Questions - SHAPE America



SHAPE America TOY Website QuestionnaireName: Lindsay R. ArmbrusterSchool Name: O’Rourke Middle School in Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake Central School DistrictSchool Address: 173 Lakehill Road, Burnt Hills, New York 12027School phone: 518.399.9141 ext. 84000Your email address: larmbruster@Your website: n/a QuestionsDescribe one or two of the newest and/or most innovative activities that you do with your students in health education? (i.e. instructional units, assessment strategies/techniques, development of personal/social skills, parent/family involvement, special events, etc)8th Graders as Advocates - a Summative Learning Experience:The final/ultimate health education skill that students must demonstrate proficiency at in New York State is advocacy. This learning experience (unit) takes place over the last 3-4 weeks of our semester together. Students explore advocates and advocacy campaigns in our community, state, and nation and then are set off to become advocates themselves. This is a whole class, project-based learning experience; depending on class sizes, there are anywhere from 14 to 27 students working on one campaign, together, from start to finish. As the teacher, I take a step back from being in charge during this learning experience in order to allow the students to really use the skills that we’ve been developing all semester long -- decision making, communication, planning & goal setting, and stress management. During this project based learning experience, each student gets a job (i.e. leader, liaison to administrators, artist, researcher, technical manager) that they are responsible for as needed throughout the project, however, all students understand that they may be required to do something outside the realm of their job if the team needs it. As a team (and with my guidance only), the students decide upon individual health behaviors hat need changing in our school. The team develops survey questions about the topics, often using the Youth Risk Behavior Survey and Monitoring the Future survey questions as a guide to creating high quality questions. We then push the survey out to the students in our school and analyze the results in order to come up with the topics that NEEDS advocacy the most. Students then do some research to gain a good understanding about the topic. From there, the team develops a logo, motto and campaign plan which then they formally “pitch” to an administrator for discussion and ultimately approval. Once approval is gained, the students put their plan into action and actually create the campaign that they have planned out. This fall, one of my classes created a 5 minute video about depression and self-harm with the focus being on getting help if you have any of those feelings. It was completely black and white, with no talking, only music and images that the students created themselves about the true story of a student who dealt with these problems. The movie was shown during 7th and 8th grade lunches and was met with great approval and acceptance from the students. Another class this fall discovered the need to advocate for personal hygiene habits among 6th grade students. They created an interactive presentation/game and visited different 6th grade classes to “perform”. This, too, was met with great success.This learning experience truly pulls together everything that the students have worked on all semester long in Health Education class. It gives them a real purpose for doing the work. Gratitude Thursdays:There is documented research that connects improved health with happiness; I incorporate this research into my classes. Early in our time together, I explore this connection with my students. We also take a look at quantum physics’ law of attraction and explore how a person’s thinking/attitude attracts “like events”. A person with a positive attitude attracts good things to their lives; likewise a person with a negative attitude attracts not so good things to their lives. This research sets the stage for a weekly event in my classroom -- Gratitude Thursdays. Expressing gratitude is one of the best ways to increase happiness and positivity in one’ life and therefore we spend anywhere from 10 minutes to an entire 40 minute class each Thursday doing gratitude activities. Activities include:Creating a Happiness Wall: Each student chooses a piece of bright paper that is a color that makes him/her happy. And then writes (largely and neatly) a word that evokes happiness in him or her on that paper. These are then posted on the wall for the duration of the semester. Influential Person Paragraph: Each student writes a paragraph about the person who is the most important and/or influential person in their lives. Just writing the paragraph is powerful, but students are encouraged to read or give their paragraph to the person they wrote it to for an even bigger boost in happiness.Gratitude Journal: We spend time creating a small journal that we revisit several times a semester. Every so often, students write in their gratitude journals. I will sometimes provide the students with prompts for their journal; other times they make a list of “things” for which they are thankful or about which they are happy. The act of focusing on the positive innately improves happiness. Additionally, this becomes an excellent historical record of their semester and whenever they’re feeling down, reading through their journal is uplifting.Affirmations: Students write an affirmations (a.k.a. a verbal hug) to their classmates, “affirming their awesomeness”. These are not anonymous notes and I read them before giving them to their recipients to ensure that they actually are affirming and positive.Thank You Notes: I find that writing thank you notes seems to be going out of fashion so I teach students the art of writing a thank you note and then they write one (or more!).All of these activities are intended to improve the happiness of students, thereby improving their health -- physically, socially, and mentally. If everyone spent time each week on gratitude, we’d have a much happier, kinder, healthier society. What is your particular expertise in regard to teaching health education – what is the focus of your teaching?My expertise lies in approaching Health Education from a skills-based perspective which is quite different than the traditional Health class that approaches this subject from a content-based perspective. In my classes, I work with students on developing proficiency in seven skills (self-management, relationship management, decision making, stress