| The use of drugs
and alcohol as a means of escaping the harsh realities of life has
been around for a while. But, the age at which individuals are choosing
to experiment with these substances is getting lower and lower all
the time.
This month's ideas will relate to helping students to understand
the negative consequences of such experimentation, but as teachers
we also need to be aware of the power that a positive and caring
classroom environment can have on students. Many students identify
their reason for using substances as the lack of a sense of belonging.
We, especially in PE, can create that sense of community, as we
should!
Cindy Kuhrasch
Interdisciplinary Section Editor
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by
Jean Blaydes
This section within the Interdisciplinary page is updated
each month with a new idea from Jean Blayde's book "Thinking
on Your Feet." |
The activity
for April is "Drug Free
Tag" - a tag game. Drug abuse is a serious threat to health.
Students will chase, flee, and dodge “danger”
as they play the tag game. The statistics that follow the
game illustrate the dangers of abusing drugs and alcohol.
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| Find out more information about
Jean Blaydes and Action
Based Learning. |
|
| The Interdisciplinary Curriculum |
| If you have ideas, comments,
letters to share, or questions about particular topics, please
email one of the following Health & Fitness Section Editors:
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| In
what ways have you promoted a positive and caring classroom
environment? Please post your answers in the forum. |
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| Creating a Caring Classroom Community |
| Below you will
find ideas that can help you create the sort of community that
helps to make students feel welcome!
Creating
a Positive Classroom Climate
The most important action an effective teacher takes at the beginning
of the year is creating a climate for learning. - Mary
Beth Blegan, former U.S. Department of Education teacher-in-residence
Work
4 Me
Your classroom climate has a powerful effect on how well your
students learn. Striking a balance between freedom and discipline
is a skill that can make all the difference between a well-run
classroom and classroom chaos. Here are some techniques educators
are using to achieve such a balance. -
source: site
Talk
about it
When students come up to you, the teacher, with complaints or
"small" problems. In this exercise students learn to
work out small problems on their own, or with others.
Team
Colors
At the beginning of the school year I group my students into teams
of orange, blue, purple, yellow, green, and red. There are 4 -
5 students on a team. Each team is assigned a team captain who
is responsible for helping with equipment, organizing their team,
and reporting problems.
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| Pick
a Brain
Click on the brains to find out the facts about how alcohol and
drugs can "change your mind."
Mind
Over Matter
This series is designed to encourage young people in grades five
through nine to learn about the effects of drug abuse on the body
and the brain.
Race
Against Drugs
Race Against Drugs® (RAD) is a nationwide drug prevention
education program aimed at educating today's youth about the dangers
of substance abuse.
Drug
Information Hangman
All of the words have to do with the fun things great kids like
to do. We always say "No!" to drugs, because we have
better things to do!
Free
Activity Sheets from the US Department of Health
and Human Services. |
This month's activities
can be found at "Joe
Chemo"...a great site for helping kids to learn
about tobacco use ands misuse. Download the whole packet
for lots of great ideas!
Fighting
Fire with Fire
Learning About the Effects of Drugs and Drug Treatment Programs
in the Science or Health Classroom |
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| Enthusiasm
and Feedback!
January 1, 2001: Copyright © 2001, PE
Central
Teacher enthusiasm has been identified as a prominent teacher behavior
that effects student learning (Carlise & Phillips, 1984). Although
enthusiasm is a difficult behavior to label, it is an important
behavior for teachers to exhibit. "Enthusiasm affects student
learning and attitudes" (Caruso, 1982, p. 47).
There are other important practices (e.g., appropriate feedback)
which Physical Educators must exhibit in order to be more effective
teachers. The combination of high levels of enthusiasm, and properly
timed, appropriate feedback in your Physical Education class may
provide students with greater opportunities for learning. Students
may actually show more improvement while learning physical skills
when their teachers exhibit higher enthusiasm behaviors, and the
use of feedback provides students with information on how they are
doing in some skill-related aspect of your classes. - source:
pecentral
So the question becomes how to implement higher levels of enthusiasm
and appropriate feedback. Here are some ideas to use as a springboard.
Read the whole
article.
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| TeachersGuide
Classroom Activities
These dynamic standards-based classroom activities were developed
by the National
Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign and the National Education Association's
Health Information
Network.
While the activities are not a drug education curriculum, they
do offer a variety of ways to easily integrate drug prevention activities
into different subject areas. These activities and reference tools
can be used by virtually any teacher of students aged 11-14. Follow
the lessons as written, or tailor them to best meet the needs of
your students and subject area. - source:
site
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Anti-Drug
Advice to a Peer:
connections - Language Arts & Health |
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Creating
Anti-Drug Poetry or Songs:
connections - Language Arts, Music, Health |
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Designing
PSAs / Anti-Drug Ads:
connections - Art, Language Arts, Theatre Arts, Health |
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Drug-related
Rules and Laws:
connections - Social Studies, Health, Parent/Family Involvement
Programs |
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Drug-use
and Athletic Performance:
connections - Physical Education, Health, Language Arts |
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Most
Youth Don't Use:
connections - Math & Health |
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Role-playing
Through a Puppet Show:
connections - Theatre Arts, Language Arts, Health |
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Role-playing
Through Cartoons:
connections - Art & Health |
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Setting
Goals: How Drugs Can Get in the Way:
connections - Language Arts, Health, Parent/Family Involvement
Programs |
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Short-
and Long-Term Effects of Drugs:
connections - Science, Health, Language Arts |
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Constant
Craving (Grades to 6-8, 9-12)
In this lesson, students investigate the ways that various addictive
drugs interact with the human nervous system. Connections -
Health & Science |
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