The Cs of College – What I Want My Students to Learn (repost)

In honor of back-to-school and, for some, the first back-to-in-person-teaching in 20 months, here is a repost of a 2018 entry…

Content. This is the C that drives our education system. The content is the material that we want students to learn in our classrooms. Recently, I went to a college teaching conference and, along with the end of semester experiences, facilitated a reflection on what I want my students to take away from my classes. While I agree that the content is a critical component, I also acknowledge that if we teach students how to learn, they can look up content in the moment. Plus, necessary content is often specific to the situation and the environment, which may not be the same content that I offer in my curriculum. Therefore, I propose several additional important Cs…

Communication

Being able to communicate effectively via multiple mediums is a life skill that requires practice. Especially in a generation rife with electronic communication, providing students with opportunities to practice listening and to dialogue with peers, write professionally, and present orally sets them up for future success.

Collaboration

Ah, working with others! Being able to communicate is a sub-set of collaboration, but working in a group presents unique challenges, especially when you’re paired with someone who wants to do nothing…or everything. Navigating group-work situations while in schools enables students to gain perspective and experience that will inform the group-work that will inevitably present itself in professional life.

Conscientiousness

Being conscientious is often an intrinsic characteristic, but one that can be modeled and encouraged. As with communication, providing students with opportunities to practice may enable them to increase their awareness of how to be conscientious. This includes skills such as respect, time management, organization, consistency, punctuality, professionalism, and effective communication.

Compassion

Compassion is also an intrinsic characteristic that can be promoted. Sharing stories and information to broaden students’ perspectives may increase their ability to understand and respect differences. Compassion can also be modeled, both in teacher-student interactions, and by creating a safe and effective classroom climate that generates respectful dialogue. Compassion for self is also critical, and students should be encouraged to reinvent negative self-talk (ex: change “I’m not a good writer” to “I’m still working to improve my writing”). Interesting find: Wharton Commencement Speech 2018

Creativity

Too often in education, the content piece overshadows creativity as students strive to present the “right” answer. Innovation and creativity may be squashed in a system that offers a specific rubric that rewards students for linear responses to demonstrate knowledge and understanding. However, creativity is an integral part of problem solving and resourcefulness, both marketable traits for professional success, and should be cultivated.

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Upcoming Webinar: Sept. 16, 2021

On September 16, 2021, at 2:00p ET, Alliance for a Healthier Generation will host a free 30-minute webinar entitled Integrating Movement into the Learning Environment.

“Join us for this session on how physical activity can positively influence student health and educational outcomes. Learn how to improve mood, increase motivation, develop self-esteem and help build relationships through movement.”

Link to registration page

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PHIT America Grant Opportunity!

PHIT America – “Improving children’s physical and mental health for lifelong happiness”: https://phitamerica.org

From TX AFHK: “Help get your students on the pathway to being active and healthy for life! PHIT America’s AMPED school-based running/walking program amplifies education and provides qualifying schools with a free toolkit including a 3-year subscription to EZ Scan, incentivized lap tracking technology, speakers, banners, awards, program guide and more! If you are implementing AMPED, you can also apply for grants for PHIT America’s Play Tennis and Play Golf programs.

Link to grant application: https://form.jotform.com/211095174805050

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Upcoming Webinar: Sept. 23

On September 23 at 11:30a CT, Texas Action for Healthy Kids will host an hour-long webinar entitled Re-Re-Opening Schools: What will this year look like?

“School year 2020-2021 brought remote learning, hybrid learning, free school meals, innovative approaches to teaching, and lots of stress! What will this year hold? How are districts approaching the upcoming school year? Join us as we visit with district administrators and staff about their ideas and plans to keep kids healthy, active and ready to learn. This webinar will be archived for those unable to attend the live session. You will receive information about future sessions from Action for Healthy Kids.”