management, communication, planning & goal setting, and advocacy). While working on developing these personal skills, content information (in New York State, we call it functional knowledge) is infused into lessons. I choose this approach because students connect better with it (and it is research-based, best-practice for Health Education). For example, in a content based class, there would be a unit about drugs. Fortunately, there are many students who know that they will never use drugs illegally or the idea of drugs hasn’t even crossed their minds yet. If I was to spend three weeks talking about drugs, those students have not been allowed the opportunity to really connect with the content. These students will learn what they need to know for a test and then move on. This is NOT what I want to happen in class. Instead, in my class, we have a three week learning experience (unit) on decision making. EVERYONE makes decisions and EVERYONE can connect with the content. While I teach the skill of decision making (in all contexts, big and small), I am able to infuse information (functional knowledge) about drugs, so students are still learning it, but it is not the focus. What is your philosophy for health education – what do you believe in?My classroom motto is a quote that I came across many years ago:“A child must be healthy to learn, a child must learn to be healthy.” I base everything I do around this notion. Health Education needs to actually help students become healthier, not just know about health. Health Education needs to empower children to be in control of their health as much as possible. Health Education needs to be honest and encourage honesty among students; we cannot improve until we accept where we are right now. Health Education needs to be provide students with the skills and the knowledge to be their best. Health Education needs to be positive, empowering, and realistic so as to reach every child. What does being a health education Teacher of the Year mean to you?Being selected as a Health Education Teacher of the Year affirms that what is going in my classroom and in my school is good for students. It also affirms that the career that I have chosen (or that has chosen me) is exactly where I am supposed to be. It is the ultimate compliment for someone who LOVES going to work each day. This is a job that challenges me, motivates me, and inspires me. Being selected as a Teacher of the Year, I feel that I have a responsibility to inspire, motivate and challenge colleagues across our country to implement exemplary learning experiences for their students. The youth of our country are our future and we must prepare them for what’s to come. As a Health Education Teacher of the Year, I feel it is essential that I become a stronger advocate for high quality health education for all students in all grade levels. I confidently advocate within my own school district and local community; it’s time for me to reach out more and make the voice of professional health educators’ heard in my state and at the federal level. Our students are worthy of health education that truly impacts their lives; being a Health Education Teacher of the Year gives me a powerful platform from which to speak.What do you do to help other health education teachers plan and implement exemplary programs?I happily present my learning experiences (units) at local and state conferences. During these presentations, I provide those in attendance with ready to use lessons and activities, but always encourage people to make everything their own. Teaching is such a human profession; what I do in my classroom is based upon research AND my personality. In order to plan and implement exemplary programs, teachers must infuse their own personality into their learning experiences.I also provide trainings on the skills-based approach to Health Education to my colleagues in my school district and around my state. These trainings provide teachers with an understanding of the theory behind skills-based health education, as well as practical, real-life application of the theory. Within my own school district, I meet frequently with my colleagues (within my department/grade level, in other departments/grade levels, and support personnel/related service providers) to reflect upon learning experiences and trends in student behaviors. As a team, we make needed changes to curriculum topics as well as instructional approaches. Working with a team is essential to creating exemplary programs. We are able to bounce ideas off of one another and end up with amazing results that came to be through thoughtful discussion, debate, and idea sharing.Any quotes from students about you as a health education teacher, or the classes taught by you?“I love health class more than any other class for two reasons: 1) because of the diversity within the classroom and 2) because you are our teacher. In our class, no two people are the same, but have a unique atmosphere that brings us all together. You deserve a lot of credit for building this awesome learning environment. You were able to get us to put our best foot forward through encouragement and support. A class with so many personalities is not easy to control, but you do so with ease and are able to help us grow as individuals on top of that. The whole class respects you and looks up to you. You are remarkable teacher, but you are more than that to us. When you aren’t in class, there is an obvious hole in the class atmosphere and we fall apart. Even the best substitute cannot replace you. You are truly a blessing in my life. I have already applied so much of what I have learned in Health class so far to my life. I dreaded having to take Health again. Now I never want it to end. My experiences in Health have motivated me to be a better person. I have fully realized the impact I can have on others around me. I would have never reached this point if it hadn’t been for you. Thank you for being a light in my life.”“We just want to say we think you are the best teacher in our school. We have learned so much from you this year that we think will help us throughout our lives. We just wanted to thank you for being such an amazing and cool teacher. We feel like we can talk to you about anything and you made the uncomfortable stuff not so uncomfortable.”“I like how you are almost always in a good mood and always smiling. You can easily spread your happiness.”“You are my favorite teacher and before I had you I thought Health was boring. Now it’s my favorite class!”