Welcome to My Blog!
I'm glad you came to visit. I hope that you'll find reading this useful and I'll try my best to update it as often as possible with interesting articles, resource updates and reviews, and activity ideas. If you're looking for information on something specific, try using the google search box in the right hand navigation bar.
See update to Google Body Labs here.
Ever visited the Google search home page and taken some time to explore the additional links? Well if you have - then you will already know about some of the great resources posted there - free for anyone to use.
Google Labs is one of my favorite links. The Labs are meant to be a place where developers, engineers and members of the Google community can post prototypes of new ideas so that users can try them out, experiment, and provide feedback. Why should you care?
Well, there are some really useful resources listed here - including one lab called Google Body labs. Google Body is an excellent study tool for students - they can look at detailed 3D models of the human body and peel back layers and zoom in for a closer look. In addition, all body parts are clearly labeled and therefore great for student review.
Here's how to find it:
- Within your browser, search for "Google."
- Click on the link for "More" at the top left-hand menu
- Select "Even More" from the drop-down menu
- Select "Labs"
- Select "Google Body"
You may need to upgrade your Internet Browser to the Beta version of Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox to be able to view the Google Body Lab. You can email the link out to your students and they can use the tool for study review.
PHE Canada just published the latest edition of the "In Touch" Newsletter. The feature article of this month's issue includes information about a great new resource called "Promising Practices."
Developed in partnership with PHE Canada and Ever Active Schools, the resource includes a searchable database where educators can search for ideas for Weight of the World projects and programs. In addition, there is also a link where educators can submit their own ideas.
What a great way to get schools healthy and active!
The 2010 OPHEA and PHE Canada National Conference was last week. With over 900 attendees from all over Canada and 100 plus workshops presented, hundreds of ideas were shared and lots of new friendships were made. Thank you to everyone who made this event a tremendous success! One of my favourite parts of the conference was the Keynote Address from Craig Kielburger, founder and chair of Free The Children and Co-Founder and Director of Me to We Social Enterprises. He gave an inspiring presentation that touched upon the idea of finding a spark or a passion in your students and working with them to match that spark with a social cause:
EMPOWERMENT and EDUCATION
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YOUTH VOLUNTEERISM and SOCIAL ACTIVISM
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LIFELONG GLOBAL CITIZENS
I really liked this concept and wondered how I could integrate this philosophy into my classrooms. One of the programs Craig mentioned was Life in Action. Check out the Life in Action link and click on the link for educators - there is a teacher's handbook that includes lesson plans and activity ideas that are a great starting point!
In this month's edition of Canadian Running magazine, I saw an advertisement for "Run for Life," that advertised a website on how to bring running clubs to schools. I checked out the site and found that it had a lot of great ideas on how to deliver school-based running programs.
The programs are simple and free for schools to implement and include training, prize incentives, and resource materials for educators.
Click on the link to learn more - www.runforlife.ca.
The Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women in Sport (CAAWS) is a national non-profit organization dedicated to creating an equitable sport and physical activity system in which girls and women are actively engaged as participants and leaders. CAAWS provides a number of services, programs and resources to a variety of clients, including sport and physical activity organizations, teachers, coaches, health professionals and recreation leaders. CAAWS works in close co-operation with government and non-government organizations on activities and initiatives that advocate for positive change for girls and women in sport and physical activity in Canada.The "Take 5 - Motivate Me!" is a contest organized by CAAWS to get students thinking about ways to use physical activity as a motivating factor to stay smoke-free. This might be a fun activity to do in a girls physical education class. Click here to learn more!
