Planning and Preparation Best Practices for Phys Ed
A couple of weeks ago I shared the news about the updated version of OPEN Phys Ed. Just because the site has been redesigned, that doesn’t mean your favorite older resources have gone away. As a case in point, take a look at the Tools for Planning & Preparation Best Practices page. Tools for Planning […]
Why We Have to Wear Sunscreen – Another Lesson Inspired by My Daughters
A couple of days ago I shared 22 lessons that have been inspired by my daughters’ questions. Here’s another one that popped-up yesterday, “why do we have to wear sunscreen?” It’s the question both of my daughters asked when I told them they had to wear sunscreen to play outside yesterday afternoon. The answer of […]
Skim vs. Whole Milk – Another Lesson Prompted by My Daughters
On Friday afternoon when I picked up my youngest daughter from preschool she promptly informed me that she now only likes 2% milk and not whole milk. That was her reason of the day for not drinking milk. My daughter’s proclamation reminded me of a lesson that I shared years ago before I even had […]
What Are Carbohydrates and How Do They Impact Your Health?
One of my goals for early part of 2023 is to set a new personal best time at a bike race that I’m entered in for the third year in a row. To do that I’m watching my diet much more carefully than I typically do at this time of year. Like many people, foods […]
Tools for Teaching Adventure – A New OPEN Phys Ed Resource
OPEN Phys ED is one of my favorite websites because they offer great lesson plans and other resources for getting kids active in more than just the traditional gym class activities of years gone by. OPEN Phys Ed emphasizes providing all students with ways to feel engaged and empowered in physical education classes. OPEN Phys […]
The Common Cold Is Still Here! – Why Is It So Hard to Cure?
If you watched the video that I published on Wednesday you can hear me beginning to lose my voice. That’s because like everyone else in my house and seemingly everyone in my neighborhood, I had a cold last week. Thankfully, none of us had COVID-19. But it was a reminder that the common cold is […]
A Short Lesson About Concussions
Yesterday morning I had the Tour de France playing in the background while working in my office. I looked up from my laptop when I heard the commentators mention Greg LeMond followed by highlights of the 1986 stage to Alpe d’Huez. One of the things that struck me from those highlights was the lack of […]
What’s Snoring? – Another Question from my Daughters
For nearly twenty years I’ve gone to an ice fishing camp every winter with the same group of guys (except for last winter). Some of them are rather loud snorers. In fact, the loud snorers have their own bunk room in the lodge. I was talking about this the other day when my daughter asked, […]
The Heimlich Manuever Saved My Life
Last Saturday my friend Kris Still saved my life by performing the Heimlich manuever when I was choking on an omelette in a lovely little diner called Laura Lee’s. I was actually about to comment on how good the food was when I started choking. Fortunately for me, Kris is a sheriff’s deputy and is […]
Tips to Help Busy Teachers Get and Stay Fit
This article originally appeared on one of my other blogs, EdTechFitness.com. In December of 2018 I was the biggest I’ve ever been in my life. The nice suits that I’d purchased just a year before no longer fit and I was down to just one pair of jeans that fit. Worst of all, I was […]
Seven Apps and Sites to Encourage Healthy Diet and Exercise Habits
It’s that time of year when many of us have healthy eating and exercise on our minds. Even if you’re a regular exerciser like me, the December can be a tricky time to stick to good eating and exercise habits. The following apps and sites might help you get back on track. And if you […]
A Simple Way to Break a Bad Habit
It’s the first day of 2021! Have you made a New Year’s resolution to curtail your junk food habit or quit a similar bad habit? I did that a couple of years ago and have mostly been able to keep my bad snacking habit in check by using a simple method that I learned about […]
When Will It End?
I’m tired, you’re tired, our students are tired, we’re all tired. I’m tired of switching from in-person classes, to online classes, to hybrid classes, back to in-person classes, back on online classes, back to hybrid classes, and starting every Friday wondering what the format for the next week will be. Yes, we’re all adapting and […]
A TED-Ed Lesson Exploring the Pros and Cons of Types of Milk
TED-Ed released a new lesson this week. The lesson is all about milk. The title of the lesson, Which Kind of Milk is Best for You? doesn’t accurately portray the number of lessons and questions that can be raised when students watch the video. Which Kind of Milk is Best for You? explains the basics […]
The Science of Cycling and the Tour de France
The Tour de France begins tomorrow, about two months after it was scheduled to begin. As an avid cyclist I enjoy watching it and I find that it provides some neat opportunities for science, health, and physical education lessons. Here are some of my go-to resources for teaching and learning about the Tour de France. […]
The 6,000 Calorie Challenge – A Lesson in Sports Nutrition
At the end of June I completed a double century bike ride and in the process ate as much as I possibly could without feeling sick. What I ate was nothing compared to what a professional cyclist consumes during the Tour de France which I’ve been watching every morning for the last couple of weeks. […]
Resources for Learning About the Tour de France and Science of Cycling
One of these two people has won a Tour de France Green Jersey. The Tour de France starts this coming Saturday. The race always ends in Paris, but it starts in a different place and takes a different route every year. This year’s course starts in Belgium. You can see the whole course here on […]
A Lesson About Milk
With two growing toddlers we go through a lot of milk at my house. Whole milk for my daughters and 1% or skim for me. That’s my lead in to a little lesson that students can take with them to the grocery store. That lesson is the differences in the types of milk that they […]
I Don’t Like Vegetables – A Free Book About Eating Vegetables
One of my favorite parts of the BETT Show is the section called BETT Futures. BETT Futures is comprised of small stands of small start-ups. It’s in that section that I have found many neat products over the years. Today, I found a small stand owned by a woman named Debbie Coggan who was featuring […]
37 People Signed Up for #EdTechFitness Challenges This Week
