Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment

I'm working with Dove on implementing a free resource/curriculum for Middle School teachers in the US. It's all about body confidence. More on that curriculum/program later. What I want to share is a story about how this contract allowed me to observe a teacher and how that experience really resonated with me. I have 14 pilot teachers in 12 states around the United States teaching this program to inform me on how to update it for the US market. One is D'Artagnan Coots (pronounced Read ▸ about When Rockstar Teachers Make Me Miss Teaching

“And from there, the students won’t smoke. They know it’s bad, so if the students have the content knowledge, they would always make healthy decisions, right?” When I brought the Oregon K-12 Health Education Content Standards to the Oregon State Board of Education in December of 2004, I was deeply proud of a product that over 30 educators developed together with over 100 reviewers and an opportunity for the public to review. As the state's Health Education Curriculum Read ▸ about A Skill-based Approach to Health Education

I keep hearing over and over that staff meetings are boring. That many principals stand up front and give information that could be communicated in different ways. As I hear this, I cringe. I mean, school principals were teachers at one point. How come that hour long staff meeting that occurs regularly isn't being used as an opportunity? I would hope that after each staff meeting, at least 5 teaching strategies were modeled so that any teacher could go into their classroom the next day and Read ▸ about School Staff Meetings as Professional Development Opportunities

“Using a smart device, list 3 valid, reliable and appropriate local/regional resources that could provide support to you or someone you know that is having a hard time dealing with stress in their life. List the name and/or organization, location and how to best contact them. Also explain how you know this resource is valid, reliable and appropriate for you or someone your age if addressing stress.-You will be assessed using the attached accessing information scoring guide.” A Read ▸ about When Authentic Learning Doesn’t Align to Assessment

Jamie Sparks welcoming the large group in attendance for PGES. Congratulations to my home state’s health and PE professional association for record numbers at their annual conference! The Kentucky Association for Health, PE, Recreation and Dance kicked off with a PGES (Professional Growth Effectiveness System) workshop facilitated by Jamie Sparks and me. Over 75 participants attended the workshop to learn more about teaching enduring skills Read ▸ about KAHPERD 2015

Many years ago the Portland Public Schools cadre of health teachers came up with an Answering Difficult Questions Protocol. At times, especially in the health education classroom, students ask different types of questions that can throw an educator off guard. So, a group of teachers on a cadre decided it would be helpful to provide professional development to other teachers on a tried and tested protocol that became adopted by the School Board on how to answer questions that came their Read ▸ about Answering Difficult Questions in the Classroom

Foundations of Health Education- National Health Education Content Standards, CDCs Health Education Curriculum Analysis Tool and a quick-guide from Kentucky Department of Education on the Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Those of you teaching in Kentucky have heard PGES, Program Review, Student Growth Goals multiple times in different settings. Even if you are obsessed with student achievement & assessment (like I am), the terms may make you Read ▸ about Health Education Student Growth Goals- we got it!

I'm incredibly excited to be facilitating this Standards and Assessment training in western Kentucky next week for about 10 health teachers. In fact, two are grade level teachers from the elementary level! It's the first time I've offered this workshop in about 4 years and it's been completely overhauled. With state Departments of Education holding schools and districts accountable for student growth and enduring skills as well as teacher effectiveness, this training, originally Read ▸ about Using Health Education Standards & Assessment in the Classroom