken away from teaching during this era. I empathise with beginning teachers and how incredibly hard establishing oneself must have been / continue to be. But, I do hope some of …
In these interesting times in education, we are often faced with challenges (substitute coverage, school testing, lack of funding, overworked, undervalued, and often times just plain old-- burned out). When these struggles hit hard, I often think of my why. Did I do this for the fame and money- of course not. I became a …
#slowchathealth 