One of the new projects for 2019 that I am most excited about is my new Ed Tech Fitness site. As I shared at the end of 2018 I have a few goals for the site. First, to have a space where I would be accountable for exercising my body and mind as it should […]
Feel Better, Teach Better in 2019 #EdTechFitness
I announced this on my YouTube channel, on Twitter, and on my Facebook page yesterday. If you don’t follow me there, here it is. I started a new site for 2019. The site is called Ed Tech Fitness and I created it mostly as an accountability tool for myself to make better health and fitness […]
This TED-Ed Lesson Explains What Causes Heartburn – No, It’s Not Your Kids
At one time or another we’ve all suffered from a bout of heartburn. It usually happens to me if I drink soda pop (sometime the allure of a cold can of Coke on a hot day is too strong to resist). What else can cause heartburn? And what is actually happening in your body when […]
Kids Health in the Classroom – Guides & Resources for K-12
Kids Health in the Classroom is a great place to find lesson plans, videos, and games for teaching personal health topics to students of all ages. For teachers the biggest feature of Kids Health in the Classroom is the large set of teacher’s guides containing lesson plans, activities, and worksheets available as free PDF downloads. The […]
Why You Need a Flu Shot Every Year – A TED-Ed Science Lesson
This morning Lifehacker ran an article encouraging people to get a flu shot (the title of the article is not school-appropriate so I won’t link to it). The point of the article was to remind people that getting the flu shot isn’t just about them, it’s also about helping to keep your community healthy. Reading […]
What Causes Body Odor? – A TED-Ed Lesson
What Causes Body Odor? is a new TED-Ed lesson that every middle school health teacher will want to bookmark. The lesson explains where body odor comes from, the processes that and contribute to body odor, and how antiperspirants work. What Causes Body Odor? is part of TED-Ed playlist called Gross Science. Gross Science includes video […]
5 TED-Ed Lessons About How the Food We Eat Affects Our Bodies
This morning while my daughter was napping I went down the rabbit hole of YouTube related videos. It started out as a simple search for some new cycling workout videos and ended up with this TED-Ed lesson about carbohydrates. That lesson goes nicely with some other TED-Ed lessons that I have bookmarked about how the […]
5 Good Resources for Health Teachers
Yesterday afternoon I ran into one of my old colleagues who asked me for some recommendations for tech tools that she could use in her health classes. One of the suggestions that I made was to try the Cardio VR app. I also promised to come up with some other suggestions. In this video I […]
Five Good Educational Resources to Use Before the Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is this coming Sunday. Just like last year, I predict that the Patriots will win. The odds are good that you have some students who are also interested in the game. Try one of the following resources to turn your students’ enthusiasm for the Super Bowl into a fun lesson. The Superb […]
Cold and Flu Season Lessons
As anyone who has been in a webinar with me in the last week can confirm, I’ve been fighting a cold. Like a lot of people, I seem to get a cold or the flu around this time every year. Fortunately, it’s just a cold and not the flu. But what’s the difference between the […]
Why You Should Get a Flu Shot Every Year
I was at my local pharmacy yesterday and they had a sign encouraging people to get a flu shot. The small print on the sign pointed that you should get a flu shot every year. Your students might be wondering, “why do I have to get a flu vaccine shot again this year?” If that’s […]
A Health and Science Lesson – What Is Fat?
Now that we’re into the holiday season, many of us may be concerned about our intake of fats through our favorite holiday treats. But, as students can learn in What is Fat? not all fats are the same. What is Fat? is a TED-Ed lesson that explores the differences between the types of fats that we find […]
What Happens to Your Brain When You Get a Concussion
As the return of football season approaches we hear more stories about professional and student athletes dealing with concussions. TED-Ed recently published a timely lesson about what happens to our brains when we have concussions. The six minute video explains what a concussion is, the short-term and long-term effects of concussions, and myths about concussions. […]
10 Apps & Sites for Promoting Healthy Eating and Fitness
In all of my Best of the Web presentations I try to present resources for a wide variety of classroom settings and subject areas. Health and physical education resources are always included because of my personal interest in the field as well as its importance in giving students lifelong skills. Here are ten of my […]
Kids’ “State Dinner” Cookbook Offers Healthy Recipes for Families
Choose My Plate is a USDA website designed to promote healthy eating. Throughout the site you can find tips on creating and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. You will also find plenty of recipes to try at home. One great collection of recipes is found in the form of a PDF called Kids’ “State Dinner” Cookbook […]
How Playing Sports Benefits the Brain and Body
How Playing Sports Benefits Your Body and Your Brain is the title of a recently released TED-Ed lesson. The video in the lesson teaches viewers about the psychology benefits of teamwork and overcoming defeat. Students watching the video can also learn how playing sports can help a person avoid or overcome feelings of depression. The […]
Lessons on Colds & Flu
I jinxed myself last week by saying aloud, “this is the first winter in a few years that I haven’t gotten sick.” Less than a week after saying that I caught an annoying cold. What is a cold? What is the flu? And what are the differences between the two? Those questions and more are […]
12 Lessons on How the Human Body Works
Last winter I started a playlist of TED-Ed video lessons about how the human body works. I started the playlist because I wanted a list that was a bit more refined than what I was finding on the TED-Ed website. The playlist started with five videos and with today’s addition of the lesson on carbohydrates […]
What Are Carbohydrates and How Do They Impact Your Health? – TED-Ed Lesson
How Do Carbohydrates Impact Your Health? is the focus of the latest TED-Ed lesson added to my playlist of TED-Ed Lessons about the human body. How Do Carbohydrates Impact Your Health? explains what carbohydrates are, common food sources of carbohydrates, and how are bodies use carbohydrates. The lesson also explains what can happen to our […]