Author: Amy Smith

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Answering kids’ questions about Ebola…

Kids have been hearing about Ebola everywhere lately, so naturally they’ve got a ton of questions – and lots of misinformation as well. It’s important that we know the correct way address concerns when they pop up so we can help alleviate any anxiety.

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INFOGRAPHICS: The benefits of video games

Video games are bad for you? That’s what they said about rock-n-roll. -Shigeru Miyamoto   We’ve just completed a new project where the students took health information and created their own infographics. It turned out to be a lot of

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Mindfulness in the NBA

Phil Jackson has taken over the Knicks,  and one of the big changes he’s bringing with him is a focus on mindfulness. Meditation has been scientifically proven to benefit athletes, but often they have a difficult time getting the practice started. In

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Street art advocacy…

Banksy is a well known street artist from the UK. His work usually has a social or political message, and in 2010 was named one of Time Magazine’s Top 100 most influential people in the world. His latest piece is

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Project- Create your own infographic

*Full infographic available at DigitalInformationWorld.com Infographics are used quite a bit in reporting health news, as they’re a visually appealing way to get facts and statistics out to the community. Here are some samples… Infographic: Meditation in Schools Across America  Infographic:

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Mental health in the classroom…

Screen shot from TeenMentalHealth.org With the latest research telling us that the number of young people aged 15-16 with depression has nearly doubled over the last twenty years, it’s more important than ever for us to be addressing it in our health

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Rates of teen substance abuse are on the way down…

Good news! According to the latest report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), a branch of the Department of Health and Human Services, more teens in the U.S. are making the right choices. The survey included over 70,000 people, and in the

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Project- Family Values and Mission Statement

Mission Statement (noun): 1. An official statement of the aims and objectives of a business or other organization. Values are huge part of the decision making process, so we spend quite a bit of time working with them in our 8th grade

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Healthy lungs vs. a smoker’s lungs

What a great use of Vine. I’m not usually one to go with scare tactics in health class, but when it comes to cigarettes, all bets are off. This six second video loop is much more effective than the old

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The caffeinated teen…

For full infographic click here How much caffeine are kids consuming, and are we as health teachers doing enough to address it in our curriculum? That’s a question I asked myself this summer when a new study that looked at caffeine consumption among kids kept popping

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Beauty standards around the world…

From Buzzfeed comes this cool new video about beauty standards and photoshop. It was sent to me by one of my former 8th graders (and during her summer vacation too!). Gotta love that advocacy in action.

<iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/RT9FmDBrewA" width="560" height="315"

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Study materials for the Puberty Quiz…

Hey 6th graders, Here are the materials you’ll need for this week’s Growth & Development Quiz. Not to worry… you’re ready. As long as you know the basics, you should be good to go! (Hint, in addition to the reproductive stuff,

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Great anti-bullying message…

After getting bullied for most of elementary school, 13 year-old Leondre decided to channel his stress in the most awesome way imaginable… by writing it down and then reaching out to others. He formed

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