Long Time No Post!

It's been a while since I've updated this blog, and I'm going to get back into the routine over the summer. People have been asking me if I would get back into the blogging routine, so here I am! The end of the school year was very busy (no surprise there!) and as the summer begins, there's a lot of housekeeping items I want to work on in relation to my classroom for next year. Despite my lapse in posting, I'm still getting hits everyday from search engines, so I know people out there are looking for answers! I'm committing myself to frequent posting, during the summer and during the school year.

In no particular order, here is a list of what I hope to contribute over the next few weeks:

1. Repost an updated version of the HIV Transmission Simulation. A friend of mine was looking for this one day and reminded me I need to re-post! I didn't create the lesson, but I have modified it based on my own experiences.
2. Tobacco UDL Packet. A series of take-home assignments that try to incorporate as many UDL (Universal Design for Learning) principles as possible. I didn't get to use these this year, but they were created so the students could so some exploring on their own, as homework.
3. Sexuality Resources: I have nine resources in nine separate posts; all in varying states of drafting. I'm going to combine them into a post (or two...or three!).
4. A bullying resource with video clips, lesson plans, information for parents, etc. that I've used
5. Classroom management: some things I've picked up in my first three years.
6. A series of activators, to be used at the start of units
7. "Music and Health Education"
8. Resources for skills based health education
9. New music video by Rise Against that focuses on the issues of LGBT bullying
10. Brain based learning. I'm taking an online course in brain based learning this summer, and if I learn anything I'd like to share, I will!

One of my good friends from undergrad was just hired to teach middle school health, too. She asked for some help and she and I will be e-mailing back and forth all summer. I am sure that those e-mails will give me a lot of material to post with. This will tie in with what I presented about at MAHPERD last November, too; the topic was "Survival Skills for The First Year Health Education Teacher."

The fall will be busy as I've picked up a head coaching job and will also be taking a graduate course. Despite this, I hope to add some VIDEO to the blog. Yes, video! Nothing too crazy, but something to spice things up a little. I may start to add actual research data/articles to some of my posts to back myself up...but we'll see about that. :) I'm hoping to work on a classroom website, which is something I started last year but never got off the ground. With our district shifting to Google apps (which I already love) this could be easier. And yes, I will be relaxing this summer. :) Between my summer job and other things, I still have plenty of time to relax!

I enjoy putting information out there for others to use, and when someone contacts me with questions or to say they've learned something from my blog, then I know there's a reason to keep rolling with this. Ultimately, it's also a tool for myself to grow professionally. I enjoy doing this, and hope you enjoy it, too!