Family Tree Project

I had my middle students as a culminating project to a non communicable disease unit do a family tree project. They had to go ask questions at home about family members. I gave them an outline to take home and fill out. They must find out family members names, whether they smoked or smoked and quit and if they had any of the non communicable diseases that we spoke about. I am trying to make students aware of the common diseases that run in their family so they know what type of precautions they need to take to avoid problems of their own later. Once the outline is finished student had to draw out their family tree listing all information requested. Students seem to enjoy the project and reflect in a journal once they see all results.

Communication

I was just wondering how you communicate with the other health and physical education teachers in your district and how often you communicate? There is only 2 buildings within the district I teach in and 4 PE teachers throughout and yet we still do not communicate very often.
Any ideas to increase communication within our schools to keep our program on the straight path.

Sexy Halloween Costumes

How much is too much????? What do you think about young girls wearing scandolous outfits for Halloween? I hear each year about girls wanting to be sexy cops or sexy school girls ect. I just dont understand that as parents how you let young girls wear outfits like this out of the house. What do you think? I tell them that it gives guys the wrong idea.

Baby Budget Project

Each nine weeks in my 10th health class which is healthy relationships and teen pregnancy I have my students complete a Baby Budget Project. The only thing these kids actually think about is money. So i figured that this is another perspective to look at to help prevent teen pregnancy. I have my students figure out the cost of raising a baby from conception through the first year of life. They do not realize everything that a baby needs and the cost that goes a long with it. When the students get the grand total they are usually shocked. Then we have a discussion about the cost and remind them that this is only till age 1 and that you must care for a child through age 18.

Keeping yourself healthy

The cold and flu season is right around the corner. As educators we are around kids all the time and we know that they pass germs and get sick often. How do you keep yourself healthy throughout the school year?

Journals

Our school has started a new program this year that requires students to write a jounral in every class every single day. Not only is this helping our students improve their writing ability, but I have found it is a great way to get to know your students. There are some students that you automatically have a bond with and will talk to you about anything and everything, but there are others that are very quiet and do not open up as much to you. I have found out that asking some of these questions during journals and alllowing them to open up without others knowing has allowed me to get to know all the students very well. I suggest trying it. I even allow them to free write on fridays for their journals which allows them to vent. This is another way to find out what is going on in their lives, issues that they are having and so on.

Review Games

Its coming down to the end of the nine week grading period which means finals and midterms will be given. I enjoy playing review games with my kids before a test. I feel it helps them prepare for the exam but in a less stressful way. What types of review games do you like to use?

Zumba

The last two days in PE were some of the most exciting I have had in my career. I brought in a Zumba instructor to introduce the new group fitness craze. I personally take it twice a week and love it, but I am not comfortable teaching it yet. The instructor came and taught my classes for two days. We even incorporated spanish classes as a part of their curriculum. Both the guys and girls LOVED Zumba. They keep asking me if they can continue to do Zumba as a part of our curriculum. I was suprised that the boys enjoyed it as much as they did. Overall it was a positive experience that my kids enjoyed and it is a great workout.

Contraceptives

In my school we have a lot of sexually active students. Teen pregnancy is a problem so I have gone in great detail about contraceptives. I actually gave my students a all completion quiz today on contracpetive methods. Suprisingly they really dont know much. Why is it so bad to get in detail about condoms and actually give students condoms. Im not promoting teens to have sex but I am a realist and understand that they are all not going to wait for marriage, heck some of mine cant even wait until they get to high school and if that not long into their freshman year. I do not want to see these kids having kids or getting a STI. Condoms are one of the easiest prevention method and does not require a doctors appointment and is cheap. I just dont see the problem with offering students methods to preventing STI's and teen pregnancy. Once again I dont promote sex for my students but I am a realist and want them to make smart decisions if they do decide to have sex.

Guest Speaker Information

For any of you that was interested information for guest speaker from black burn center. The programs that they offer are personal safety and child abuse, bullying, sexual harassment, internet safety and cyber bullying, media literacy, dating violence, healthy relationships and domestic viloence. They offer age appropriate presentations at every level preschool through high school. The programs are all free and you can scedule by calling 724-837-9540 ext. 114. You can ask for Dottie Craig Education Program Manager. My students really seem to enjoy this program. I also use adagio health for a guest speaker as well to go over contraceptives. They will go over information for several types of contraceptives, what they do for you and how they are used. They actually demonstrate how to use them ect. The students enjoy this one as well. I also have guest speakers on alcohol and tobacco. The alcohol is from AAA and goes over drinking and driving. They bring impairment googles and do a lot of activities with the students. Finally through Penn State, there is a guest speaker that goes over tobacco demonstrating damage to the lungs with pigs lungs. Students are all engaged and enjoy all of these programs. If you want any information on other guest speakers I will gladly pass it on.