“Thank you so much for everything this year. It means a lot. I know I can come to you for anything no matter what and I love that. I wouldn’t want to have it any other way. You have helped me so much this year with everything and I’m so grateful. I can’t believe Health is over. I looked forward to coming to this class each day.”“I’ll never forget class with you. It never felt like class, more like a conversation about issues and real life.”“I can honestly say that I look forward to Health every day. We’re never just sitting around boringly; we’re always having fun. Also, props to you for running the entire Apple Run 5K and still finishing with a smile!”“I have honestly viewed your class as a breath of fresh air! You’ve been a wonderful teacher and I see you as an inspiration.”“Although this class has just started, I already look forward to Health 4th block on ACE days. Your bubbly personality and happy demeanour make this a fun class. Not only are you a great teacher, but you were also a helpful, patient coach when I was playing lacrosse as a 7th grader. Your patience and help allowed me to become a better player and develop a genuine love for the game.”List three of your “favorite” conference session titles that you have presented, with a brief description of each. Skills-Based Health EducationResearch indicates that it is best practice for Health Education teachers approach Health Education from a skills-based perspective, focusing curriculum on the development of the 7 Health Education Skills that are essential for healthy living (self-management, relationship management, planning & goal setting, communication, decision making, stress management, and advocacy). This presentation explains the basics about what skills-based health education is, the benefits of teaching in this way, and provides practical application related to HOW to implement this type of curriculum into Health Education at any level (K-12).Planning & Goal Setting Learning ExperienceDuring this session, attendees will see and experience a complete skills-based learning experience in the skill area of Planning &Goal Setting (using Physical Activity & Nutrition functional knowledge). Attendees will participate in learning activities, see examples of student work and will walk away with ideas, materials, and resources.8th Graders as Advocates: A Complete Learning ExperienceThis presentation will showcase our approach to teaching the Advocacy skill at the intermediate level. In this learning experience (unit), an entire class works together to determine and research a health need and then plan, implement, and evaluate an advocacy campaign targeting their peers. Attendees will walk away with a complete outline of the learning experience and class materials, and will hear about/see examples of student campaigns.Any additional major teaching awards you have received:2015 SHAPE America Eastern District Health Education Teacher of the Year2014 New York State AHPERD Health Education Teacher of the Year2013 Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake PTA Founder’s Day Award7 Questions for a TOYThe questions below are meant to be light-hearted and fun; this is a chance to show a bit of your personality. Although there are 13 questions, we will choose seven to highlight on social media and other AAHPERD/SHAPE America periodicals.If you could have a teaching super power what would it be and why?The ability to be a student in my own class; to truly experience my teaching from the perspective of students. I would love to know, first-hand, the feelings that students have when engaging in my lessons. I would love to be able to adapt my teaching based on first-hand knowledge...not just what kids are willing to tell me (although, I do feel like kids are pretty open and willing to tell me whatever they’re feeling. I find teenagers to not have the best filter in the world...which can be a great thing!)Share a funny or shocking story from your years of teaching.While studying decision making about drinking alcohol in one of my High School Health classes, a student group planned and then performed a role play about binge drinking. To make their performance realistic, several of the student “binge drank” root beer and one of the students ended up vomiting (in the classroom garbage can) from his excessive intake of soda. Although it was an unfortunate event, it made for a FANTASTIC teachable moment! (I did call home after the incident and check to make sure he was doing alright...his mom laughed about the whole situation and the student was perfectly fine. In fact, he was happy to be able to perform so accurately!)With teaching there can be good and bad days. What’s a moment in your career that’s made it all seem worthwhile? Health Teachers are often sought out by students outside of class to help in extreme situations. I have had many conversations with students about something that was brought up in class that triggered a question or an emotion in them that they needed to process. As much minutiae as there is in education today, it is these conversations when I get to help a student in crisis that make it all worth it. I had multiple conversations with a high school boy who was trying to figure out how to handle the next step in his relationship with his girlfriend. We talked about conversations that he needed to have with his girlfriend and about protection and birth control options for both of them. I had another student extremely stressed out about a math class and teacher. Over the course of several weeks, she ended up trying MANY different approaches to managing this stressor and I was her “go to” person about the whole situation. She laughed with , cried to , yelled about , and hugged me throughout the whole ordeal. Another student had suffered from depression and anxiety and had been hospitalized for those and self-harm. She wanted to get the message out to her peers that, if they are having feelings similar to what she had felt, that they were not alone and that they can and should get help. She came to me to help her get her message out in a productive way. It is these moments, when I get to really help a kid, not in a hypothetical situation, but in real life that makes me know that what I do and love each and every day is worthwhile.If you could go back in time to when you first started teaching what advice would you give yourself?I would tell myself to make sure every single moment I had with my students was well spent -- no “fluff” days. As a special area, we have such limited time with our students that every single minute they’re with me in my classroom is precious and must be capitalized on.My students would think I’m lying if they knew I used to be too embarrassed to say the word “penis” out loud.