As a teacher, the pursuit of continuous growth is not just a professional obligation but a personal passion. This year, that journey brought me to the doorstep of an experience that not only reshaped my perspective on professional development but also gave me an unforgettable lesson in courage and community. I knew attending my first …
I remember a conversation with my daughter several years ago about the connection between who you surround yourself with and your personal growth. As she navigated her passion for soccer and her desire to continue to develop her skills in hopes of one day playing collegiate soccer, she was faced with some difficult decisions. She …
“That sounds horrible. Why would you ever want to do that?” This is a response from colleagues on more than one occasion when I share that I am presenting at a state or national PE/Health conference. To be honest, there might have been a time where I would have said the same thing to someone …
As a passionate advocate for physical education (PE) and its transformative potential, I embarked on a journey to create the PE Insights Podcast. In this digital age, where time is a precious commodity and access to professional development resources can be limited, I saw podcasting as a powerful medium to bridge these gaps and foster …
Teaching health education is and should be 100% relevant to students’ lives, and when health education is delivered in a thoughtful manner, the information and skills students gain will probably be used every day. Moreover, the mode, tone, inflection, and environment delivered by the health educator is just as important! Imagine being a middle school …
Continue reading A Culturally Responsive Checklist for Health Education
For many people, I’m known as “The Trick Shot Guy.” I started making Trick Shot Videos in 2020 as a way to pass the time during virtual learning as well as try to build connections with students whom I’d never met as it was my first year at this school. In the 250+ Trick Shots …
Launched in 2020, over 200 educators and authors have joined in with the last four #microblog events here on slowchathealth.com. All four have been a huge success, lasting a whole month and featuring voices from across the globe. Sharing bite-sized blog posts of approximately 500 words, there have been submissions from experienced bloggers, first-time writers, …
I quit…. being the positive encourager. I quit being the positive encourager. I have chosen to go to the dark side. I will allow my critical nature to fully take hold and spend my career calling out malpractice and positioning myself to take down every teacher employed to teach who fails to meet the basic …
Bringing the school year, and our #Microblog event to a close, I'm delighted that the effervescent educator who is Chris Walker, AKA, @CoachWalk has recorded a personalized message for us. Chris shares his #teachingreflection videos regularly on social media, and I always look forward to these upbeat and insightful recordings. Chris' reflections are full of …
From all of us @meaningfulpe In our most recent work around Meaningful PE, we have tried to focus our attention on pedagogies that teachers can use to support them in prioritizing the meaningfulness that students experience in their physical education classes. The two sets we have identified are democratic and reflective pedagogies, as these often …
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 …