Link to registration: https://www.actionforhealthykids.org/event/re-re-opening-schools-what-will-this-year-look-like

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Teacher SEL

Over the past year and a half, the topic of social-emotional learning for students has emerged as a conversation front-runner. This is a much-needed discussion and essential to the overall health and well-being of our youth population. However, we must not overlook the psychological health of our teachers! I recently heard a great analogy – putting on your own oxygen mask before helping others on the airplane is like focusing on your own mental health so you can support mental health in others. It is critical to promote and enhance teachers’ social-emotional-mental health so that they have the capacity to foster a safe, supportive, inclusive, effective, healthy learning environment for students. As such, I applaud these materials put out by the Southern Education Foundation:

Teacher Stress and Burnout: The High Cost of Low Social and Emotional Development (July 2021)

“Teachers are the most important school-based factor in student success, impacting every aspect of students’ achievement and overall development.”

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Upcoming Webinar: June 24

Helping Kids Be Kids: Leveraging Unstructured Play and Experiential Learning for SEL
Kids need more time to learn alongside peers, explore, and simply be kids! Action for Healthy Kids (AFHK) developed innovative partnerships with fifteen schools to increase unstructured free time and experiential learning at school through policies, systems, and environmental changes to support the whole child. We learned that the power of play and experiential learning was key to unlocking our children’s greatest potential. Discover ways to make the most of what you’re doing and leverage physical activity, play, nutrition and health education as vehicles for social-emotional learning!

Jun 24, 2021 02:30 PM in Eastern Time

Link to register

(From the American School Health Association)

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Back to School Summit: PD by SHAPE America

On August 3 and 4, SHAPE America will host a Back to School Virtual Summit entitled “How to Navigate the New School Year”. The event is free to current SHAPE members, and the $139 non-members price includes a SHAPE membership.

“This two-evening event offers a variety of programming to help health and physical education professionals connect with each other and prepare for the new school year, especially considering the impact COVID has made – and will make – in our schools and districts.”

For more information: https://www.shapeamerica.org/events/Back_to_School_Summit/default.aspx

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Self-Care: Taking Care of Yourself so You Can Care for Others

Burnout. A common and distressing problem, especially among teachers. And, over the past year, circumstances leading to stress, anxiety, and burnout have escalated. While self-care has always been an essential component for holistic health among teachers, it may be even more critical now.

Thankfully, the scope of resources for teachers that address psychological wellness, coping strategies, and self-care continues to expand. Taking advantage of these resources may help enable us to be at our best as teachers, a benefit which translates directly to the health of our students.

In a free webinar from SHAPE America, The How — How to Be Combative to Our Stress Levels, “participants will be introduced to several strategies for promoting self-care and creating a personal self-care plan.”

Access the webinar here (free account needed): https://www.shapeamerica.org/prodev/webinars/Free-webinars.aspx#the-how

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Every Kid Healthy Week: April 26 – April 30

From Action for Healthy Kids, the week of April 26, 2021 is designed to promote awareness and action to get “every kid healthy”. Resources are available for school and for home and cover a different theme each day.

Mindful Monday: Social emotional health

Tasty Tuesday: Nutrition and food access

Wellness Wednesday: Self-care strategies

Thoughtful Thursday: Connectedness, relationship skill, social awareness

Fitness Friday: Physical activity and active play

Check out the ideas and materials here! https://www.actionforhealthykids.org/every-kid-healthy-week-resources

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Active Classrooms Month: February 2021

This February, Active Schools is hosting an Active Classrooms Month! If you haven’t had the opportunity to check out the Active Schools website, it’s a great resource for promoting and supporting physical activity among children and youth: https://www.activeschoolsus.org

Active Classrooms Month is designed to increase awareness of how movement can be integrated into learning and will include a variety of activities, including a series of weekly webinars. These 30-minute sessions will occur on Wednesdays at 3:00pm ET / 12:00pm PT and will offer information about and strategies for classroom physical activity implementation. Click here for calendar and links to register!

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