(Ex. My students would think I’m crazy if they knew I base jump off buildings on the weekends.)One of my unhealthy guilty pleasures is chocolate (although dark is my favorite, so at least it has some health benefit!).If I wasn’t a Health teacher I would be a lactation consultant.What’s the biggest challenge Health Education teachers face and how would you change it?The biggest challenge Health Education teachers face is the lack of time that is devoted to Health Education in schools. Everyone in education appreciates the importance of Health Education. Everyone knows that the health of students highly influences their performance in school and in life. A recent study just reported that of all age-groups, teenagers are the most stressed-out. In many cases, stress does motivate students, however, this study indicated that the levels of stress that teenagers feel are often at the detriment of their physical, social, and/or mental health. However, Health Education classes are extremely limited. In New York State (where I’m from), students receive about 20 weeks of Health Education during middle school (a VERY tumultuous time, wracked with health decisions and stress) and another 20 weeks of Health Education during high school (another stage in life that is full of health decisions that are often very different than those from the early adolescent years). Additionally, students in elementary grades are supposed to receive Health Education from their classroom teachers throughout each school year, however, with all the other mandates and requirements of core subject areas, often Health Education is pushed off and pushed off until it’s just squeezed into the end of the year. I would love to see Health Education, taught by a certified Health Education teacher, as a special inelementary schools, similar to Art, Music and Physical Education. Health Education is an area of expertise that requires a special set of skills in order to teach effectively. Health Educators should be doing this as early as possible to help students set up healthy behaviors early in life. This would also take the pressure of off the classroom teachers to teach skills/topics they may not have expertise in and/or be comfortable with teaching. With regard to secondary Health Education, time must be expanded. In order to do the best job possible, we must advocate for more time spent in Health Education classes with a certified Health Education teacher. Students needs and experiences change so dramatically over the course of the teenage years that it would be most appropriate to have Health Education each and every year of middle and high school. These dreams of mine may be impossible to achieve, but it is something for which to strive and advocate. If nothing else, Health Education teachers must realize that we are essential to the lives of our students. Every single day when they enter our classroom, we have a unique opportunity to impact their lives. We must make sure that the lessons we plan and the interactions that occur with our students are of highest quality; we must take advantage of every.single.moment we have with our students because they are so fleeting.Describe your teaching style in one word.Optimistic, Positive, HappyCompare your teaching to that of your own Health Education experience.When I was in Health classes, we focused on learning facts...lots and lots of facts. I know now that at that time research indicated that health behavior was highly influenced by health knowledge; the more knowledge a person had the more healthy their behaviors became. My teachers were doing what was then seen as best practice. Since that time however, more research has been done about the influence of knowledge on behavior. What health education professionals know now is that knowledge doesn’t influence behavior as much as practicing health skills. My teaching now focuses on guiding students to achieve optimal wellness through the development of health skills (self-management, relationship management, decision making, planning & goal setting, stress management, communication, and advocacy). My students are still responsible for knowing facts, but we focus on FUNCTIONAL knowledge...what they absolutely must know in order to perform the skills. Although my approach to teaching Health Education content and skills is different than what I experienced, the characteristics of my classroom as a student and my classroom as a teacher are the same. As a student, I remember Health class being a safe, supportive, fun learning environment. I always loved the community that seemed to form in my Health classes and I strive every single day to provide my students with that same feeling of acceptance and excitement that I experienced.How or what made you become a Health Education teacher?When I graduated from High School, I was set on being a German teacher and was on my way to making this dream come true at college when I got involved with a campus club called “Peer Health Educators”. Members of this club were responsible for providing health education most frequently in residence halls on sexual health, substance abuse, and stress management. I don’t know what drew me to this club at the Activities Fair; maybe it was my involvement in SADD as a High School student or maybe it was the personalities of the upperclassmen at the booth. Whatever it was, I’m so glad that it worked. It was rare for this club to allow freshmen to facilitate these presentations, but I was allowed to and ended up doing MANY over the course of my freshmen year. I realized while doing all of these presentations that my passion was in helping people become healthier. I began exploring different majors that could lead me to a profession that was similar to Peer Health Educators. I looked at social work and communications, but quickly discovered that I wanted to be in a classroom with students as their teacher, not a guest speaker. It was then that I knew that I was destined to be a Health Education teacher. Some people may say that being a Health Teacher is in my blood. Many of my relatives have been teachers, including my grandfather and my father. Many other relatives are in the medical field, including my mother as a nurse. I guess I’m a perfect blend of my parents; however, it took me much exploration to realize something that may have been “in me” all along!Ask your students to describe you in one word. Share a few responses.trustworthy, resplendent, intelligent, uplifting, funny, enlightening, happy, enthusiastic, generous, creative ................
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