Regular readers of the blog will know just how much I love music. Previously I have written about how I listen to calming music when grading student work, when changing the state of the room (inspired by Mike Kuczala), when introducing a new topic in class and when riding my Peloton. I've added awesome Spotify …
Two recent things that changed the way I structure my classroom-based health classes are the pandemic, with the remote/hybrid experience, and my school's transition from 40 minute periods to 85 minute periods. Both of these significant events led to me being more intentional about my planning, ensuring that I use my time with students most …
We need to share our impediments as teachers and fully disclose our struggles. We need to refrain from positioning ourselves as experts, most especially if we have secret challenges that keep us up at night. We need to speak of our shortcomings, mistakes, and battles as much as we speak of our triumphs. We also …
Health and Wellbeing are universally understood concepts. While their specifics and definitions can be dissonant and intimately unique (not to mention everchanging) to the eye of the beholder, there are many commonalities that can be found between even the most diverse approaches to healthiness/wellness. These commonalities often form the basis of Health and Wellbeing education …
Continue reading Blurring the Lines: Cross-Curricular Health & Wellbeing
Technology, Entertainment, Design. With over 50,000 given at 10,000+ events since the program launched in 2009, there are many great TED talks you can weave into your #HealthEd class. TED talks allow me to bring diverse voices into the classroom, with speakers sharing stories of experiences that I will never have. You can use these …
A few years ago, I was teaching my favorite reproduction activity to a class of middle school students. We walked through a “normal” 28 day menstrual cycle, showed ovulation happening around day 14 or 15, and talked about what might happen if sperm were present in the fallopian tubes at the same time as an …
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
Since the pandemic we have seen an alarming increase in children experiencing anxiety and stress along with a decrease in positive social-emotional response. During the pandemic children were taught virtually with little to no in- person social interactions with children their own age. This has led to a rise in children struggling to self-regulate and …
Continue reading Students in Action: Mental Health Awareness & Practicing Mindfulness
For the last twenty years I’ve focused my professional life on pedagogical change. First, mine and now other peoples and mine. For the last twelve years (or four thousand, six hundred and twenty-three consecutive days to be precise [as of 3rd May 2022]) I’ve reflectively journaled on that change. The key thing I think I’ve …
I want to start out by sharing that I am by no means an expert on the topic of sketchnotes and visual note-taking. However, if you are anything like me and are constantly looking for new strategies to try with your students then sketchnotes might be worth a try. For several years I’ve tried to …
In my health classes I teach about stress relief. After having 3 children of my own, I realized that I needed to practice what I preach. I needed something for me, something to help relief stress. The first thing I started doing was origami. I did teach this practice in my health classes. It was …
In advance of a new school year, is your classroom environment set, with behavioral expectations and social contracts laminated and proudly displayed so that students know exactly what they need to do in order to meet your pre-set expectations? Has your 'classroom cathedral' already been built, ready for new inhabitants? No, mine neither. I don't …
Continue reading The Importance of Creating a Full Value Contract with Your Students
Teaching is nothing without relationships. That might not sound particularly groundbreaking..but it took me quite a few years before I realized that. It took me even longer to realize that relationships with ALL students were important and that without being 100% there for 100% of my students, I wasn't as good a teacher as I …
It all started in March 2020, my wife had to fly from our home in Hanoi to Bangkok for surgery. Due to covid, we knew we would not see each other again until at least the summer months. I was to be on my own throughout online learning for the rest of the year and …
People often look for new sources of health-related information, which are often aimed at behavior change. As you probably know, apps (i.e., applications) are software that can run on mobile devices. With increasing smartphone ownership, many users actively seek health information and app developers have responded by producing thousands of health-related apps. Nearly all smartphone …
Continue reading Health-related App Analysis Assignment through the Lens of Behavior Change Theories
I probably don’t need to point out 2020 has been a challenge for all, or the 20-21 school year didn’t quite live up to hopes and expectations. A timeline of adapting to digital teaching, fast forward professional development to keep the head above water, and remaining in an unsatisfactory state of fluidity could top the …
If I had a student teacher or someone who was on their way to enter the field of health education, and they were looking for a piece of advice, what would I say? I know the tips I got were things like…. “know the curriculum”…“don’t work harder than the kids”… “don’t smile until Christmas”… “ …
For his microblog submission Richard Petherick chose to respond in the form of an infographic. Here he reflects on his first 6 years of teaching focusing on concept based curriculum and the need for a shift. You can also access his infographic here. This microblog post was a featured post in #slowchathealth’s #microblogmonth event. You can …
Strength and conditioning is one of the fastest growing fields in high school athletics. Many have recognized that stronger, faster, and safer athletes have a better athletic experience; additionally, students who participate in a coordinated strength training efforts have additional opportunities to improve health & wellness, forge relationships with peers, and receive mentorship from dedicated …
Continue reading How to Align Strength Training for Sport with a P.E. Curriculum
In searching for ways to promote wellbeing in my school community, I came across an amazing concept called Ubuntu. Ubuntu is an African philosophy promoting the idea that the very existence of a person, their identity and purpose, is deeply rooted in their connections with others. It originates from a Zulu phrase which translates to …
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