Level Up Health Education

Hello Reader, In today's email, I want to share a resource that you could use as a unit hook at the start of an accessing information unit or use to model the skill of accessing information. One of the changes I made to our 8th-grade accessing information unit this year was to add resources on encountering misinformation and disinformation online. This change came about after reviewing the updated National Health Education Standards, and it was something I could slide into my pre-existing...

Hello Reader, Over the last year, I've done some consulting work for Responsibility.org and their Ask, Listen, Learn program. I use their videos in my seventh-grade health class when we're covering refusal skills and alcohol. I don't use all the activities they have on their site, but I've found the videos to be a good fit because the focus of our curriculum is on how alcohol impacts the developing teenage brain. I recently wrote a post for the SHAPE America blog about using Ask, Listen,...

Hello, Reader! I see many lessons and published curricula that claim to be skills-based when, in reality, they're based on skills. That doesn't mean they're bad lessons, but they're not as advertised. In today's newsletter, I want to give you three quick ways to shift from being based-on-skills to being skills-based. Content-Based vs. Skills-Based Health Education Health curriculum units exist on a continuum, from being fully content-based, to being based on skills, to being fully...

Hello Reader, The release of the updated National Health Education Standards (and the updated PE Standards!) means that teachers everywhere are now looking for information on updating their curriculum to align with the new standards. Here in Massachusetts, we now have revised state standards, too, which haven't been updated since I was in middle school: in 1999! It's understandable that this task seems overwhelming. I'm going through it, too. And, this summer, I've done zero updating. My main...

Hello Reader, On-demand webinars are awesome because you can watch them whenever they fit into your schedule. You can watch them at your own pace, rewind or fast forward as needed, and take from them only what you need. With a few weeks of the summer left, they're also a great way to dip your toe back into thinking about the upcoming school year. Many educators are beginning to organize their back-to-school plans, and two things will probably end up on those lists: building a strong classroom...

Hello Reader, I'm writing this from Central Wisconsin Airport as I wait to begin my journey home after presenting at the 2024 Best Practices in Health and Physical Education Conference. I spent three inspiring days with my hosts from the WHPE and the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. Ian LaCasse put together a top-notch lineup of speakers, and my brain is SPINNING with ideas: different strategies to use in my lessons, resources to share with my principal, and ideas for future...

A Versatile Exit Ticket Happy Thursday! We're in the last week of school here in Massachusetts and thriving in the typical end-of-year chaos of school-wide events, grade-level activities, and sudden last-minute concerns about grades. In my last email, I shared an example of how two student teachers used a visible thinking routine in a lesson on advocacy, which caused me to think about advocacy in a new way. (I'm still planning on sharing an activity using the triple Venn diagram I discussed...

A Different Way to Think About Advocacy Happy Friday! Many of you are winding down the school year, or maybe even done! I'm in school until June 17th. The finish line is in site! In today's newsletter, I want to bring up a different way to think of the skill of advocacy. For most Fridays during their spring semester, I had two student teachers from the University of New Hampshire, supervised by Holly Alperin, in my classroom as part of an undergraduate practicum in health education. The last...

Interpersonal Communication Assessment Happy Friday! Continuing to...roll...with last email's theme about using dice in the classroom, I want to share a summative assessment: a skill practice demonstration focused on refusal skills. I know many other health educators use dice in a similar way: Jessica Matheson, Andy Milne, and more. I can't take credit for the initial idea. I can share with you how I've taken that idea, remixed it, and aligned it with the National Health Education Standard...