Life Is The Future

The many faces of technology! Naomi and Zoie interview two other 8th grade students, Saryah and Ania. All four discuss the positives and negatives of technology, with a focus on its addictive nature, schoolwork vs. recreation, human advances, popular online sites/apps, practical uses, and how age factors into screen time. RESOURCES Common Sense Media: Teens on Social Media & How Much Screen Time is Okay? Pew Research Study: Teens & Social Media Vox Recode: Teens Are Hooked On Social Media Adam Alter: TED Talk & "Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology" Teaching insight, blog posts, and more from the Health Education classroom: LifeIsTheFuture.com

Pandemic check-in! We will do these from time to time this school year-- a "temperature check" from our 8th graders on how everything is going in our COVID era of learning and living. This week's hosts, David and Zoie interview classmates Mady and Baruni and all four 8th graders have a conversation about their current situation in our pandemic. Specifics include remote learning, hybrid approach, coping strategies, social health, media influence, testing and vaccine possibilities, and more. Below are some mental health resources we've always promoted during our podcasts. RESOURCES MentalHealth.gov Let's Talk About It World Health Organization (WHO) Self-Care and Self-Help National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI) Top HelpLine Resources National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-8255 Health Mind Platter Essential Brain Activities Tune in next week for a new topic and a new set of guests. Make sure to subscribe to keep up to date on our podcast episodes throughout the school year. Teaching insight, blog posts, and more from the Health Education classroom: LifeIsTheFuture.com

Stereotypes: generalizations based on a group in which a person belongs. (Ex: race, age, gender, income, neighborhood, etc.) This week's 8th grade hosts mix it up a bit, as Tami and Naomi partner up to interview classmates Anya and Aria. The four teens take on the repeating topic of stereotypes in middle school and in life. This is always a much needed conversation year-to-year. They bring up gender, race, and even sexuality a bit, talking through unfair perceptions of people, the influence from society and media, generalizations and home life, and just a bit about the "-isms" of prejudice: racism, sexism, and ageism. RESOURCES: Gender Stereotypes from Teaching Tolerance Racial Stereotypes from Simply Psychology Breaking Stereotypes from National Women's Law Center How Middle School Kids Reject Stereotypes from MiddleWeb Talking About Race & Stereotypes in School from Edutopia Tune in next week as our other two hosts, David and Zoie, take over with a new topic and a new set of guests. Make sure to subscribe to keep up to date on our podcast episodes throughout the school year. Teaching insight, blog posts, and more from the Health Education classroom: LifeIsTheFuture.com

How are teens maintaining social health in 2020, and what are their thoughts on friendship and dating? Tami and David take their turn at this multi-episode focus, interviewing classmates Lucas and CJ. The four 8th graders discuss teen relationships and social health through the COVID pandemic, including family, friendships, and dating. Specifics include which online apps help friends stay connected this year, dating for image versus true feelings, and how adults could help teens navigate feelings of "like" and "love" while growing up. This is Part 2 of 2. Additional thoughts on the same topic came from different 8th graders in the previous week. Check back if you missed it! RESOURCES Students: LoveIsRespect.Org Parents: Coping with Teen Dating Teachers: Teaching Consent & Sex Ed in America Teaching insight, blog posts, and more from the Health Education classroom: LifeIsTheFuture.com 

How are teens maintaining social health in 2020, and what are their thoughts on friendship and dating? Naomi and Zoie start a multi-episode focus, interviewing classmates Meadow and Chloe. The four 8th graders discuss teen relationships and a bunch of related topics like managing social health through the COVID pandemic, influences on friends and dating, and recommendations for pre-teens. This is Part 1 of 2. Additional thoughts on the same topic come from different 8th graders in the following week. RESOURCES Students: LoveIsRespect.Org Parents: Coping with Teen Dating Teachers: Teaching Consent & Sex Ed in America Teaching insight, blog posts, and more from the Health Education classroom: LifeIsTheFuture.com 

