Welcome to 2005! This edition focuses on health promotion and New Year resolutions. What a good match. Often times at this point in the school year, students and teachers look forward to a new year with new goals. Or, at best, we all just think about ‘getting through’ to the end of the semester!

In this edition you will find links to websites that can help you and your students on a personal level, but the information can also be applied academically. From student and teacher perspectives, information found in these sites can assist with research projects in health education.

For example, the TakingITGlobal (TIG) site will introduce you and your students to an international, youth led organization concerned with promoting healthy behaviors world wide. With the recent international devastation – the Indian Ocean tsunamis, I can’t think of a better time to introduce students to the world, and subsequent health issues addressing those populations.

Maybe this edition will help support a decision to re-evaluate your goals/resolutions for the year. Are you the healthiest you can be? Would your job be easier if you made different lifestyle choices?

Please don’t forget the goals/resolutions you have made for your students. Sometimes adapted physical education goals/objectives are set too high for our students, or recent school vacations, illnesses, or health relapses interfere with student learning.

Be willing to re-evaluate and design different goals/objectives if needed. It might be just what the student needs to be successful! Small steps of success are better than none.

Have a safe and productive 2005!

Sue Tarr
Adapted Section Editor

continued from previous column

TakingITGlobal (TIG)
TakingITGlobal is an international organization led by youth, and enabled by technology! TIG helps youth to find inspiration, access information, get involved, and take action to improve their local and global communities.

      

Check this site out for more stats and resources. It will be time well spent for you and your students! Simple message: Get educated, get involved!

Office of Disease Prevention & Health Promotion
The Office of Disease Prevention & Health Promotion (US Dept. of Health & Human Services) provides a VERY interactive web site for kids. Once on the site, topics to select from include: Cool and Uncool Stuff, Games, Safe Surfing, and Art Contests (links to four different Art Contest sites).

In the Cool and Uncool section you can select from thousands of topics A-W. For example, when selecting exercise, links to three articles on exercise are provided. There are 82 links to quizzes, puzzles, word searches, mazes, etc. in the Games section. You are able to receive tips/strategies for conducting safe web searches under the Safe Surfing section.

American Association on Health and Disability
Looking for a wealth of health promotion information? Check out the AAHD web site for (a) research abstracts addressing disability and health promotion for youth, women, developmental disabilities, spinal cord injury; (b) barriers to health promotion; (c) exercise, and (d) policy.

There is also a Best Practices section with the following categories: (a) emergency preparedness, (b) oral health, (c) training health care professionals, and (d) youth mentoring. The youth mentoring section has numerous projects listed. You can read a project summary and receive contact information.

Numerous projects for youth with disabilities are listed!

Cancer Research UK
The Cancer Research UK website encourages health promotion. This fun, interactive web site can help you or your students obtain information about developing lifestyle changes for decreasing one’s risk for cancer. There are five lifestyle options one can choose: lose weight, exercise more, eat more healthily, stop smoking, and drink sensibly. Upon selection, one can access facts, hints & tips, useful links, a message board, games, and advice/support options.

Are You Ready?

This year try something different. Get your students involved in making resolutions too! What a great method to address goal setting and developing plans & programs for facilitating progress toward those goals. Real life experiences in school; what a novel thought!

Be willing to share with your students one of your goals and plan for progress. Charting your successes and set-backs can provide them with real life lessons, as well as motivation to continue with their resolution plan/program. Advise students to choose small things for their resolution, and to work their resolution in small, manageable chunks.

	Start with realistic goals
	Supplement your annual "resolution" with near-term goals
	Create plans for success
	Create a plan for slips and setbacks

Lots of great information about resolutions can be found on this site. The top 10 New Year Resolutions are identified and defined.

You are able to click on each resolution, and find additional resources and articles addressing that resolution on subsequent pages. For example, when clicking on the 'Fit in Fitness' resolution you’ll receive an article, "Making your New Year’s resolution - Making your resolution work all year long." Highlights of this article include:

	Adjust your attitude – often times a negative or ‘bad’ attitude will set one up for failure.
	Adjust your lifestyle. Ask your self, "is this exercise program something I can do every day?"
	Make a plan. Set goals. Set up program. Ensure success.