What race and social issues do teenagers see and experience? Our 8th grade hosts, Tami and David, take the lead in their first episode. They interview classmates Sophie and Sana, and the four 8th graders take on an enormous topic for their first offering-- social and racial justice, discrimination, Black Lives Matter, and related activism. Offered here is a real, emotionally-charged conversation about social issues in 2020 America (and beyond). RESOURCES Black Lives Matter - Resources 101 Anti-Racist Resources - Books & Literature on Bias, Racism, & Anti-Racism Indigenous Peoples' History - Smithsonian Webinar How Racial Inequity Harms Schoolchildren - NPR Teaching Tolerance - Social Justice Standards Beyond the Golden Rule - A Family Guide to Tolerance How Middle School Kids Reject Stereotypes from MiddleWeb Talking About Race & Stereotypes in School from Edutopia Books for Littles - Starting To Talk About Race with Kids Teaching insight, blog posts, and more from the Health Education classroom: LifeIsTheFuture.com

Is it all drama or can anything good come from media use? What do teens wish adults knew about social media? Our 8th grade hosts, Naomi and Zoie, take the lead in their first episode. They interview classmates Sania and Zaara, and all four offer their thoughts about social media and teenagers. The group discusses both the positive and negative aspects of social media, how to use media correctly, and recommendations to both adults and younger kids about media use. RESOURCES Pew Research Study: Teens & Social Media Common Sense Media: Teens on Social Media & How Much Screen Time is Okay? Adam Alter: TED Talk & "Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology" Tune in next week as our other two hosts, Tami and David, take the lead with a new topic and a new set of guests. Make sure to subscribe to keep up to date on our podcast episodes throughout the school year. Teaching insight, blog posts, and more from the Health Education classroom: LifeIsTheFuture.com

Getting virtually started with our new hosts! We meet our Season 3 podcast hosts, Naomi and Zoie, Tami and David! These 8th grade students will take the lead in weekly interviews with classmates. The students will start recording through the screen as we begin the 2020-2021 school year remotely in our pandemic and post-pandemic world. Wish us luck! These hosts will put Health Ed life skills into practice-- communication, decision making, and advocacy will help them create discussions and debates on the multitude of timely topics for today's teen. Check it out and make sure to subscribe to keep up to date on our podcast episodes throughout the school year. Teaching insight, blog posts, and more from the Health Education classroom: LifeIsTheFuture.com

The end of another era! We are finishing up the 2019-2020 school year, and Salil and Shauna are moving on up. We meet two of our next podcast hosts, Tami and David! These 7th grade students will take the lead next year, and join two other students to be our Season 3 leaders. We sadly say goodbye to the 8th graders and discuss how it all went with Salil and Shauna in our second podcast season. The students talk through recommendations on topics and guests-- what worked well, how to get people talking, and the whole process of practicing Health Ed life skills to create debates and discussions. Make sure to check Part 1 as we meet the other two hosts, Naomi and Zoie! We will continue with all four in the fall of 2020. Please stay tuned over summer! Podcast episodes will continue through with updates from Mr. Todnem. :) Teaching insight, blog posts, and more from the Health Education classroom: LifeIsTheFuture.com

Here's our final Weekly Trivia question and Wacky Facts for the COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine time. Thanks to everyone for listening in. Hopefully it brought a smile to your face every week during this time of e-learning and uncertainty. This week: What is a fart? + Weird Odds & Ends BACKGROUND To supplement remote teaching and e-learning that is occurring during the COVID-19 quarantine, I put together a sample of some of the "Fun Friday" activities that usually occur within our Health classroom. I was going to just record these for students in my virtual classrooms, but figured I'd use this platform to share with the public as well. Hope you enjoyed! Depending on the grade level, each Friday we start the period off with some Wacky Facts or Weekly Trivia. These often coincide with the content or skills we've been working on, but mostly they're just for fun and learning. Plus, they often allow us to cover some things with the body systems. If you're into fact checking or you have additional fun facts for us, feel free to leave a comment. :) REMOTE RECORDING Our 8th grade hosts have wrapped up Season 2 of our school podcast as we made our way through quarantine and looked ahead to the future. We are also introducing our hosts for next school year. Be sure to check those episodes and listen in next fall! EXPERT INSIGHT SERIES I plan on doing more "Expert Insight" summer interviews so you can listen in which on positive contributors to the world of health, life, and the future. Thanks for always listening! Stay safe and healthy, and hang in there. Teaching insight, blog posts, and more from the Health Education classroom: LifeIsTheFuture.com